A Quick Note of Caution for Mobile Poker Players

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Over recent months, our conversations with and observations of mobile poker players have brought to light one or two interesting findings. And when we say interesting, what we mean is potentially dangerous!

Just to get one thing out of the way right now, the answer is no – we’re not talking about the dangers of playing poker if you are absolutely useless at it. If this is the case, there’s not a great deal you can do about it other than work on your technique and tactics.

Instead, we’re talking about the kinds of unfortunate habits, behaviours and scenarios that can have much more drastic consequences. From heavy losses to missing out on potentially huge wins and even loss of life (seriously!), a fair few people could do with being a fair bit more careful when playing mobile poker.

Of course, we aren’t just pointing an accusative finger exclusively at poker players. The reason being that the same applies to mobile device users and mobile casino gamers across the board. It’s just that with millions of people dipping in and out of mobile poker games all the time…well, the problems we’ll be taking a look at shortly tend to be most prevalent of all in the mobile poker arena.

Make no mistake about it – mobile poker can be and is no less than fantastic.  Nevertheless, you need to be at least moderately mindful about the way you go about your gaming activities, in order to stay on the straight and narrow.

So if you’ve decided – subconsciously or otherwise – that mobile poker really is the game for you, what follows are five examples of potential dangers to be aware of and avoid along the way:

1. Dropped Connections

First and foremost, it’s worth remembering that you have very little control whatsoever when it comes to dropped connections. Or to put it another way, you really never know when, where and for how long you may be thrown off the Internet entirely. It happens to all of us from time to time and there really isn’t a great deal you can do about it. That said, you certainly have the power to ensure that you limit your mobile poker playing activities – if and when you find yourself in a situation where you are more likely to be cut off.

These days, most decent online casinos have safeguards in place to protect players, should they get cut off at the worst possible time. Nevertheless, there’s nothing they can do if you get cut off right at the moment you may have been just a couple of moves away from pocketing a fortune. In which case, it’s a case of tough luck.

2. Accidental Screen Touches

The risk of this particular hazard grows as the screen size of the respective device shrinks. Quite simply, the smaller the screen of the device you are dealing with, the more likely you are to accidentally touch the wrong option from time to time. Especially if you happen to have rather large fingers and are somewhat on the clumsy side. The GUI served up by most decent service providers these days really is outstanding and easy to work with. Nevertheless, when compressing things down to a touchscreen of no more than around 4-inches or so, it’s inevitable that you are occasionally going to make the wrong move without meaning to.

Likewise, playing poker using a touchscreen device inevitably means occasionally accidentally touching the screen when you didn’t mean to touch it at all. And where doing so results in heavy losses or throwing away all could have been a quite spectacular win, you can rest assured the casino service provider won’t be interested in helping you out!

3. Battery Issues

Something else to be aware of when taking part in mobile poker games is the importance of having a full battery. From standard table games to the most intensive tournaments and so on, one guaranteed way of dealing yourself a bum hand (metaphorically) is to run out of juice at the worst possible time. And given the fact that mobile phones on the market these days aren’t exactly fantastic when it comes to battery life, you need to be especially careful when playing poker through power hungry applications and websites.

4. General Health and Safety

How dangerous can mobile poker really be? If you don’t watch where you’re going, the answer is – extremely! It’s no secret these days that more people than ever before are being fundamentally flattened and splattered by road and rail vehicles alike, simply due to their inability to take their eyes off their device’s screen. Even when the results aren’t quite as catastrophic as this, smashing into things, banging into other people and generally coming a cropper is all part and parcel of the experience.

Of course, it isn’t until something quite disastrous happens that most people learn their lesson the hard way. Take it from us however when we say it’s far better to keep your eye on what’s in front of you when out and about, rather than taking your chances.

5. General Security

Last but not least, always bear in mind that the connections you use while out and about may not be nearly as secure as you think. Not only this, but you also have no idea at as to who may be looking over your shoulder at the time and taking note of your login credentials. 

When you think about it, no more than a couple of words separate you (and anyone else) from accessing your accounts and your finances. Which means that when you use public or unsecure Internet connections of any kind, you are taking a fundamental risk by indulging in casino gaming. So it’s important to know that while the risk of being targeted is statistically quite low, there is always a risk attached to gaming via unsecure Internet connections.

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