Gambling apps are coming to the Google Play Store in the U.S. and 14 other countries

A future change in Google Play Store policies will allow Android games and bets that use real money in 15 more countries, including the U.S., according to 9to5Google. Currently, gambling apps are only allowed in four countries: Brazil, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The new rules will apply from March 1 and will allow gambling applications in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United States United. Obviously, each country will have its own limitations on what type of online gambling is legal, with some countries allowing online casinos, sports betting, lotteries and fantasy sports daily, and some being more restrictive.

The restrictions are also complicated. Most countries only allow lotteries if they are administered by the government, but some, like the United Kingdom, do not have this restriction. And, as is often the case, what is allowed in the United States varies from state to state. Anyone looking to launch a gambling app will have to do their legal homework first, considering the patchwork of laws and regulations that allow specific types of online gambling in the U.S.

The move will not open the floodgates for anyone to launch a slot app. Google currently requires developers to go through an application process to get their gambling apps from the Play Store, and the new policies will not remove this requirement. The application ensures that the developer submitting the application is licensed to operate a gambling operation in the country where the application will be sold.

Before this change, users who wanted to use gambling apps on their Android phones would have to move them aside, a practice that Google has increasingly discouraged over time. IPhone users, on the other hand, are allowed to download them directly from the App Store.

Of course, it can be argued that many games and apps that are on the Play Store today already include gambling mechanics (any game that includes reward boxes, for example, or apps that allow people to place bets on Wall Street). The applications allowed under this policy differ in that they will allow applications made exclusively for gambling, using real money. If I could make a request to Google, it would be to allow people to hide gambling apps as if they were allowed to hide gambling ads.

Google was not immediately available to comment on the policy change.