It is no secret that many forms of online gaming have been on the rise since the pandemic started, but few games have benefited quite as much as online poker.
Between the World Series of Poker making the game accessible and popular, the pandemic forcing people to stay inside for longer periods of time, and, according to Tech Republic, a general increase in broadband speeds across the country, there is a growing market for more poker apps in the US.
The market is there and is growing. More states are legalizing online poker since its effective ban in 2011; some that allow online poker currently don’t have a provider operating in the state. That is the case with Connecticut, which legalized online poker earlier this year. Illinois looks to be the next state to legalize online poker, a massive potential market to break into. That means plenty of scope for new poker apps to be developed.
So what goes into making a new poker app and what skills do you need?
Ease of Use
First and foremost, your app needs to be simple to use. Poker.org explains that whilst the game appears simple, learning how to play can be intimidating. There needs to be tutorials and references that are easy to call up and use while playing. Spending some time to make the app as accessible as possible will ensure that people don’t get frustrated and move on to another provider without giving your app the chance. As more and more poker apps come onto the market, you have less time than ever to impress them and ensure that players stick around, so the fewer reasons you give them to put the app down the better off you will be.
Security
This one might seem obvious, but any developer needs to be thinking of security when they are developing their app. A poker app, in particular, is built to handle people’s money so there are extra considerations to bear in mind when thinking about security. If people don’t feel safe depositing their money into your app, then the app won’t be profitable and won’t survive very long. Even if your app is intended to be free-to-play, then you need to consider how to store people’s personal details and logins. The legal requirements for both these types of apps will vary depending on the state you are operating in, so it is worth reading up ahead of time.
Build-in Cross-Platform Support
It is always going to be tempting to build your app with a single platform in mind, but there are plenty of reasons to make sure that your app has cross-platform functionality. We’ve mentioned here on GetWox.com before how it is significantly more cost-effective to build your app to exist on multiple platforms. Not only is it faster than building two separate apps for each market, it is also cheaper to maintain as only one app needs to be updated with fixes and changes as the bugs are identified and fixed. Not only does cross-platform development open up more customers to your app sooner, it has lower operating costs in the long term.
It is no secret that many forms of online gaming have been on the rise since the pandemic started, but few games have benefited quite as much as online poker.
Between the World Series of Poker making the game accessible and popular, the pandemic forcing people to stay inside for longer periods of time, and, according to Tech Republic, a general increase in broadband speeds across the country, there is a growing market for more poker apps in the US.
The market is there and is growing. More states are legalizing online poker since its effective ban in 2011; some that allow online poker currently don’t have a provider operating in the state. That is the case with Connecticut, which legalized online poker earlier this year. Illinois looks to be the next state to legalize online poker, a massive potential market to break into. That means plenty of scope for new poker apps to be developed.
So what goes into making a new poker app and what skills do you need?
Ease of Use
First and foremost, your app needs to be simple to use. Poker.org explains that whilst the game appears simple, learning how to play can be intimidating. There needs to be tutorials and references that are easy to call up and use while playing. Spending some time to make the app as accessible as possible will ensure that people don’t get frustrated and move on to another provider without giving your app the chance. As more and more poker apps come onto the market, you have less time than ever to impress them and ensure that players stick around, so the fewer reasons you give them to put the app down the better off you will be.
Security
This one might seem obvious, but any developer needs to be thinking of security when they are developing their app. A poker app, in particular, is built to handle people’s money so there are extra considerations to bear in mind when thinking about security. If people don’t feel safe depositing their money into your app, then the app won’t be profitable and won’t survive very long. Even if your app is intended to be free-to-play, then you need to consider how to store people’s personal details and logins. The legal requirements for both these types of apps will vary depending on the state you are operating in, so it is worth reading up ahead of time.
Build-in Cross-Platform Support
It is always going to be tempting to build your app with a single platform in mind, but there are plenty of reasons to make sure that your app has cross-platform functionality. We’ve mentioned here on GetWox.com before how it is significantly more cost-effective to build your app to exist on multiple platforms. Not only is it faster than building two separate apps for each market, it is also cheaper to maintain as only one app needs to be updated with fixes and changes as the bugs are identified and fixed. Not only does cross-platform development open up more customers to your app sooner, but it also has lower operating costs in the long term.