Thirty years ago, touch screens and smartphones were a thing of the future - something that seemed possible only in movies and sci-fi books. But here we are today, with technology more advanced than we ever thought possible and new tech features appearing changing the market every few years.
Since Elon Musk announced that the first chip has been implanted in a human brain, it raised the question of whether a new tech is about to change the face of poker or not. Will we witness a new entry in the mobile poker evolution history book? How did the mobile poker industry change in the past few decades? Let's take a look at the past and future of online and mobile poker!
Mobile Poker: Past, Present, and Future
Up until the 90's, poker was a game you either played at a land-based casino or at a friend's house. It didn't occur to anyone that you could participate in an international poker event without getting up from your couch.
But when the first online poker site launched in 1998, it changed the way people played the game. Suddenly, poker has become an accessible pastime activity instead of being a luxurious treat rarely enjoyed, allowing more and more players to play the game regularly.
However, it took a while for poker to become available on mobile devices as well. At first, mobiles weren't advanced enough to allow the development of mobile poker apps, but things changed slowly. Switch Poker, the world's first mobile real-money poker site, launched in 2010, opening a door to another gambling option for Apple users.
Since then, smartphones have evolved substantially, which now allows people from all over the world to play poker on most available devices.
Technological Advancements and What the Future Holds
Since poker is a game that combines strategy with social interaction, the mobile version of the game has two separate routes in which it can improve: the gaming software and the communication channels. Technology can help advance the gambling platform itself to make your experience more enjoyable while providing better means to converse with your opponents to make the game more realistic.
Gambling companies now strive to change poker apps and websites to suit the age of smartphones and touch screens. That means they are working on developing gesture controls for bets and raises, so people would be able to feel as if they are physically pushing the chips into the pot as they bet. In addition to that, those companies strive to enable cross-platform playing, so you would be able to move from your tablet to your smartphone or laptop with minimal effort.
To make your poker experience even more authentic, poker websites do their best to provide you with accessible chats, friends lists, and leaderboards that create a sense of community as you place your bets online.
But while all those features are already in the works or even already available to the masses, the future of mobile poker seems even brighter now that new tech is being tested. Musk's controversial startup Neuralink is developing implantable brain-computer interfaces, and the first chip has been implanted in a real person's brain.
The goal of the installed chip is to grant people the ability to control a keyboard or computer cursor using their thoughts alone. If it actually works, in a couple of decades people might be able to play poker without even holding their phones in hand.
Do You Play Mobile Poker?
How do you prefer playing poker? Are you a classic player who likes to meet his opponents face-to-face? Or do you enjoy the accessibility of online and mobile poker? If the latter is your gambling platform of choice, you can rest assured that the mobile poker revolution is on its way!