Mobile gambling games provide players with an immersive casino-like experience via any mobile device – whether that be smartphones, tablets or other. Players can access these casinos from virtually anywhere with internet connectivity and make deposits or withdrawals using their devices – plus many offer promotions and bonuses to take advantage of!
The mobile casino industry is flourishing, with most major operators providing an app and website version of their online casino. These apps are intended for use on-the-go, usually accessible through either a browser or directly via smartphone app store. While their technology is innovative, some risks associated with their use exist such as addiction that may hinder focus or attention span as well as identity theft which is particularly dangerous among young people.
Users must recognize the risks posed by mobile gambling apps and how they should use them responsibly. To reduce risk of addiction, players should set limits for themselves and only gamble with funds they can afford to lose; take regular breaks from playing; utilize responsible gambling tools available on most apps; avoid playing on public WiFi where hackers may easily intercept data and steal passwords or financial details.
Due to mobile gaming being relatively new, research on its effects on gamblers has been scarce. Most studies that have examined psychological impacts have either relied on self-reports or markers of harm that are often constrained by context of user interaction with device. This research explores whether an interaction of mobile gambling games with specific phones can provide insight into how such interactions might alter gambling behavior.
Participants completed several questionnaires (Gambling Questions, PGSI, GRCS and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale), as well as an automated contingency judgement task designed to probe illusion of control – an effect often found when gambling. They were then asked to download and use a gambling app which recorded contextual data (including GPS co-ordinates) while they gambled; participants were made aware that such data collection may take place as they gambled and could change settings on their phone to prevent this data being recorded.
Results demonstrated that mobile gambling games could replicate the same pattern of reinforcement and latency seen in prior studies on addictive games, indicating similar behavior emitted by addictive apps and suggesting designers can manipulate mechanisms in mobile gambling games to elicit desired behaviors. This has important ramifications for designing harmful mobile gambling games which may converge with existing forms of online and offline gambling, creating potential threats to society as a whole.