Teen poker games growing in popularity in Dakota County homes

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http://www.casinobuzz.com Odds are good that flipping through television channels day or night will eventually lead you to a green felt table, stacks of chips and many colorful characters.

Everybody from movie stars Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire to Gabe Kaplan, yes, Mr. Kotter, seems to be playing on television to varying success.

And, play isn?t limited to movie stars or television. The craze has caught on for all ages, especially for many teenagers, and homes seem to be the venue of choice.

Burnsville High School senior Drew Kipperts, 18, started playing poker last fall.

?I remembered watching it on television, especially the ?World Series of Poker? on ESPN, and it looked fun. I learned mostly from watching TV and then my friends would play after the football games in the fall.?

Drew says what drew him to poker is the challenge and the skill needed to be good at it.

?There are so many different variations on ways you can play the game and there is so much skill involved. I like to try to master it and it brings a challenge.?

Apple Valley High School junior Chad Gerber, 17, has been playing poker for two years. Like Drew, he was introduced to the game from cable broadcasts.

?I enjoy the challenge of playing the game and the conversation while playing with friends.? Chad says he plays about once a week and maybe twice a week during school breaks.

All-in

Drew and his friends often get together Friday nights to play poker. Both Drew and Chad say the game has clearly grown in popularity with their peers.

?It?s very, very popular,? Drew says. ?All the juniors [at Burnsville High School] play and I know there are many students who get together to play often.?

Chad estimates 20 percent of the male students at Apple Valley High School play poker on a regular basis.

According to the 2004 Minnesota Student Survey given to high school students, 67 percent of male high school seniors in Dakota County report they played cards for money at least once in the past year, with 20 percent of them playing once a week and 8 percent said they play daily.

The numbers are similar at the ninth-grade level, with 55 percent saying they played at least once in the past year, 14 percent reported doing so weekly and 7 percent said they played daily.

Since the survey began in 1992, the number of students reporting that they gamble for money, other than at cards, has decreased.

Perhaps reflecting the enthusiasm for poker, responses about playing cards for money have fluctuated very little since 1992.

And the signs of the rising popularity of poker, especially the Texas Hold?em variety, aren?t limited to television. Stores feature poker gift sets and online poker ads pop up frequently while surfing the net.

Calculating the risk

State gambling enforcement officials say private, social betting is legal among minors, but parents should watch to ensure the games don?t turn into high-stakes gambling events.

Frank Ball, director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety?s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, says he often receives calls from parents wondering about the legality of their children?s casual poker games.

?I tell them: ?Let them play cards, but be mindful of the betting.? If you see them betting their allowances, say, ?why don?t you play for toothpicks or monopoly money instead???

While any form of gambling has the potential for addiction, John Gessner, a state certified gambling treatment counselor, says his younger patients tend to get caught up more in slots and casino gambling.

?We?ve seen a huge influx in the number of young people who have problems with mostly slots,? says Gessner, who founded Gambler?s Relief, a treatment clinic in Savage.

?From what I?ve seen is that poker is too slow for most problem gamblers. Pathological gamblers are more addicted to the speed and the rush and there isn?t as much of that in poker.?

Raising the ante

Need proof to see how popular poker has become to high school students?

Lakeville High School?s DECA program earlier this year raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through a charitable poker tournament.

Amanda Bringgold, a senior and Lakeville High?s DECA vice president of Civic Consciousness, says: ?We wanted to get other kids involved so it would be successful, so we chose a poker tournament. We wanted it to be fun.?

The fundraiser was a success, with 64 students and teachers registering to play Texas Hold?em. Students paid $10 to enter the tournament and played with chips that could win them prizes donated by local businesses.

According to DECA teacher Mike Zweber, there has not been a big concern by parents and school staff about uncontrollable gambling habits among the students.

Kelly Heskett, a Burnsville High School senior and student adviser to the District 191 school board, says a large number of students at the school play poker.

?Especially Texas Hold ?Em. A lot of guys do play and it?s really a huge thing that started last year. I know this year a lot of the juniors play and it?s big with the seniors, as well.?

Kelly says she hasn?t seen problems developing from playing poker because most students play at home and most play in groups over weekends.

She has played poker occasionally and has visited Mystic Lake Casino.

?It really is something most students do when they turn 18. I went on my 18th birthday and I?ve gone with girlfriends out there. Part of it is it?s so close and easy to get to. It?s fun. You go down, play some slots and maybe some blackjack, drink free pop and end up spending $8 for the night. Where else can you have that much fun with friends for $8??

A misdeal?

However, not all officials think the increasing popularity of poker is a good thing.

Betty George, director of the North American Training Institute, a Duluth-based non-profit organization dealing with youth gambling problems, says studies have shown that compared with adults, minors are three to four times more at risk of developing a gambling addiction. Poker only adds to that attraction.

?The power of the win is very attractive to teenagers, who are less likely than adults to understand that winning is a random thing,? she says.

Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, says poker is becoming that much more popular because ?it's fun and exciting. You turn on the TV and you see it all the time. It?s glamorized in a way most other addictions aren?t.

?There?s the impression that through skill you can beat the odds. But randomness is always going to have a bigger factor in determining the outcome than your skill. And, unfortunately, that?s not the message these kids get.?

School officials are aware that poker can become a problem, but only if students get too caught up in it, spend too much of their money or get distracted from other, more important activities.

Eagan High School Principal Polly Reikowski says she?s never observed students gambling at school but is aware of the popularity of poker games in private homes.

?I know that a lot parents think it?s a great thing. It?s better than a lot of things teens could get into and they feel it helps them with thinking and math skills and it?s hard to argue against that point,? she says.

Henry Sibley High School Principal Beth Borgen says gambling is ?certainly on the rise. We see it with everybody, but mostly with male students these days. Kids will gamble on many things, from craps to cards to gambling on how many steps they can jump.?

Reikowski brought in former EHS drama teacher Denny Swanson to share his gambling addiction experiences with senior students last spring. She says the decision wasn?t in reaction to anything specific she has seen.

?Most of the students are never going to have a problem with it, but there is a small percentage we know who are going to have a problem and we wanted to reach those students.?

Swanson has spoken to students at Apple Valley High School, where he also taught, and hopes for more opportunities to speak to high school students.

Swanson has his own history with compulsive gambling, but has been clean of all forms of gambling for 11 years.

?It was a huge problem in my life, back in the early 1990s, which nearly destroyed me,? Swanson says. ?I know firsthand how devastating compulsive gambling can be for the gambler and the family.?

During his last two years teaching at EHS, Swanson says he became increasingly aware of extensive gambling by some students. He recalls overhearing conversations about students coming directly to school in the morning from the casino or playing in weekend poker tournaments at $1,000 buy in prices.

While most students won?t fall into those types of activities, Swanson says that for some it will be too enticing to resist.

?Most people gamble for fun and recreation and leave it at that. But for some, about 4 percent to 6 percent, it becomes compulsive and potentially very harmful and destructive.?

Turning the cards

Drew and Chad share similarities with many other students who are into poker. They are successful students and student council members. They are also both active in sports, with Drew playing varsity soccer and Chad playing on his school?s golf team and being active in intramural sports.

There are parents and educators who say poker is relatively harmless for most teenagers.

?I didn?t have a problem at all when Drew first started playing,? says George Kipperts, Drew?s father. ?We all played different card games and poker games growing up and it?s just for fun.?

Drew says he has never known anybody who developed a problem from playing in the regular games, but he is aware it could happen.

?There are people who take it too far. Those are the guys who usually dream of having careers as poker players and get way too into it. But, for my friends it?s not to that extent at all. We put like $10 in and we realize we could lose it, but we can play for hours off that. It?s fun and we don?t do it every weekend.?

Chad says his friends usually put in $5 or so every time they play.

?There isn?t much riding on whether you win or lose, especially since most of us have jobs. I don?t play poker to make or lose money. I play because it?s a good activity to do with friends.?

Drew?s father agrees.

?There certainly is the possibility of going overboard, but that?s true of anything,? Kipperts says. ?It?s a popular thing for their group and for kids today. They put in 5 bucks for a night of fun and it?s a lot better than some of the alternatives out there.?

When teen gambling spins out of control

When a gambling problem reaches the point where it is considered pathological gambling, it isn?t about the money anymore, says treatment counselor John Gessner.

?It?s the rush of playing and that?s what they are looking for,? says Gessner, who founded Gambler?s Relief, a treatment clinic in Savage. ?By the time they get to that point of having a problem, it?s not about the money at all.?

If it?s not poker, there are other forms of gambling that attract teens. Casinos are popular with those turning 18, as are football number boards and the annual March Madness bracket challenge.

When a teenager becomes addicted to gambling, parents often mistake the symptoms for that of a drug addiction because they are similar, Gessner says.

?They are often broke and that?s the first sign. It?s very similar to other addictions in they are not paying attention to the things they should be paying attention to. They will often lose their jobs, stay out all night and by the time they get to treatment, they?ve likely turned to stealing money to support their habit.?

At the Dakota County Attorney?s Office, very few, if any, juvenile crimes related to gambling come through the system, says Donald Bruce, head of the office?s Juvenile and Protective Services Division.

That doesn?t mean the office hasn?t seen its share of adults with gambling problems committing crimes to support their habit.

Those cases are more common, such as a Lakeville resident who stole more than $1 million from his Eagan employer over the course of a year, or a Golden Valley woman who pleaded guilty in 2000 to defrauding Dakota County churches to cover her gambling habit.

Gambling has been on the increase for years in our society and Gessner says one reason for the increase is casinos.

?It?s often started with the rite of passage of going to the casinos,? he says. ?These days once you turn 18, you get together with your friends and go to the casino. Nearly every teen does it and there is a certain percentage who make that trip who get hooked.?

When he talks with students, former Eagan High School drama teacher Denny Swanson tries to share not only his personal story with the progression of gambling addiction, but also give information about signs and symptoms of problem teenage gambling.

Gambling, and especially Texas Hold?em poker, is attractive to students because the media glamorizes it, Swanson says. He also points to casinos as a reason teen gambling is on the rise.

?Along with California we are the only state in the country admitting 18 year olds into the casinos. It seems to be the rite of passage for the 18-year-old senior.?

A variety of resources exist for parents who think their child might have a gambling problem:

? The North American Training Institute offers sites dedicated to youth gambling: www.wannabet.org and probablynot.net.

? The National Council on Problem Gambling offers a short quiz on its Web site www.ncpgambling.org for people who think they may have a problem with gambling.

? Another quiz, tailored more toward teens, is at www.education.mcgill.ca/gambling/en/selfquiz.htm.

? Gamblers Anonymous offers a variety of resources through its Web site, www.gamblersanonymous.org, as well as a Minnesota Hotline offering support, 952-922-3956.

? The Minnesota Problem Gambling Helpline is also available at 1-800-333-HELP if you suspect you or a loved one has a problem with gambling.

Signs of trouble

? Missing out on school and other important events due to gambling

? Preventing family and friends from knowing how much they gamble

? Spending all their free time gambling

? Dreaming of solving problems by making a big win

? Feeling upset or guilty about money lost on gambling

? Daydreaming about gambling

? Gambling with money supposed to be used for other things, including school lunches, clothes or bus fare

? Believing gambling is the most exciting activity to do
By Joshua Nichols

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