Can I play poker with real money on an iPhone 3g?

June 25, 2009 8:36 AM

Can I play poker with real money on an iPhone 3g?

I've had a search about both here and on Google - two sites (Pacific Poker & Partypoker) were suggested as possibles, but neither seems to load on the iPhone. Does anyone know of any sites which do work on an iPhone?

posted by khites to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

They'd need to be non-flash based for starters. But according to this review of a downloadable poker app "due to Apple’s stance on online gambling...there are no official poker clients in the app store that allow for real-money poker." Another review touches on the same point. Another unsourced claim. This 7-month-old Ask Yahoo! seems to confirm the two sites you mention, but I couldn't find confirmation at the source. Pokeronamac.com speculated 18 months ago that the same two site will work.

There is this method detailing how to locally install the AbsolutePoker.com client. You'll need to jailbreak your phone, but I'm not up to speed on jailbreaking the latest 3.0, and since the referring link is from July 08 I'm not sure how much is still applicable.

I haven't read the terms for submission to the App Store, nor could i find the prohibition on real-money gambling. However, I think that having a small, easy-to-recognize, desirable device so closely tied to an account could be problematic.
posted by now i'm piste at 9:12 AM on June 25, 2009

I don't know if this matters, but it isn't legal.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:27 AM on June 25, 2009

Response by poster: Ah, sorry - should have made it clear - I'm in the UK, so no legality issues, other than the fact that the Appstore won't facilitate my (perfectly legal) gambling!
posted by khites at 9:32 AM on June 25, 2009

Of course there are legality issues.

Apple is a US company and is subject to US law. Merely because you're not a US citizen doesn't mean that Apple would want to subject itself to scrutiny by the US Justice Department for violating US law.

Whether this is a sensible position for Apple to take is a subject for lawyers to debate; Apple probably has taken the stance that prudence is best and won't allow any gaming apps to be sold through its store.
posted by dfriedman at 9:58 AM on June 25, 2009

I don't know if this matters, but it isn't legal.

Not actually true, the UIGEA only prohibits financial institutions from making transfers to or from gaming sites. It does not actual declare that playing poker online is illegal.
posted by thewalledcity at 11:07 AM on June 25, 2009