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Microsoft's smartphone operating system, Windows Phone, has recently gained popularity and even outsells both BlackBerry and iOS devices in many markets. As a results, a range of real money poker apps are now available for Windows Phone devices that allow players to enjoy Texas Hold'em ring games and poker tournaments.
These new mobile poker rooms are web based so they can be played from the browser of any Nokia Lumia, Samsung ATIV, Huawei W1 or HTC X1. For the first time poker players in the United States of America can play poker real-money Texas Hold'em and Omaha on their phones or tablets. All the apps featured on this site are also compatible with iPhone, iPad and Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Motorola DROID, Sony Xperia and Google Nexus.

Windows Phone looks set to become the second most popular smartphone Operating System in the very near future, which is quiet an achievement when you consider the competition. The Microsoft smartphone OS has already managed to overtake the once dominant BlackBerry in terms of market share. The iPhone, Apple's flagship mobile device, is seeing it's lead being gradually eroded thanks to strong sales of WP, which is seeing it outsell the iOS device in almost 30 countries worldwide. These strong sales are mainly being driven by Nokia's budget smartphones like the the Nokia Lumia 520 and Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet. Although it is likely that Google Android will hold onto its number one position in the near future, news that Samsung will be producing WP handsets in 2014 increases the likelihood that the the Microsoft ecosystem will soon become the world's second most used used mobile OS in the world. So what does this mean for mobile gambling? Here is why we think Windows Phone is the perfect platform gamblers who want to play real-money poker games like Omaha and Texas Hold'em.

HTML5 GAMES MAKE THE APPLE APP STORE & GOOGLE PLAY REDUNDANT

HTML 5 is markup language that has allowed developers create sophisticated games that can be played via your tablet or phones browser. Thanks to this cutting edge technology, online poker rooms are able to develop web based real-money poker apps that offer the same functionality and graphics that you would expect from native 'App Store' apps. As a results, more and more poker rooms are choosing to develop their mobile poker clients using in-browser applications which can be played from any iOS, Android, BlackBerrry, Nokia or Windows Phone device. This means that you no longer need to spend hundreds of dollars on a Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5S as you can now play exactly the same poker games using a much cheaper entry-level Windows Phone handset.

ALL UNITED STATES FRIENDLY MOBILE POKER SITES ARE AVAILABLE ON WP

Both Apple and Google refuse to allow real-money gambling apps in either the iTunes App Store or Google Play markets. This means that there is no advantage of having an iPad, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus or Sony Xperia if you are planning to use it for sports betting, poker, blackjack, slot or roulette in the United States of America. As a result of Google and Apple's anti-gambling stance, US facing poker networks have developed a range of instant poker apps that allows US gamers to play Texas Hold'em cash games and tournaments from any smartphone browser.

WP OFFER LARGER SCREEN SIZES FOR BETTER GAMEPLAY

One of the biggest disadvantages of the iPhone is it's 4' display size. While it is possible to play games using this size of screen, it is far from ideal. Most of us have gotten used to playing games on tablets like the iPad, so reverting to the iPhone's miniscule display feel prohibiting and distracts from the enjoyment of playing on a mobile device. When you are playing for real money it is also extremely important that you can clearly read the cards and that you don't accidentally click on the wrong controls or buttons. Thankfully, Windows Phone devices are made by a number of manufacturers and come in a variety of sizes to accommodate your gaming needs.

The mobile poker industry is one that is quickly evolving and one of the latest handsets to get in on this innovation is that of Windows Mobile. Well, we say they are getting into it; it’s more accurate to say that as the popularity of Windows Mobile devices continues to rise, as do the growing number of mobile poker rooms willing to provide their poker rooms on it.
mFortune have been one of the biggest innovators within the mobile poker industry for a number of years now. In fact, they are one of very few companies that do 100% of their trading solely on mobile devices. The monumental link they have with the mobile poker industry was a signal that it wouldn’t be too long before they brought their software to Windows mobile devices.

You will be lucky enough to pick up two bonus deals on the mFortune app. The first comes in the form of a free £5 for all new accounts. Once you have completed your account registration, your account will then be credited with £5 to use at the tables as you so wish. Please note that this amount is non with-drawable, although any winnings on the back of it will be eligible for withdrawal.
The second is a 100% match on your first deposit up to £100. A qualifying deposit starts from just £3 and you must wager through both your deposit and bonus amount once before being able to withdraw. Any withdrawals made before these requirements are met will void your bonus amount. As far as we are aware, there is no expiry date on this bonus, so it may be worth depositing the whole amount even if you are a low stakes player. It is probably worth checking with customer support to verify this as we found this to be out of sync with industry standard.

The app starts with a clean looking theme and something that we think will definitely look great on a Windows Mobile device. We will talk more about the games looks and function later in this article.
The home page lets you navigate between all the different sections of the app including the play for real money tables, play for fun tables, banking, refer a friend and other games. Note that the Other Games button will navigate you away from the app and load up within your mobile browser, although they do warn you prior to this. Basically it just includes a load of casino games which may or may not interest you. Finally, the home page includes sections where you can check out the help and support options, whilst also choosing from a settings tab to change your password.
Once into the play for real money tables you will be able to choose between heading to the tables, playing with friends or creating a private game. On top of this you can edit your avatar, change your nickname and also fiddle with a few in-game settings to help everything run a little smoother.
The range of games on offer is of a reasonable amount. They are all Texas Holdem games and stakes range from 10p/20p for the low games up to £2/£4 for the high games. There are also heads up tables, speed games and slower games to choose from, should you wish. Honestly, the number of games is pretty low and the traffic isn’t always the best. At the time of writing on a miserably cold Friday morning, the app includes just 4 real money tables in full operation.
One of the features we really liked on the mFortune app is the inclusion of a Play with Friends table, where you can create your own private game. The ability to be able to sit in the same room as a group of friends and play some poker without the need for any chips or cards sounds like a whole lot of fun to us! Alternatively, you can save your friends to your friends list and join them in any game on the server. A word of warning though, if you don’t have any friends and click on the Create Private Table tab then the screen explaining that you are a Billy no mates won’t leave, so you need to restart the app, which is very frustrating.

The tables are one of the highlights in the app and look stunning on the larger Windows Mobile displays. We haven’t actually tried them on any Windows tablets yet, but if they as high a quality as the mobile devices, then they should be a treat.
The gameplay of the tables is pretty smooth although it does feel a little fast, even on the standard tables. Making a decision in the allotted time is fine, but if you have certain aspects of the hand to consider then you may find yourself a little rushed. Also, when the timer starts to near zero we have found that decisions we wanted to make were just auto folded, which is a pretty major flaw in our opinion.
We did like the way you could click on a player to add them as friend, but the lack of notes was an area that we would need addressing before playing limits too high.

If we had to sum up the mFortune app for Windows in one word it would be, ‘close’! There is a lot to like about the app in all honesty, such as the inclusion of free play tables, of which we would highly recommend, especially if you are new to the mFortune interface. The graphics look smart and there is a good range of tables on offer.
The flip side is that the app feels a little buggy, especially when sat at the tables, which is the most important part. A few times, as mentioned, we got timed out in hands where we thought we had made the decision, only for it to check or fold our hand. In fact, looking back this is a pretty monumental error as at the higher end tables it’s more than plausible that you could be playing hands of poker worth thousands of pounds.
All in all, there are good points and bad points about the app, but we do feel that with just a few tweaks and adjustments here and there, it could be a real winner for Windows Mobile users in the not too distant future.

Read our reviews of these other top Windows Phone apps.