Gambling: U.S. teens hit by poker craze epidemic
More teenagers have started staying home and working on math skills: calculating percentages, identifying patterns, adding and subtracting. They're playing poker Texas Hold 'em.
"It's probably the hottest craze with teenages going on at this time. There's probably not another activity that they're interested in that's going on right now more than poker-tournament playing," said Pat Fowler, director of the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling.
Since televised Texas Hold 'em tournaments have become the darling of ESPN, the Travel Channel and Bravo, the free-for-all brand of poker has spread like text messages through a high school.
"You see a lot more people playing it now," said Boone High School sophomore Russell LeBlanc, 16, who plays the card game mostly on Saturdays with friends and family. "Since it's been on ESPN, it's really picked up."
The newfound popularity of poker among teens worries some adults.
Orange County in Florida has become the first school district to include anti-gambling lessons in its curriculum. The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling thinks all school systems in the state should warn students of the perils of wagering.
"Instead of doing drugs or alcohol or other destructive behavior, they're now gambling for the excitement, for something to do," said Margie LaBarge, who admits to liking slot machines. She directs the district's Safe and Drug-Free Schools program.
Near Boone High's campus in downtown Orlando, LeBlanc said he has been playing cards for money since he was 11. He said it's obvious that some novices have a gambling problem because he has seen them lose $1,000 at a sitting.
LeBlanc said he has lost as much as $150, but he has also won $500.
At the gambling council, Fowler said she has seen card playing eclipse slot machines and the lottery to become the top reason people call the council's 1-888-ADMIT-IT hotline.
"It's a great concern to us," Fowler said. "In the process there will be many kids who get involved in gambling with this Texas Hold 'em craze, and some of them are going to end up becoming addicted to compulsive gambling."
Texas Hold 'em has become so mainstream with college students that Florida State University has sanctioned a campus tournament in October as part of the school's recreational offerings.
"We're the last ones doing this," said FSU's recreation director, Alicia Crew. "They have offered everywhere. We're not doing anything that anyone else isn't doing."
The prize is an intramural T-shirt.
While some worry about the dangers of kids hunting royal flushes, others say odds are slim that the young players will become addicted.
At USA Darts and Cigars in Orlando, which sells clay-chip poker sets, owner Rich Celenza Sr. said he hasn't seen many card-crazed teens come to his shop. While gambling can be addictive, Celenza said today's youths are not at a great risk.
"How much money can a kid have?" he said. "They don't have any money. They're going to lose what they have in their pockets and go home."
Even the cases of chips seldom sell. People call regularly about prices but then buy them online, said his son, Rich Celenza Jr.
"These are a bunch of kids who can't even afford chips, if you know what I mean," he said.