Zynga Mobile Poker Now Available on Android

The massively popular play-chips Zynga poker platform is now available for Android mobile users.

Rumors of a Zynga Android launch have been circulating for some time; the company formally announced development of the application in November 2010. Iphone users have been able to to access the popular Facebook-based play money poker application via Zynga’s Live Poker app since 2008.

Both applications require you to have a Facebook account to play.

Note that the application connects you to Zynga Poker via your Facebook log in, so you might want to double-check all of your broadcasting settings before playing Zynga Poker on your mobile in order to avoid word of your poker exploits reaching those you’d prefer it not.

Android users can search for the app in the Market or use the attached QR Code to download the application.

Zynga’s increasing reach in the casual poker market places the company in an interesting position as regulation of online poker advances on both the state and federal level in the US. The company would be a very attractive potential partner for a casino entity looking to access a massive player base in a hurry, especially given the inherently viral nature of the Facebook-based game.

Major players in the real-money poker world such as the World Poker Tour (WPT) and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) are currently playing catch-up to Zynga when it comes to Facebook poker player bases.

Zynga’s entry into the Android universe is the second piece of big news for Android-owning poker fans in under a month. In late November, Full Tilt Poker announced the release of a Rush Poker Mobile application – one of the first forays into real-money mobile poker by a major online poker room.

The application was dropped from the Market after new ratings guidelines put the kibosh on real-money gambling, but Android users can still play Rush Poker on their devices – you just need to download the application directly from Full Tilt or use the QR code FTP provides.