Oregon Problem Gambling Helpline

Poker and Youth: An overview

If you’ve been watching television or been to the mall lately, you may have noticed that poker has become a big trend. From TV shows to poker kits in toy stores, the interest in poker (particularly the Texas Hold’em game) continues its popularity, causing concern among public health experts about the rise in youth gambling.

Many prevention experts believe that education about the risks and consequences of youth gambling is key in helping youth, parents, educators, and communities make informed and responsible choices about gambling.

“All in”: Fast facts on the poker craze

Tidbits on a trend

• The U.S. Playing Card Company produced more than 1 billion poker chips in the last three years, nearly half of them since 2004 (U.S. Playing Card Company, 2005)
• Worldwide online poker revenue jumped to more than $1 billion last year, up from $365 million in 2003 and is expected to hit $2.4 billion in 2005 (Christiansen Capital Advisors, 2005)
• The “World Poker Tour” series on cable’s travel channel drew an average of 1.5 million viewers in 2004 (Nielson Media Research, 2004)
• In the last two years, the number of products has continued to increase. A search on the word “poker” on Amazon.com in 2007 (Coe, 12/20/07) revealed:
  - 11,395 links in “Sports & Outdoors”
  - 1,374 links on “Apparel”
  - 2,068 links on “Toys & Games”
  - 288 links on “Software”
  - 354 links on “Video Games”
  - 673 MP3 Downloads

2004 Survey of 16 and 17-Year-Olds

42%: Played poker in the previous month.

37%: Watched the World Poker Tour on TV.

(U.S. Playing Card Company, 2004)

Youth and poker: five “A’s” for alarm

In substance abuse prevention, there are many well-known “risk factors” that increase the likelihood for a youth to develop a problem behavior. There are several similar factors that may also contribute to problem gambling among youth. The following list outlines many of the risks involved with youth poker playing; many of the points apply to all forms of gambling.

Availability

• High availability to kids
  - Poker kits/toys in stores
  - Poker games at schools/in homes
  - Video games
  - Internet
• Societal availability:
  - “Social gaming” ordinances in many cities (allows for such games as poker in public and private places)
• Age
  - Easy to start early: available to even the youngest youths (video and handheld games, poker kits, etc.)
  - Pathological gamblers and youth in general report early gambling in the home and with family members (Dickson et. al, 2002)
• Accessibility
  - Kids can play right from their own homes
  - Poker nights o poker kits sold to anyone
  - Lack of monitoring on Internet
  - Trend toward mobile gambling: handheld games, software on cell phones
  - Greater access is shown to increase gambling, money spent, and rate of problem gambling (Dickson, Derevensky, & Gupta, 2002)
• Advertising:More positive messages than ever:
  - TV shows
  - School casino nights
  - Poker tournament fundraisers
  - Internet banner ads
• Acceptability
  More accepted than ever among youth o poker viewed as “cool”
  - 44% youth gambled because friends did (Dickson et. al, 2002)
  Ways to gamble/play poker are more attractive than ever
  - Video games o handheld toy games
  - First generation to use Internet
  Gambling often viewed by adults as harmless
  - Seen as healthy alternative to youth drug or alcohol use
  - Problem gambling often seen as a “victimless” habit
  Gambling has become a family activity: 80-90% of parents report knowing their children gamble for money and do not object (Ladouceur, Vitaro, Cote & Dumont, 2001)