Forget Pokémon TCG Pocket, You Have a Whole Casino on Your Phone

We can use our phones to shop or bank, watch a film, record home movies, or access a calculator, compass, or a full, global map. Fortunately for gaming companies, the idea of jamming a game design into a smartphone or tablet quickly became one of the most profitable avenues of entertainment, and where there’s money, innovation, and scope for growth, quick-thinking entrepreneurs looking to capitalize are often not far behind.

It would be foolish to suggest that online casino gaming is the only sector that has been able to channel the incredible potential of the Internet. Pokémon TCG (The Card Game) Pocket has done the same, as have countless other games, including League of Legends and PUBG—they’re all games that didn’t just find success but generated huge communities and userbases online.

Still, they were mobile-specific titles that onboarded tens of millions of casual gamers to the idea of playing on their phones or tablets. However, in terms of sheer innovation and openness to merging with new tech ideas, casino gaming has a strong case as one of the most prominent forward-thinkers.

Not only did casino companies quickly pick up on the potential of the Internet, as well as desktop, PC, and laptop gaming, but they have moved into alternate payment methods and even sweepstakes casinos, where the emphasis is on the quality of the game design and not necessarily by the amount you win.

In fact, by using in-game currencies that replace the dollar, sweepstakes have attracted gamers who have a glancing interest in casino gaming but perhaps don’t want to fully get on board with the idea of losing money every time they play a spin or a hand. Talksport US has collated a list of the highest-rated sweepstakes casinos to indicate just how quickly this industry is growing, and how many companies are trying to chisel off some of this burgeoning customer base for themselves.

A decade and a half ago, the idea of sweepstakes wouldn’t have taken off. Land-based casinos, and even the early years of digital casino gaming, were all about maximizing profits and attracting the land-based casino customer base to desktops and laptops.

However, as the industry continued to become more saturated, the emergence of genuinely creative alternate ideas grabbed the imagination.

We touched on sweepstakes casinos in the last section, but another area that has caught the eye is cryptocurrency casino gaming. It’s not just prominent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, either; altcoins like XRP have started to gain a significant audience in both the broader retail of crypto investing and casino gaming.

The approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January last year gave casino firms the green light to onboard cryptocurrency customers and capitalize on the new shift in retail investing.

Pokémon TCG Pocket is a game that expands on the enormous popularity of Pokémon Go in 2016. While it may have polarized some gaming critics, it was one of the most downloaded and played mobile games on the planet. That isn’t to say that TCG Pocket doesn’t have its moments and isn’t worth playing, after all, it was nominated for Best Mobile Game at the 2024 Game Awards, but casino gaming options have become so broad and advanced that there’s an almost never-ending range of options easily available.

Classic casino games like poker and blackjack involve inter-player dynamics and strategic elements. Well, poker does; blackjack is a game mostly of a chance. In fact, some people believe that is poker, unless you fall into the top bracket of 0.001% of players in the world who can turn it into their career.

Sweepstakes casinos and the rise of welcome bonuses, which allow gamers to sample a site or a game without immediately having to cover the full cost themselves, have been extremely impactful marketing techniques that have opened up the casino gaming world to an entirely new range of customers.

Although sweepstakes casinos do lessen the financial impact of playing casino games and instead focus on the game's mechanics, that doesn’t mean you should go into any casino gaming without putting effective, suitable limits in place to ensure it remains enjoyable (and safe, of course).

Gambling is addictive, and you shouldn’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose. It’s recommended to read up on, or at least do a little research on, casino games before you play them. You shouldn’t dive into a casino game without at least a basic understanding of how it works (especially given there is the chance for monetary loss).

Casino sites use various responsible gambling measures, ranging from time and deposit limits to cooling-off periods and self-exclusion tools. Reach out to a problem gambling charity or a support group like Gamblers Anonymous if you know somebody who is struggling with their gambling and needs external support or a safe environment to discuss a road to recovery.

Since mobile devices have become pretty much a one-stop-shop for gamers over the last decade, there’s no limit to the types of games you can play on the move. If you enjoy gaming, it’s always a good idea to keep your ear to the ground and understand how innovations and ideas are shaping the market.

While there are some obvious contrasts between casino gaming and Pokémon TCG, they both channel the popularity of mobile apps and showcase just how vital these platforms have become in the gaming space. Instead of gamers going through conventional settings, such as video console games (which require discs or lengthy downloads), apps and mobile phones allow gamers to access titles within a few seconds, or minutes at most.

In addition to casino gaming, there are countless online resources, such as YouTube, TikTok, and how-to sites, providing information on how to play casino games and learn poker strategies—allowing people to sample how the industry works. So, it’s not just the casino you have on your phone, it’s all the necessary tools that can boost your experience when the chips are down.