Gambling on the iPhone?

There are plenty of card, roulette and Vegas games on the iPhone/iPod Touch - in fact, you can check out some of the best card games here - but what about games that actually pay out? Seeing an opportunity, real casino companies are now getting into the iPhone App game.

Today IGT released Cleopatra, a virtual copy of its popular casino slot machine. Flick the screen or shake your iPhone/iPod Touch to get the wheels spinning.

And no, you don't get any chips if you win - yeah, right - but it will be interesting to see how far Apple will let publishers push these virtual games into real money. For instance, southern states like South Carolina and Louisiana have "arcade" machines give you tickets that, in turn, can be redeemed for credit (or perhaps even cash) at the sponsoring store. They evade federal gambling laws by not directly giving people money. Couldn't a similar technique be done on the mobile phone? I guess we'll find out soon enough.