Windows Mobile Phone Poker Options

If you read all the way through my page about poker compatibility, you will notice at the bottom of the page I wrote “at the time of writing this page about poker compatibility, there are no Windows Mobile apps available to play online poker for real money”. So, it might be a fair question to ask “Well, what is this page doing here?”

Well, “at the time of writing” there are massive developments going on in the world of the Windows phone, which includes a deal with Nokia to take over the production of Nokia´s Smartphones, and a second deal with Canon that would see better integration between Canon´s cameras and Windows phone – possibly even resulting in a Smart camera to rival the Samsung Galaxy camera.

Real Money Poker on the Horizon for Windows Mobile Phones

There are already more than 120,000 Windows phone apps, including the incredibly popular “Poker King” free poker app – which has nearly 200,000 five-star reviews and is only second in popularity to the latest Despicable Me game – and Birdsoft´s “All-in Hold´em”, which many real money poker players consider to provide the closest mobile experience to mobile poker websites such as PokerStars, 888Poker and Party Poker.

Cake Poker did launch a Windows phone compatible poker app in 2010 which also required the installation of Microsoft´s .NET Compact Framework, but (apparently) that was really messy and seems to have bitten the dust for the present; although I have heard that a number of poker websites are in the process of developing native mobile poker apps for Windows phone devices and – with none of Apple´s “real money gaming phobia” to hold development back – Windows phone poker apps for real money poker could be with us by the end of this year.

Alternative Ways of Playing Real Money Poker on Windows Phones

While you are waiting for the mobile poker website developers to pull their fingers out and develop compatible Windows phone poker apps, it is still possible to play real money poker on windows phones at poker websites that offer a no-download client. Sites such as 888Poker and Party Poker provide an “Instant Play” version of their software which contains many of the features and games (but not all) that you will find on the full poker download.

On each browser version of the poker software you can register an account, make a deposit (or withdraw your funds), customise table settings and avatars, and communicate with customer services if you need a little further help. All of the “Instant Play” poker clients have been designed with people in mind who use shared computers, so they are incredibly secure and, although it can be very fiddly to make sure you click the right button when playing poker designed for a desktop computer on the screen of a mobile phone, I have found that if you have a pencil with a rubber tip on the end of it that can help prevent expensive misclicks.

Windows Phones Poker Bonuses

Naturally the same poker bonuses apply to accounts set up through a Windows phone web browser as accounts set up on a desktop computer; so, for example, if you wanted to play 888Poker on a Windows phone, you would follow the links from my 888Poker Review to make sure you take advantage of my exclusive 888Poker bonus of a 100% match on first deposits up to $600.00 (normally $400.00).

I also have an exclusive Party Poker bonus that you can take advantage of if you are considering playing real money poker on a Windows phone. The bonus is a 100% match on first deposits up to $500.00 (normally $50.00) and again you can find out more about this offer, the exclusive Party Poker bonus code and the benefits of playing on the site in my Party Poker review.

The Times They Are a-Changing

A few years ago, I would not have even considered writing this page. Playing online poker on any mobile device was about as unlikely as poker being regulated in the US (Oh wait … … that happened). That pretty much goes to show that you should expect the unexpected when it comes to technology influencing how we play online poker, and I reckon that the first couple of online poker websites to release an app for playing real money poker on a Windows phone will be the market leaders in years to come.

Watch this space!