Underage gambling, underage drinking and minors smoking cigarettes....
After attending several Friday night poker sessions with the guys, it became clear everything was acceptable behaviour.
There are players of all ages, the youngest typically being 16, getting together to try and win a few bucks. You can usually see a minor going for that “cool” look — a beer in one hand, his cards in another and a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
People usually aren’t allowed to smoke in one another’s houses, so there are always a few breaks to insure that those dying for a smoke get their wish. Hard drugs at the game are a no-no, but once in a while a few guys might show up high or want to smoke a joint afterwards.
Players usually know one another unless someone brings a friend. After seeing each other a few times, friends of friends become friends of the group.
The crowd, despite the average age, is incredibly tame. When someone loses, he never ends up turning over the table or starts swinging or shooting at anyone as depicted in the old western flicks. The worst that happens are occasional arguments between friends.
For generations, adults have been playing card games for money. A few have won some memorable pots. But more people lose than win.
But what happens when a teen gets involved in card games and it becomes a bad habit?
Poker has become a hot trend lately, and is being played more and more by people of all ages. Teens appear to be playing the game more often nowadays. With so many tournaments on TV and a wide variety of Internet sites available, it’s no surprise that young people want to be in on the action.
Online is where it gets dangerous for underage players as some sites don’t make it too hard to make sure the person playing is actually of legal age.
And with poker chips and tables readily available at stores at an affordable price, Friday night poker sessions are all but the norm for high school students looking for some fun.
TJ Nathaniel, a 19-year-old former Oakwood Collegiate student, says he’s been gambling since he was about 15 or 16. He began playing poker on the Internet at 17, even though the legal age for online betting is 18.
His style of poker is No-Limit Texas Hold ’Em. He used to play at least five times a week, then stopped for a short while when the site he frequented closed down. He eventually moved on to an-other one.
“If I had nothing to do, I’d play every day,” he says.
At age 18 he began gambling legally online. While he has never been in a live multi-tournament event, he says he has played tournaments online.
“I used to play two a day, or at least 19 a week.”
From the comforts of home he would gamble with strangers almost every day of the week. On average he would play $100 a game, and between $20 and $300 a game for multi-tournaments.
TJ says his biggest single-game loss was $300, while he has lost as much as $1,100 in one session.
While it may seem TJ is down a lot of money, he says the opposite is true.
“I began playing with $100 and I’m up to $10,000 (in winnings) now,” he said.
Although he hasn’t played in a while, because his site of choice has undergone some changes he doesn’t like, TJ says he intends to keep playing for as long as he feels like it.
Jeff, 17, gambles any way possible.
“I play poker, craps, cilo, backgammon — pretty much anything you can gamble on — but poker is my best and favorite game,” he says. “I play every and any style: Omaha, 7-Card Stud, Texas Hold ’Em.”
Though he used to attend Central Commerce, Jeff was not in school at the time he spoke with the <em>Town Crier</em>, but he had plans on returning in January. He plays poker once a week with people much older than himself.
“I’m the youngest player there,” he said. “The other guys are people’s fathers — some may even be my friends’ fathers, I don’t know.”
The games start at 9 o’clock with $40 buy-ins until 10:30 p.m. From there on it’s freeze out, tournament style. The winner takes home 70 percent of the pot and second place gets 30 percent.
“I usually win,” says Jeff, claiming that he is up to $1,200, a substantial amount considering he started betting with the allowance money his parents gave him. “These guys are rich and don’t really know how to play.
“It’s just fun for them.”
His biggest tournament was in July. Buy-ins were $50 and 16 people participated. A 16-year-old named Oscar won first place.
According to studies conducted by the <a href="http://www.camh.net" target=_blank onClick="this.blur();return true;">Centre for Addiction and Mental Health</a>, 83 percent of Ontario adults say they gamble and almost 3.8 percent — about 340,000 people — admit they have moderate-to-severe problems with gambling.
A 1997 study suggested youth are 2–5 times more likely to develop gambling problems than adults. With risk taking reaching its peak, young people tend to act more impulsively than adults and tend to think about the present more than the future. Youth also have more disposable income.
“(Youth have a) greater inclination towards risk taking, and having relatively less financial responsibility can contribute to youth being more vulnerable to problem gambling,” the CAMH website says.
Experts say addiction signs may be difficult to pick up.
“Addiction signs are low in many, but some are taking money and grades are suffering, says Arenzah Delden. “I used to work for a parents helpline and I’d get lots of calls from parents saying they were missing money.
“They thought it was drugs and would find the odd lottery ticket here and there but wouldn’t put it together. The signs are hidden.”
But not everyone is placing bets on teens having a problem.
Rob Simpson, of the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, says the media is making too much fuss about the issue of teen gambling.
“I don’t think it’s a problem,” he said.
His opinion comes from the results of a recently completed $500,000 study, which covered eight provinces, done for the research centre by Jamie Wiebe.
“Where are these teens?” he answered when asked about addicted teens. “We can’t find them.”
Results of the study suggest addicted teens are hard to find. Males between 21 and 24 were found to have the biggest problems.
This data contradicts that of a 2001 study by the <a href="http://www.responsiblegambling.org" target=_blank onClick="this.blur();return true;">Responsible Gambling Council of Ontario</a>, which found more than 65 percent of youth participate in some form of gambling. Research also showed that adolescent gambling was increasing in Canada and that, in 2001, 66 percent of students would gamble throughout the year.
Durand F. Jacobs, Clinical Professor of Medicine at Loma Linda University in California, said by the time children in North America are 12 years old the majority of them will have already gambled for money, leading to future gambling problems.
Poker still seems to be getting the upper hand, no matter which researcher’s data is correct.
Several teenagers interviewed say they used to play once a week, on weekends, but the poker games have grown to a few times a week now, with groups of friends getting together for a game or two during one night.
One young man reported having lost more than $150 in the last month. Another said he lost $100 in a single week.
Joseph, 18, a former Oakwood Collegiate student now studying business at Ryerson University, confesses to having lost “somewhere around $200” in the last two months playing poker.
“I play one or two games once or twice a week, and pretty much always lose,” he says. “I used to win more often but I switched up my style of playing and it hasn’t been working.”
Joseph plays ball hockey in a GTA men’s league. His teammates play poker as well.
“I had a teammate, about 25 years old, and he’d come to the (hockey) games handing out flyers to everyone for poker tournaments he’d throw. I think the buy-ins were $50.”
Although Joseph doesn’t remember what the pot size was, he figures it would have to be a substantial amount of money with a high number of players buying in at $50 each.
Karna, a councillor at the Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline who didn’t want her full name published, said parents should consider disconnecting the Internet or blocking poker sites if they think their teens’ gambling habits may be getting out of hand.
“People keep trying to win and the added issue of money worsens it,” she said. “People get addicted to the game, then chase money as well.”
She thinks social poker is totally different. Being an excuse to see friends, she sees it as a good thing.
“You’re learning and developing skills and being challenged to do better, and the better you get the more challenging it is,” Karna says. “It’s very appealing to people.”
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