back to article Google drops poker face, allows gambling apps on Play Store

Google has agreed to let Play Store customers court cruel mistress Lady Luck. A spokesperson confirmed to The Register that, as of August 2, the store formally allows gambling apps. Folk in the UK, Ireland and France are part of this experiment. According to Apple's Developer guidelines, the Apple App Store allows gambling …

  1. Tronald Dump

    They'll all be arrested

    they will

  2. davidp231

    Are we talking homebrew gambling apps, or the increasing number of the ones we see on TV that all offer Android and iOS versions?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Bet365 doesn't have an Android app. I've wondered by - this presumably explains it.

      1. BongoJoe

        Their web site is pure Flash which is a ruddy nuisance as it means I have to have one dedicated machine just to get my bets on there.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Bet365 isn't flash. I think it used to be years ago, but it's not anymore.

          The videos of the games are flash though.

  3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
    Unhappy

    Does this mean we can have the disembodied floating head of Ray Winstone shouting out of our phone screens now?

    And when we get augmented reality glasses connected to our phone it will also join in?

    So you're walking down the road. Then the sat-nav says, "turn left onto Acacia Avenue."

    Then Ray pipes up, "there's a little old lady crossing the road there. Bet in-play now! Will she be crushed by the oncoming lorry, or will it stop in time?"

    "Would you like an accumlator on her poodle also surviving?"

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Call me Mr. Skeptical , but is it possible google realised that they were losing a huge chunk of market share because chavs couldnt bet on what minute ronaldo fakes an injury , or play "candy-crush-for-big-cash" on their Androids?

    1. ratfox

      Are gambling apps allowed on iPhones? I'm not sure it would make such a big difference in market share, but maybe I underestimate how many people want to gamble with real money on their phone.

      Interesting that they specify not to use Google's payments platform. Looks like they are scared of legal issues. Or maybe they worry about morals. (Seriously! Google doesn't allow ads for guns either)

  5. Haku

    Gambling is like playing against the WOPR

    "the only winning move is not to play"

  6. John Lilburne

    How will that work?

    "App must prevent under-age users from gambling in the app"

    The Google refrain for almost 20 years is that adding age-verification breaks the internet.

    1. Gio Ciampa

      Re: How will that work?

      I presume that Google are happy for others to do the work required to police their own small part of the 'net (given they won't allow usage of their payment system)

      For example - I imagine that the National Lottery app will be cleared in due course, given that they already (presumably) already do the age checking required to allow players to buy tickets using a credit/debit card from it (they also have a ticket checker app that has no payment processing at all - which I believe has always been available as a result)

      1. WonkoTheSane

        Re: How will that work?

        Funnily enough, the National Lottery app got an update this morning, but I had to download from their website as previous.

      2. steviebuk Silver badge

        Re: How will that work?

        The National Lottery security, considering what it is, is seriously poor. Not 2 step verification available its shocking. All to save money on support calls. Took them ages to allow special characters in their passwords.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: How will that work?

          I struggle to see how special chars make a difference:

          eg: php:

          $unbreakable_hash = crc32( 'salt' . $_POST['password'] );

          There are no special chars afterwards.

          1. Lee D Silver badge

            Re: How will that work?

            Sigh.

            Special characters add one letter to the available alphabet.

            Adding an EXTRA character (even from a limited alphabet) is MUCH more secure (in brute-force terms).

            A 9-character, letters-only password has 2.7trillion combinations.

            An 8-character, password from your average keyboard symbols (Alphabet in both cases, numbers, plus a bunch of printable and easy-to-enter symbols, about 80-something possible characters) has just over half as many combinations (1.7tn).

            Stop using special characters, and just add another random character from those available to your password. APASSWORD is stronger than P4SSWORD (obviously DON'T do that, it's just an example).

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: How will that work?

            Urgh, nobody bit. Shame.

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: How will that work?

              Sorry, we're just gamboling through ...

              (If nobody else is going to call me on a late night typo, I might as well.)

  7. jake Silver badge

    There are only two kinds of people in the world.

    The House, and suckers.

    "Lucky" people don't exist. Luck is a figment of a sucker's imagination.

    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      Re: There are only two kinds of people in the world.

      Those that understand gambler's fallacy and gamblers.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: There are only two kinds of people in the world.

      Those who own the means of production, and those who don't.

      1. BongoJoe

        Re: There are only two kinds of people in the world.

        And those who understand the meaning of value betting and the 99.9% who don't.

  8. Your alien overlord - fear me
    Facepalm

    No ones mentioned

    that Google are themselves gambling that this will work !!

  9. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

    I wouldn't call Poker gambling.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Is there always an element of chance in poker?

      If your answer is "yes", it is gambling.

      If your answer is "no", you are deluded.

      1. AceRimmer1980
        Facepalm

        Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

        Many games have *an element* of chance. I have never heard backgammon described as 'gambling', even with random dice throws.

        If chance is all there is, then yes, it's gambling. Betting on horse racing is gambling, because you're watching the gee-gees from a distance, and you have no influence over the outcome.

        Poker is considered gaming,not gambling, because all the players have the same element of chance, and you are *actively taking part and playing the game yourself*. If you have more skill, then you will win more often than not. Explain how pro poker players consistently win against random online players.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

        So anything with an element of chance is gambling? I mean golf has an element of chance, if your ball takes a bad hop or a drive down the middle ends up in a divot. But it is a game of skill when two players of different skill levels compete.

        Same with poker, if I play the winner of the 2017 WSOP heads up, I might be able to beat him in the short run by being lucky with the cards, but in the long run he's going to crush me, because he's the top player in the world and I'm the 50 millionth best or whatever.

      3. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

        Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

        From that reply I know I would beat you easily..

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

          Since it has been years since the last time I played poker, probably so. I'd probably kick your ass in golf though :)

          1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

            Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

            Certainly, as I don't play golf!

            Ice hockey, perhaps instead?

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

              You can call it anything you like, but as far as I'm concerned if there is a finite possibility of losing value in a transaction when you are hoping to come out ahead, you are gambling.

              That said, all y'all don't wager when playing backgammon and golf? Sounds to me like someone glossed over a vital portion of your education! Ice hockey, on the other hand, I'm always too busy to think about betting ...

              1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

                Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

                By that definition everything is a gamble.

                I can tell you that skill is the single most important factor in playing Poker, and that no-one without it ever has won a major tournament by being lucky.

                1. jake Silver badge

                  Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

                  Life's a gambol. One we all lose, eventually.

                  I never said there was no skill in poker. What I said is that playing poker is gambling. Why are you trying to convince me (yourself?) that the two are mutually incompatible?

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

                    If you use that definition any wager is "gambling". If I say "I'll bet you $100,000 you can't walk a straight line for a block" and hope you are so nervous over the large bet that you stumble, you're saying that's gambling even though it is purely a test of your "skill" in walking a straight line.

                    There's a difference between "I'll bet I can bench this 225 lb weight 10 times in under 20 seconds" and "I'll bet that bird sitting on the wire flies away in the next 20 seconds". You can lump them both together under gambling, but one is essentially completely random and the other has zero element of randomness, and it completely related to my strength/skill.

                    By your definition all investment is "gambling". If I buy a stock or an ounce of gold, I don't know it will go up in value. It might go down. Is it "skill" on my part if the stock I choose and the time I choose to buy it means it goes up? Or is just dumb luck? After all, supposedly 80% (or was it 90%?) of restaurants close within 5 years after opening. If I invest a million bucks to open a restaurant, if it is a big success is that all skill? Or is there maybe a lot of luck involved, if the only other restaurant in town burned down a month after I opened?

                    1. jake Silver badge

                      Re: Is there always an element of chance in poker?

                      "If you use that definition any wager is "gambling"."

                      If there is any element of chance involved, yes. By definition.

                      Trying to invent some kind of sliding scale based on "skill" or "ability" whilst trying to draw attention away from that element of chance is sophistry at best, and a con at worst. Or perhaps an attempt at justifying one's gambling addiction.

                  2. Michael Strorm Silver badge

                    Aaaaaaaawwwwwww

                    "Life's a gambol."

                    What the evils of gambolling might look like.

                    1. jake Silver badge

                      Re: Aaaaaaaawwwwwww

                      You missed it by >< that much ...

  10. David Pearce

    It's going to be interesting to see how they stop somebody using a UK registered SIM in a country where gambling is strictly restricted.

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