Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Poker craze has created new breed of problem gambler

WEEKEND EDITION

August 13-14, 2005

For Justin Baum's 21st birthday, his friends took him to the Palms, where he played his first game of casino poker.

After several return visits and time spent watching televised poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker, Baum became skilled at reading his opponents and started winning -- sometimes raking in pots worth thousands of dollars.

But Baum didn't know when to stop. He fought off sleep with Red Bull and coffee during his longest gambling session, which lasted about 70 straight hours.

"I always played until I was broke," he said. "I'd stay out for three days in a row and come home and sleep for three days."

To feed his poker habit, Baum stole money from his parents and borrowed from friends, who were told that the money was for car payments or other needs. One day he left his job at a pharmaceutical plant to gamble and didn't return.

Baum's story is familiar to gambling counselors except for two significant factors. One, he is only 23. And two, his game of choice is poker, one of the hottest forms of entertainment for young people today.

The typical problem gambler historically has mirrored the average casino customer, who tends to be middle aged and plays slot machines. Over time, as more women played slots, counselors noticed more women making calls to hotlines. Experts say the numbers may begin to skew younger as the poker craze, fueled by the glamorization of poker on television, continues.

That is worrying some experts who believe that exposure to gambling at an early age could lead to a gambling problem later.

Arnie Wexler, a compulsive-gambling counselor who runs a national hotline, says he is seeing a significant increase in calls in the last six months involving gamblers in their 20s. Most of the calls involve poker and are coming from parents rather than the gambler.

"I'm getting tons of calls from mothers and fathers," said Wexler, who is based in New Jersey. "Some parents are on the phone with me every week about their kids ... these kids will all tell you they're playing poker."

Their stories run the gamut. Some are stealing thousands of dollars from wealthy parents. Others blow money intended for college.

The reasons point to the same obsession over poker, a once relatively unpopular casino game played mostly by older men. Thanks to a constant stream of television shows and easy access to low-stakes poker games on the Internet, poker has been transformed into a hip pastime for the rich and famous and hordes of others looking for a shot at wealth and fame.

In Las Vegas, all but a handful of casinos have opened or revamped poker rooms to meet the flood of players, many of whom are young and new to casinos.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Thursday that casino poker earnings jumped 48.3 percent to $119.6 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30, by far poker's biggest year-over-year increase in Nevada history.

"The whole face of poker has changed and we need to start paying attention," said Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling. "Do the math. If there are this many people gambling in (college), there will be more people who will have a problem. We have a huge responsibility to look at this from a prevention perspective."

The extent of young compulsive gamblers isn't known because many people have protectors who won't discuss the problem, Wexler said.

"Twenty years ago you couldn't get a woman to talk about a gambling problem," he said. "But once a few women came out of the woodwork more would talk. We are (with young gamblers) where we were 20 years ago with women gamblers."

Last year 9 percent of calls to the Nevada Council, a casino-funded nonprofit organization that runs the state's largest gambler helpline, came from people between the ages of 21 to 25. That compares to 7.5 percent from that age group in 2003.

Those numbers appear low but will likely increase over time, O'Hare said. Compulsive gambling is a "progressive problem" that can take years to develop, she said.

Wexler is more specific.

"I predict that three years from now at least one-third of our calls coming in are going to be coming from people who are younger than 25," he said.

Studies in the United States and Canada indicate that about 80 percent of young people said they gambled during the past year, with at least 10 percent showing early signs of a gambling problem, according to Keith Whyte, the National Council on Problem Gambling's executive director.

Studies consistently have found that problem-gambling rates for youth tend to be significantly higher than those for adults, Whyte said, adding that those findings are often criticized.

One of the latest studies on youth and gambling points to a significant increase in card playing among school-age boys.

A survey released in March by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania showed that 11 percent of males in high school and college reported betting on card games at least once a week in 2004, up from 6 percent the previous year. Eleven percent also said they gamble weekly in person and on the Internet.

As further evidence, Wexler points to an annual youth basketball tournament in Las Vegas called The Main Event. The country's largest summer basketball tournament, broadcast on Fox Sports, attracts thousands of high school kids nationwide who show off for college recruiters. Many will also hear Wexler tell a harrowing story about his battle with gambling addiction.

During last month's event, Wexler -- a longtime friend of the event's producer -- gave about 30 speeches over two days to 4,000 high school basketball stars.

In one classroom at Durango High School, rowdy kids fell silent as Wexler, who has the demeanor of a strict yet kind grandfather, launched into his story.

"I was stealing money every single day in my job and still going to work," Wexler said. "In the end I had eight bucks in the bank and ... sold our car for $500 so I could make another bet."

It's a speech usually reserved for adults in counseling sessions or for casino workers in training courses required by their employers.

"How many of you have gambled before you were 14?" Wexler asks the kids afterward. A few hands go up. "Before you were 18?" A few more hands go up. "How many of you have bet on sports?" More hands go up. "On your own games?" Some hands stay up. "How many of you have bet on poker, live or on the Internet?" About a third raise their hands -- the largest number yet.

Wexler says the tournament, which is sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, is the only one of its kind nationwide in which he will talk about his gambling problem.

"These are high school kids," he said of those who admitted gambling. "When they reach college, they're not going to suddenly turn abstinent."

O'Hare also has gathered evidence of the poker trend influencing gambling behavior.

The Nevada Council recently polled 160 fraternity leaders from nearly 100 schools nationwide who gathered for an event in Las Vegas.

Seventy-four percent said they had played some form of live poker. O'Hare said a "large chunk" of students said they began playing poker when they were between 16 and 19 years old. About 25 percent said their peers might have a gambling problem. And 5 percent said they might have a their own gambling problem.

O'Hare hasn't published the results and has declined to name the fraternity group as part of an agreement she made to conduct the survey.

At the National Council, where calls to the nationwide problem-gambling hotline -- (800) 522-4700 -- are routed to state affiliates, calls are up 25 percent this year. Whyte said his group doesn't know whether it is getting more calls from younger people. Callers who mention poker, however, tend to be younger and have been gambling for a shorter period of time, he said.

"Most kids start gambling before they start trying cigarettes and drinking beer," Whyte said. "We know that kids who gamble are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior." Gambling may be a gateway to dangerous activities such as smoking, unsafe sex and drug abuse, he said.

Whyte said television networks should be doing more to address compulsive gambling.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. is running a public service announcement on compulsive gambling from the national council on ESPN, where the company also airs reruns of its World Series of Poker tournament. The Travel Channel, which airs the competing World Poker Tour, recently negotiated with the National Council to air another PSA.

"If you give me an hour I think I could do better than a 30-second PSA," Whyte said. "Our mantra is that if you're going to promote gambling you've got to promote responsible gambling."

Two years after his first poker game, Baum checked himself into Montevista Hospital. As of June he was down $50,000, about half of which had been stolen or wheedled from friends and family.

Baum was kept on suicide watch for five days and released. He is now in a treatment program for compulsive gamblers and is facing a mountain of unpaid credit card bills and car payments.

He's also facing temptation everywhere he turns.

"If I was living in New York I'd have to drive four hours to get to a casino," Baum said. "Out here I drive five minutes and I'm at the Palms. Everything is way too accessible."

"I want to move out of this town, but I was told if you can beat the problem in this town you can beat it anywhere," he said. "I might just be running away from my problem."

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