Gambling problems prevalent in college

A part time job and student loans are not quite enough to pay for bills, school and leisure for many students.

More and more college students have turned to card games like Texas hold 'em and blackjack to get their thrills.

Forty percent of 18 to 22-year-olds gambled monthly in 2007, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Pennsylvania. Due to a federal law curtailing Internet gambling, the percent has declined since 2006.

The epidemic of online gambling may be due to the more than 2,500 Internet-based casinos promising to pay tuition and virtual women waving money.

Though it has been known to work for some, many college students struggle with their gambling losses by lying and stealing or continuing to gamble and win back their money lost with money they don't have.

"We are young and optimistic," said Mike Engstrom, a second-year business major. "I guess losing a bunch of money can't take that away from us, so we keep doing it."

College students are three times more likely than adults to have a gambling problem, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

A majority of college student gambling is done online at sites like at the best sites advertising for Poker at Cappers Picks..

"I have spurts of gambling that last for maybe a couple weeks then I get sick of it," said Jordan Hubbard, a third-year geography major. "I would play every day for a couple hours during my spurts."

The casino, pull tabs, scratch-offs and sports bets are not as popular as online poker or the second leading favorite among students, local house poker gatherings, but are still used occasionally.

"I know a couple college students who have made over $100,000 in the last year but still live in their rooms gambling," Hubbard said. "I know some students who have lost a lot and are doing the same thing."

People may be more likely to become addicted to gambling if they begin at a young age, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

"I probably learned how to play poker with my friends when I was 15," Engstrom said. "When I win I feel that mad rush and that will make you want to do it again."

According to The New York Council on Problem Gambling, half a million college students could be addicted to gambling.

"I have 5 to 10 good friends who will spend weeks in their rooms gambling online," Hubbard said.

The dorms and local bars are also hot spots for a late night poker game.

"I've played for 12 hours and through the night before...and ended up losing everything," Hubbard said. "I didn't have a job and I really didn't have much else to do."

"When I first started I was about $1,000 down," Hubbard said. "That's a lot for a college student."

Engstrom and Hubbard started gambling in high school because their friends did it and still play poker about once a week. They agree the more money at stake the bigger the rush, which causes placing higher bets.

Of the nation's nearly 16 million college students, one out of four gamble, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.

College administrators worry most about the addiction pathological gambling, a progressive disease that devastates not only the gambler but everyone with whom he or she has a significant relationship. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association accepted pathological gambling as a "disorder of impulse control." It is an illness that is chronic and progressive, but it can be diagnosed and treated.

Emma Helfrich
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
universitychronicle.com

[chuck]

I dont really mind kids gambling if their legal to do so. The problem I see is a kid making 100k/year and living in a dorm room still doing the same thing. You know if I had 100k I would be taking a vacation somewhere at least get one semester off man!

[Sampson]

I don't mind college kids gambling either, as long as it doesn't become an addiction, but I wish that I could make that much gambling!