Poker fever raises concerns

IT is a big deal now on some US campuses. And some see it as a dangerous trend. Spurred by televised poker championships and a proliferation of websites that offer online poker game, Ivy Leagues and state universities alike have seen a spurt in the popularity of poker games.

Columbia University for one held a 80-player with a minimum US$10 ($16) bet, while the University of North Carolina held one with 175 players last year, reported the New York Times.

At the University of Pennsylvania, games are a nightly event.

'It's the TV programmes that are driving it,' said Ms Elizabeth George, chief executive of the North American Training Institute, a non-profit organisation that specialises in the problems of pathological and underage gambling.

'Young people particularly are drawn to it. There are superstars, then there's advertising, plus the Internet.

'So with all of those elements, put that into a bag and shake it up and what you have is a remarkably dangerous situation.'

Mr Dan Kline, president of the poker society at the University of Pennsylvania, says that everyone is playing poker at his university.

NAIVE ABOUT DANGERS

'When we started this thing in 2002, about 10 people joined,' Mr Kline said.

'Now when we have a tournament, we'll get 500 people responding in a half-hour to our e-mail.'

Some experts said they fear that college-age gamblers are swallowing the hype of big-stakes poker without coming to grips with the dangers of addiction.

'With gambling on TV, there's been lots of glamorisation, but not much responsibility,' said Mr Keith S Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

'The administrations don't do a good job of telling students how to get help,' he said, 'the same way they're sending the 'prevention and responsibility' messages for alcohol, substance abuse and date rape.'

News Added: 15 March, 2005

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