Slots have come a long way, there's no doubt about it. Although Charles Fey's original slot machine may conceptually resemble today's super-modern video slots — and a bit of external similarity remains, as well — Fey would not recognize or believe what goes on inside a video slot. Some call it the brains, some think of it as the heart, and others as the guts of the slot machine; but however you refer to it, the internal workings of today's slots are a far cry from the mechanical slots of yesteryear.

If you look at the chronology of the development of slots, it can be broken down into four eras: the mechanical slots era, the video slots era, the online slots era and, now, the mobile slots era. In other words, in a little more than a hundred years, slot machines have gone from machines that weighed a few hundred pounds to games that can be played in the palm of your hand - on your mobile phone.

Just like online slots are essentially video slots, mobile slots are not all that different from online slots. The difference is in the convenience factor - online video slots are way more convenient than land-based video slots and mobile slots are even handier than online slots. The slots software is the same and, because current cell phones are basically hand-held computers, the graphics and sounds are just as good on your mobile phone as they are at home on your PC.

The prerequisite to playing slots on your mobile phone is an Internet connection (which most modern cells have today). You have to have a carrier and model that allows mobile gaming (and you can check online if your phone allows you to play in a mobile casino). If you have all that, you're in luck; if you don't and if playing mobile slots is important to you, change phones so that you have the software and connections that are needed.

Once you have the phone and the connection, it is time to download the mobile slots software. Go to an online casino that offers mobile slots and start from there. These sites use an application called wireless application protocol (or WAP). If you already play online with a site that offers mobile slots, then you can use the username and password you already have. If you're not registered yet, then go ahead and do so; it's as easy and quick as signing up for a regular online casino.

Mobile casinos are similar to online casinos in that they also offer support and different banking options along with the all-important opportunity to bet and win real money (or to play for free). The wonders of technology have enabled us to take the slots from the casinos, put them in our homes and now carry the slots in out pocket or bags to play whenever and wherever we want. Mobile slots are great when taking a break or traveling - mobile slots are as mobile as you are.

Mobile gambling is an idea whose time has come. Just as Internet gambling changed the industry in the 1990s, mobile casinos are modernizing the business once again. Right now, even as you read, millions of people are taking advantage of the very latest technology to gamble on their cell phones - what are you waiting for?