The game, which he created in his spare time, made Demeter $250,000 in its first two months on Apple’s “App Store” — enough to entice him to quit his job as an ATM software designer and start his own game development studio.

But Demeter’s game earned mere pocket change compared with some of the other independent developers who’ve hit it big recently. Look no further than Ethan Nicholas, a one-man team who watched his own game, iShoot, climb to No. 1 on Apple’s list of most popular paid applications.

In just two weeks, iShoot netted Nicholas almost $400,000 in profits… and the application is still selling as we type. That mountain of money has prompted Nicholas too to quit his day job at Sun Microsystems to pursue game development full time.

The move was a decisive one for Nicholas. And his response to those who ridiculed his move to leave his lucrative day job was in the true spirit of a self-made businessman: This is why you will never be rich.

There’s also the story of the hit iPhone game, Tap Tap Revenge. The application is essentially a handheld version of Guitar Hero, in which the player attempts to tap the proper notes to the beat of a song. The game, which is available for free on the App Store, has been downloaded over two million times.

Tapulous, the developer of the game, recently started inserting advertisements in the game. With a strategy that has become increasingly popular during the broadband era, the company gave away their product for free, and then figured out how to generate revenue later (much like Google-NASDAQ:GOOG- did with Gmail).

The potential of the mobile applications is enormous. Small software developers stand to make a great deal of money as smart phones become increasingly common.

But just because you don’t have any game-creation skills doesn’t mean that you’re precluded from getting a piece of the mobile game market — and who knows… maybe, you too will be able to quit your day job. We believe this mobile marketing revolutionary will make a significant impact this year, and the early small-cap investors stand to make some huge profits along the way.

Source: Mobile Game Developers Present Investing Opportunity

This from Smart Profits Report:

From late 2005 until about a year ago, gaming and casino stocks racked up huge gains – especially those with a strong presence in Macau. These include Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN), and the MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM).

Since late 2007, however, these stocks have endured a huge drop, losing 70% to 90% of their value. Casino-related stocks such as International Game Technologies (NYSE:IGT) and Shuffle Master (Nasdaq:SHFL) have also lost a good chunk of their value.

For China, allowing some U.S. casinos to enter the Macau market is a big deal. This paves the way for further penetration into the Asian markets, which is why the casinos mentioned above did so well from 2005 to 2007.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these three casino stocks made their highs in October 2007 – the same month that the Chinese stock market (SSE Composite) topped out. Since then, the SSE Composite has lost close to 70% of its value.

Chinese Visa Restrictions Stifle The Action Around The Craps Table

So why has this sector endured such a brutal selloff?

There are a number of other reasons, including recessionary pressures, a lack of funding for some of the U.S.-based Macau casinos, plus China’s efforts to limit the number of visas that residents of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong need to enter Macau.

As of October 1, residents now are allowed one trip every three months instead of two months – bad news since Guangdong customers are one of Macau’s biggest revenue sources. This has investors wondering if China has any additional changes in mind, with the uncertainty weighing on these casino stocks.

Until last week, that is…

The Upside And Downside Scenarios For These Three Sector Stalwarts

Last Tuesday, LVS, WYNN, and MGM all made their recent lows. But that was the trigger point for a huge rally, with the stocks then posting gains of 100% to 200% over a four-day period.

Let’s take a quick look at upside and downside…

Upside: Based on the intraday charts, these three stocks probably have higher to go, at least over the near-term.

Downside: The intermediate-term picture is a little hazier. None of the three have triggered daily buy signals yet. Moreover, if the stock indexes are in a bearish consolidation pattern and go on to make new lows, they could give back some, or all, of their recent gains.

However, if the S&P 500 makes new lows, and moves down to the 765 area, and these three stocks do not make new lows with the index, it should represent a good, intermediate-term buying opportunity.

How To Play The Casino Like James Bond

If the gaming and casino stocks have set their lows, LVS, WYNN, and MGM should benefit more than the others.

However, if you want to diversify and spread your risk in this sector, there are a couple of other ways to do it.

Take a look at the Ladenburg Thalmann Gaming and Casino Fund (MUTF:GACFX). Unlike the Market Vectors Gaming ETF (AMEX:BJK), which is less than a year old, I prefer this fund because there is more data to analyze.

Here’s a weekly chart of GACFX, with a regression channel drawn from the October 2007 high.

The top of the regression channel this week is around $5.20, but for each week that passes by, the regression channel drops about $0.15. A couple of weekly closes above the regression channel should be bullish over the longer-term.

Source: There’s Money In This Sector… Literally