Betting anytime, anywhere - and at any stage of a game?

A start-up and one of the biggest telecoms equipment manufacturers think they have cracked the ultimate in convenience betting. But, as Ben Charny asks, can the proposition work anywhere?

Placing a wager on a sporting event after it has begun has become reasonably common practice in the internet age - but is there still room for improvement. German software start-up Scaraboo and telephone equipment maker Siemens certainly seem to think so.

Technology developed by the two was tested at the football World Cup this summer. 02 subscribers in Germany were able to guess the outcome of matches up until the last few seconds of each contest, said Scaraboo CEO Juergen Lukas.

Now Siemens and Scaraboo are marketing the technology to other wireless carriers, raising both interest and concern among the betting industry. For instance, Frank Shoop, chairman of the Kentucky Racing Commission, said not to expect it in the US, where it's currently illegal to bet over the phone. Still, he called the idea "worthy of discussions".

"If someone wants to bet on a horse race after it's begun, then let them bet," Shoop said.

But some major casinos, already contending with internet gambling's in-roads, say even with a legal fix, live betting might not be worth it for the gaming industry. "I really don't see how it would fit into our business plan," said Rob Stewart, a spokesman for the owners of the Flamingo Las Vegas resort.

Scaraboo's system is meant for sporting events but not all kinds. Because it can take one minute to appropriately enter a bet, a shorter event like a 100 metre dash would be over before another bet could be made.

"It can be any sport but some sports make more sense than the others," Lukas said.

Lukas said live betting equipment uses a mix of traditional technology that lets someone send emails from mobiles and new software that determines 'dynamic odds', or odds that change as a match progresses.

The equipment made its debut during the month-long World Cup in Japan and Korea. Punters were able to make as many bets on a game as they wanted, up until the dying moments. Each bet counted separately.

To bet, users dialled a number associated with each country's team and entered in the amount they wanted to wager. A wireless email was sent back asking the user to confirm all the details, which included the odds on the contest. Any winnings or losses were logged into an account the user had set up.

One of the major hurdles was deciding what to do about the games' odds. Before bookies offer live betting they will want constantly changing odds, Shoop said.

Scaraboo's M.Traction software did the trick, Lukas said. It was able to change a contest's odds on the fly by following the amount of money being bet and what was being bet on, he said.

For example, during the final game of the World Cup, Brazil took a 1-0 lead at the start of the second half of play. Suddenly, the amount of money being bet on Brazil to win the game started skyrocketing. The Scaraboo software sensed the increase in money being bet on Brazil and shortened the odds on the Brazilians winning the contest.

Because the amount of money being bet on Germany plummeted at the same time, the odds on Germany winning became wider, Lukas said.

"We don't tell the software there has been a goal," he said. "The odds were recognised by the behaviour of the people's bets."

Right now, Lukas said he's targeting only European mobile operators. Unlike in the US, in Europe using a phone to make a bet is legal. Scaraboo recently won permission from a major European wagering body, Eurotip, that cleared the way for the service to be used throughout most of the continent.

Siemens has now included the Scaraboo software into the line-up of goods sold to wireless carriers, according to a Siemen's spokesman. A Siemens spokesman declined to comment on whether any carrier has actually bought the software.

But unless there is a major change in US law, it's likely that live betting won't be a reality there.

The main problem is how the wagers are made. A 1934 law makes betting over a phone line illegal. "You can't make a bet over the phone. That's what [illegal] bookies do," said a cellphone industry source who asked for anonymity.

Some US companies aren't taking too kindly to gambling via the internet, which could be another blow for gambling over mobiles.

For example, as part of its purchase of online bill payment service PayPal, eBay announced it would discontinue PayPal's online gaming business, because of the "uncertain legal situation" around online gaming. And banking giant Citibank recently announced it is no longer processing credit card payments from off-shore gambling companies.

"From a technical standpoint, it would be a triumph, I'm sure," Stewart said. "But the major issues will be legal and regulatory."

Ben Charny writes for CNET News.com.