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Teen Poker Games Raise Concerns

ST. PAUL, Minnesota – As reported by the St. Paul's Pioneer Press: "It's hip. It's sexy. It's a fixture on cable TV. Ben Affleck is king.

"So perhaps it's not surprising that poker's popularity among celebrities is infecting teens. From high school cafeterias to college dorm rooms to professional card clubs, teens and young adults are playing for money, sometimes big money. Many believe they can beat the system.

"Teens - mostly boys - say poker is just a cool game that requires strategy and quick thinking, just the kind of talents teachers should love. Addictions are rare, they say.

"But if addiction is rare, teens playing cards for cash increasingly is not. Principals and teachers worry poker and gambling are uncomfortably close companions and that poker's newfound appeal may create new problems at school.

"…More than a quarter of Minnesota high school senior boys surveyed in 2001 said they played cards for money at least once a month. One in 25 said they did so daily. Those numbers are expected to climb when 2004 results from the Minnesota Student Survey come out this fall.

"…Nationally, half of 14- to 18-year-old boys said they've gambled for money, according to a 2003 survey by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center. Only 16 percent of adolescent females report having ever gambled. One in 10 boys said they gambled on the Internet at least once in an average month. Seven percent of 22,000 Vermont high schoolers surveyed recently reported signs of problem gambling.

"…People who develop gambling problems usually start early, most often in their teens, as a fun thing to do with friends, according to the nonprofit California Council on Problem Gambling.

"…But at-risk teen gamblers tend to play for different reasons than those who do so only for entertainment. At-risk gamblers play primarily to win money and for excitement in addition to personal enjoyment, researchers at Montreal's McGill University found in a recent study. Social gamblers said they played far more for enjoyment than for excitement or to win money.

"…Experts first suggest urging parents to talk to their children about gambling: one more unpleasant subject to broach along with sex, alcohol and drugs…"

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