Current Events: Teen poker: win, lose, or draw?

Your buddy Billy is dealing this round of hold 'em. It's a quarter past 11 and you've had bad hands all night. You pick up your cards and like what you see: the king and the queen of spades. As you toss your chips into the pot, you try to maintain the disappointed look you have been wearing all night. Here comes the flop: the four of hearts, 10 of diamonds, and jack of spades. Sweet! You up the ante, and three of your buddies fold. But your best friend Tim thinks you're bluffing and stays in the game.

It's time for the turn: the three of diamonds. Tough luck, but there's one more card to go. You can still get your straight with an ace or a nine, right? You convince yourself that the odds are better than they really are, and you go all in. You boldly flip your cards and see Tim's modest pair of fours. You take a deep breath--here comes the river. For a fleeting moment you think it's a nine. It's not. It's the six of clubs! You've got nothing--not even your lunch money.

Sound like a recent Friday night with your friends? We hope not. But odds are that if you're like most teens, you've tried your hand at poker recently. Experts say teen poker parties are popping up around the country because of hit TV shows such as World Poker Tour and Celebrity Poker Showdown. But some people worry that teens are being dealt a bad hand.

Stakes Too High

Gambling can be addictive, warns Keith Whyte of the National Council on Problem Gambling. "Kids are gambling with their health [when they play poker], because for some people this can get very serious indeed," he told USA Today. Compulsive gamblers get hooked on the rush of excitement and can't stop playing--even when they're out of luck. People who start gambling at a young age are more likely to become problem gamblers, Whyte explained.

Arizona state Sen. Karen Johnson is appalled by the number of parents willing to host teen poker parties. "It's incomprehensible to me that parents would think anything good would come of this.... Why show kids any vice?" she told The Arizona Republic.

Deal With It

California parent Deborah Rodman thinks it's a risk worth taking. "I think Josh playing poker is great. I know where he is, and he spends less on this than going to the movies," she told USA Today. And while gambling might be an issue for some people, she said, "I think the risk is far greater having [Josh] roaming around out there."

Playing poker is a learning experience for Bruce Wilson, a junior at Long Reach High School in Columbia, Md. "There is a lot of quick math involved, and you have to be able to ... have a certain amount of focus," he told The Baltimore Sun.

High school junior Firas Mustapha just thinks playing poker is fun. In an editorial for the Tulsa World, he wrote: "Poker is just a fun way to spend a Saturday night.... Anyone who sees poker as more than that should really just chill."

Get Talking

Ask students: What is poker? How is it played? Why might some people object to teens playing poker?

Notes Behind the News

* Poker sets were among the holidays' hottest gifts. U.S. sales of Bicycle playing cards were up 30 percent last year, and demand for poker sets doubled, according to U.S. Playing Card Co.

* A summer U.S. Playing Card survey indicated that, on average, teens play cards about four times a month, and that 23 percent of teens who play cards play poker most often.

* According to a federally funded report by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, 2.5 million to 3.2 million American adults and 1.1 million teens between the ages of 12 and 18 are compulsive gamblers.

* The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) reports that 50 percent of teens who gamble are likely to binge drink and 75 percent smoke marijuana.

* According to NCPG, the following signs indicate that a teen might be developing a gambling habit: spending all of their allowance or paycheck on gambling; borrowing money to gamble; selling possessions to gamble; gambling for a longer duration than planned; talking about gambling as a way to make money; making repeated unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling.

Doing More

Gambling laws vary from state to state. Arizona, for example, forbids anyone younger than 21 to gamble in any form. Laws banning social gambling, such as a home poker game, are rarely enforced. Have students research gambling laws in your state.

Link It

* National Council on Problem Gambling: www.ncpgambling.org

* Gambling and the Law: www.gamblingandthelaw.com