College-age gamblers

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Win a semester's college tuition by playing in a free on-line poker tournament?
Sounds like a good deal, and, for Jeremy Olisar, 22, a senior at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, it was.
Olisar won a "Win Your Tuition" Texas Hold'em tournament sponsored by AbsolutePoker.com last fall, defeating thousands of other college students to pick up $15,000 to cover one semester's tuition at Carnegie Mellon, where he is majoring in clarinet performance and music composition with a minor in bagpipes and a certificate in music education.
Although Olisar and his family have played card games for years, he said his tournament win "was definitely unexpected."
It was his first experience in a "real" online poker tournament, and he intends to keep playing, noting that he's already qualified for a semifinal spot in AbsolutePoker's spring college tournament now under way. More than 10,000 students are playing, according to an AbsolutePoker spokesman.
Poker tournaments with multimillion-dollar purses being shown on television such as the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker have fueled a growing interest in the game.
Here's the concern
It's also adding to the number of college-age people with gambling addictions.
"That's the biggest growing segment of our population of problem gamblers," said Lynn Burkey, a counselor team leader and gambling counselor for Meridian Services Inc.
He said that 9 percent of the 16-to-25 age group can be classified as problem gamblers.
"They've reached the point where they're spending money they shouldn't be spending," he said.
In this area, there's a lot of sports betting, and a lot of gambling is done in basement poker games as well, Burkey said, noting that parents permit it because they know where their kids are and feel a friendly card game is harmless.
The Internet stuff is new to kids here, he said, although it's beginning to surface in the 17-to-20 age group.
"So many people gamble responsibly, but it's such a fine line," said Ellie Platt, a community development coordinator with Meridian Services.
Problem gambling develops subtly and can become an addiction, she said.
Unlike addiction to drugs or alcohol, there are no telltale signs of gambling addiction, said Arnie Wexler, a New Jersey-based certified compulsive gambling counselor and himself a recovering compulsive gambler.
The addicted gambler appears on the outside to be a normal, functioning member of society, until the bottom falls out, he said.
Wexler runs a national gambling hot line -- (800) LASTBET -- and said one-third of all calls over the past 18 months involved people between age 12 and 25.
"These kids are gambling like crazy. This thing has exploded like nothing I've seen in 38 years. It's easier today, in any high school or college, to place a bet than to buy a pack of cigarettes or a case of beer," Wexler said.
Even in high school
Burkey said he's seeing kids in high school who think they can be a poker champion, and much of that attitude comes from the televised tournaments. The reality is that far less than 1 percent of gamblers are successful at it in terms of making a living, he said.
AbsolutePoker runs a number of tournaments for specific audiences, said spokesman Jason Reindorp, noting that online gaming is a $14 billion-a-year industry worldwide.
AbsolutePoker is a big proponent of "responsible gaming," Reindorp said, noting its Web site has information on where problem gamblers can go for help.
There's even a list of danger signs to look for, and the Web site has daily and weekly gambler deposit limits to help ensure that players aren't spending out of control, he said.
If a player has a concern, the site will even set special limits on their individual spending, and the site can track a player's gaming pattern and history to determine if there is a problem, Reindorp said.
"We want people to enjoy it for what it is -- a game," he said, adding that Internet gaming sites don't want their players to get into trouble.
The majority of people can play the game for the game's sake, Reindorp said.
The founders of AbsolutePoker came up with the idea for the Web site when they met at the University of Montana just a few years ago, he said. The Web site was launched three years ago and is now the fourth-largest poker site in the world.
Their college background was one reason they launched the free "Win Your Tuition" tournament. Another is the fact that playing poker is becoming a very popular pastime on campus, both as a social activity and as a way to take a break from studying, Reindorp said.
At YSU
Officials at Youngstown State University said they've not had any problems surface regarding Internet gambling, although the university has no blocks or filters on any site content.
The university did have to break up one residence hall gambling case this year involving poker that had a number of students gambling for money, a violation of university policy, said Dr. Martin Manning, associate director of student life.
One of those involved had won well over $100 before the university learned of the situation, he said.
Internet gambling on campus might be considered a policy violation as well, he said.
YSU's office of student life held its own Texas Hold'em tournament earlier this school year, and it attracted a lot of students, said Judith Gaines, executive director of student life.
However, that's just a fun event in which participants compete for prizes. There isn't any exchange of money, Manning said.
Gregory Gulas, assistant director of student activities at YSU, said his office hasn't heard about any students gambling on the Internet. If it exists, he said, he would like to have a filter placed on the university's Internet system that wouldn't allow access to such sites.
YSU, as an academic institution, has no content filters in place at this time, said Donna Esterly, interim chief technology officer.
Winner's attitude
There is, however, an "acceptable use" policy and, if the tech staff sees a lot of traffic in one particular area, it investigates, she said. So far, gambling hasn't surfaced, she said.
"I do feel I have some skill in poker," Olisar said, but pointed out that winning one tournament and entering the next won't change his career plans.
"Music is definitely my passion. I wouldn't give it up for anything," he said.
Still, one never knows what might happen down the road, he said.
Gambling addicts, like drug or alcohol abusers, can't just give it up, Platt said. If problem gamblers can't get control of their situation by age 25, they're headed for real problems, she said.
"It looks so easy," and that's one of the attractions, she said. Everyone at that age feels he or she will be the winner.
It's a growing problem, and people are starting to gamble at a younger age, largely because of what they see on television and the Internet, Burkey said.
The Internet makes it so easy, Burkey said.
"You're never more than five minutes away from a gambling opportunity," he said.
gwin@vindy.com