The UK Gambling Commission is looking into whether social gaming should be governed by the same rules as gambling.

Corporate affairs manager John Travers told This Is Money that the situation was under review, suggesting that social gaming maybe on the edge of current legislation.

He said: “The key question is, is it gambling or not? We are monitoring developments and assessing any wider implications for licensing objectives.”

Driven by the growing popularity of smartphones, the social gaming market is expected to triple to almost $4bn annually by 2013.