_The world of mobile poker took a huge leap in January 2011 when Bwin became the first poker room to get their real money poker app approved by Apple.  Up until this point Apple had steadfastly refused to approve any type of poker app that supported cash games.

Thankfully an update to Apple’s iOS mobile platform meant that Apple were now able to pinpoint the location of an iPhone or iPad and thus restrict the usage of certain apps to a particular geographic location where there were no mobile gambling restrictions.  The Bwin iPhone poker app was initially released in the United Kingdom and Austria although it was later added to the iTunes App Store in both Portugal and Hungary

With the arrival of the Bwin iPhone poker apps, poker players were able to play mobile poker at a major poker network for the first time.  The new iPhone poker app also sported some pretty cool features, such as automatic hand selection which displayed your best hand automatically and one click reseating which put you right back in the action after you’ve taken a call.

Bwin mobile poker players could choose from No Limit, Pot Limit, Limit games, while limits range from micro stakes to max. $3 / $6.  Users also had the option of filtering by table size and could play for real money or just for fun.

Bwin is part of the OnGame network, which is also home to Betfair Poker, Coral Poker, RedKings and Hollywood Poker.  It is expected that these poker rooms will also release versions of the same iPhone and iPad poker app in 2012.

PokerStars were the only other poker room to get the Apple stamp of approval in 2011, when their PokerStars iPhone app was released in Italy in November.  It is expected that the PokerStars app for iPhones will get a wider release in early 2012.

Despite the lack of native poker apps for iPhones in 2012, iPhone poker players were not short of options thanks to an assortment of quality web apps that were released from poker rooms such as mFortune and Terminal Poker.  A full list of all mobile poker rooms can be found in our Best iPhone Poker apps section.

_Playing real money poker on the iPhone these days is pretty straightforward (providing you don’t live in the United States).  All you need to do is browse to a mobile poker room from the iPhone’s Safari browser and away you go.  This makes real money poker games the perfect travelling companion.  Whether you’re waiting for a delayed flight or enduring a long train journey, you can always take out your iPhone and enjoy playing a few hands of real money mobile poker.

At iPhonePoker.net we’ve put together a few simple rules and tips that will further enhance your mobile poker experience while one the move.

Good Connection

Personally I like to play real money poker on my iPhone over a WiFi connection.  If the 3G connection is weak, the games can lag a little which can be very frustrating. Thankfully most trains, buses and even planes now offer free Wifi to their customers so you should always check first if there is a free WiFi connection available.  You really don’t want to lose your connection while playing a strong hand.

The good news is 3G connections have improved dramatically over the past couple of years and the next generation of 4G networks are already being rolled out which promise even faster speeds.  Which is great news if you like to play a few hands of poker on the go.

Play Against Friends

Playing multi-player poker on the iPhone is great, but sometimes it’s more fun to play against friends.  Many mobile poker apps now allow you to create private tables where you can invite friends to play.  If you’re on a journey with a bunch of friends, why not create a private poker tablet and challenge them to a game.  You can just as easily challenge friends or family at home to a few games of Texas Hold’em or Omaha while travelling.

Bring Head Phones

Some people find the sounds affect on poker apps very distracting and just turn them off.  I find they really enhance the game and make for a more authentic poker experience.  If you like hearing these sound effects, you should bring along a set of earphones so you can get lost in the mobile poker game and drown out the noisy train station or airport.

Your Native Poker App May Not Work

If you are travelling outside of your country, there is a chance that native poker apps may not work.  Native poker apps that are downloaded from the iTunes App Store only function in designated countries.  Once you cross a border by just a few miles, your native poker apps may stop working.

If you are planning on taking a long trip outside your country, you should check first if the iPhone poker app will still work in the country you are visiting.

Poker apps that are played from the browser of the Safari browser of your iPhone will always work, regardless of which country or continent you find yourself in.

Bring an iPhone Charger

One of the benefits of using an iPhone over an Android is the superior batter life.  You can generally get at least a day’s heavy usage from a fully charged iPhone 4S battery.  Despite this, if you are planning to play a lot of mobile poker on a journey, we recommend fully charging the battery before you leave.  Personally I never go on any type of journey without having an iPhone charger in my bag.  It’s pretty easy to find a spare power socket at most airports or train stations where you can give your phone a quick charge before you board.

If you are running low on juice, one thing you can do is turn off WiFi if you are not using to preserve the battery life.  You could also adjust the iPhone brightness level to buy yourself a few extra minutes.

We hope you enjoyed this simple guide.  Visit our Best iPhone Poker Apps section for a list of

_ Playing real money poker on the iPhone has never been easier.  There are now a selection of cash game native poker apps and web apps available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.  Poker players no longer need to jailbreak their iPhones or use complicated VNC software in order to play a few games of real money Texas Hold’em on their iOS device.

However, there are a few considerations that new iPhone poker players should take into account before they begin playing mobile poker.

Do I live in the United States? – If you live in the U.S. then I’m afraid you are out of luck when it comes to mobile poker.  None of the Android or iPhone poker rooms currently accept real money players from the United States.  You can play for fun if you wish.

Web apps or native poker games? – There are currently 2 types of real money poker apps available to iPhone poker players.  Native apps that are download from the iTunes app store and web apps that are played from the Safari browser of any Apple iOS device.

If you live in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Hungary or Austria, the Bwin iPhone poker app can be downloaded from the App Store.  Poker players from other countries can play mobile poker by just browing to any of the web based poker rooms, such as mFortune or Terminal Poker.

Do I want Rakeback? Not all mobile poker rooms offer rakeback, so you should check first if this is a deal breaker for you.  Terminal Poker currently offer 30% rakeback to all their players.

Who offers the best sign-up bonuses?  Growth in online poker has stagnated recently, so poker rooms are relying on smartphone poker apps to provide them with a new batch of poker players.  As a result, many poker rooms now offer new players very generous welcome bonuses.  If you are deciding on which mobile poker room to play at, you should look closely at the various sign-up bonuses on offer.

Most poker rooms offer 100% sign-up bonuses which means they will double your initial deposit.  This means if you deposit £100 to begin with, they will double your balance to £200, giving you £100 free for just signing up.  MFortune alsooffer all new poker players £5 worth of free credit without having even making a deposit.

Do I want to play for free?  Maybe you don’t always want to play at the cash tables.  Sometimes you may just want to play a few hands for fun.  Although most iPhone poker apps now offer Play Money tables, some rooms such as Terminal Poker only offer real money poker tables.

Can I play against friends?  Sometimes playing against friends can be more fun.  You don’t have to worry about poker sharks and can enjoy a few casual hands of poker against your mates.  The mFortune iPhone app now allows user create private tables where you can play a few games against invited guests.

Do I want to play multi-table poker?  Many experienced poker players have to play at more than one poker table at a time.  Unfortunately, not all iPhone poker rooms support multi-table play so you need to check first if this is a prerequisite.

Do I want to play high-speed poker?  Full Tilt poker developed a unique fast paced poker format called Rush Poker that allowed poker players play hundreds of hands per hour.  The Terminal Poker iPhone app is currently the only high-speed poker format.

Would I like to play at tournaments? - Not all of the current mobile poker games offer tournaments.  Terminal Poker currently offer hourly freeroll tournaments to their players.

We hope you will find this real money poker guide useful when you are choosing the best iPhone poker app for you.