This review considers how mobile phone use interacts with psychological processes relevant to gambling, the games users are likely to play on smartphones, and the interactions afforded by smartphones. Smartphones are a rapidly growing platform on which individuals can gamble using specifically designed applications, adapted websites or text messaging. We propose an account based on associative learning that suggests this form of gambling is likely to show distinctive features compared with other gambling technologies. This manuscript reviews the extant literature on key issues related to mobile gambling and considers whether the potential risks of harm emerging from this platform are driven by pre‐existing comorbidities or by psychological processes unique to mobile gambling.
