ALICIA YOUNG
Staff Writer
It takes one roll of the dice, and an entire university is hooked. Gambling is taking college campuses by storm, and Pepperdine is one of them.
“People love to have adrenaline rushes,” sophomore Jarod Haness said. “Whether you win big or lose big, you are getting a rush.”
And this rush is growing in popularity. Haness, creator of two different gambling related Facebook groups, spends anywhere between three to eight hours playing poker each week, and he’s not alone.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania found that between 2004 and 2005, 20 percent of men between the ages of 14 and 22 gambled at least once a month.
While some suggest they get a rush, others are attracted to the idea of avoiding traditional jobs. “[They] love the feeling that they can make money without doing any real work” Haness said.
Haness considers winning money through online gambling is an entertaining and fairly effortless way to make extra money in college.
In their efforts to make a profit, some students have gone to extreme lengths. The sophomore class president of Lehigh University robbed a bank in Allentown, Pa., last month after racking up $5,000 in online gambling debts.
Sophomore and Texas Hold ‘Em player Chris Lopez said newcomers to the game may have a harder time making any winnings.
“If you think you’re just going to show up and win money, I wouldn’t recommend [poker]” Lopez said. “Learn the rules, situations, lingo and be prepared to lose at first.”
For those who want to steer clear of debt, there are numerous alternative outlets for gaming that do not involve losing money, such as watching other people gamble.
Major networks such as NBC, CBS and ABC are devoting more air time to reality shows about gambling. Bravo now runs its increasingly popular “Celebrity Poker Showdown” twice a day.
If a gambler doesn’t like watching TV, he can use his computer to access more than 100 million Web sites devoted exclusively to gambling.
Many students, rather than participating in online gambling, tend to prefer playing live with a group of friends.
“A lot of times it’s hard to find something fun to do on campus,” junior Jordan Bennett said. “[Poker is] just good, clean fun.”
Bennett said gambling doesn’t interfere with his studies.
“It’s like any other social event. I don’t let it override my homework time,” he said.
Haness makes sure to designate the appropriate time for gambling as well.
“The way I see distractions like gambling is that I make sure to do all my work in order to be able to have a three-hour poker game later that night,” he said.
Much of the time students spend gambling is either on weekends, or during the summer when homework is not as pressing of an issue.
Sophomore poker-player Christopher Runge said, at his peak, he would spend “at least 20 hours of gambling per week,” at Indian casinos such as Morongo Casino Spa and Resort in Cabazon, California during the summer.
There, 18-year-olds can gamble alongside older, but not necessarily wiser, opponents.
But gambling for the under-21 crowd is not confined to Indian casinos. On campus, there are numerous organized poker games in dorms and apartments every week.
Games vary from $5 to $30, depending on whether it is a “buy-in” or a “tournament style” game. And the potential earnings are promising.
In one sitting of Texas Hold ‘Em, Lopez won $630.
“I like to gamble and as long as I keep winning, I don’t see a reason to stop. People like money, people like gambling,” Lopez said.
02-09-2006