Is Online Poker assisting students in gambling with
tuition money?
Online poker is becoming a big trend for students on university and
college campuses across the United States and the world. Forget playing
with your broke friends for gummies or knickknacks, now you can win some
real money online against international opponents on web sites like
Pokerstars.com. It could be the rush of playing against someone who
can’t see your face, the addictive quality of the game, the chance to
win or sheer boredom, but it looks like students are plugging into
online poker rooms en masse and the fad doesn’t look like it will die
down anytime soon.
Some people may make money, and many undoubtedly have a lot of fun in
these games, but you could end up losing more than you realize. Part of
the appeal of online poker is that you can oftentimes lose what may seem
like only a small amount of money, especially compared to what you could
win. But losing $5 can add up quicker than many students realize. Unlike
in real life, you don’t actually have a dwindling stack of chips in
front of you, and you can’t watch the person across from you rake in
those chips to add to their own pile, along with the realization that
you are contributing to this person’s fortune. These are some of the
traditional ways of knowing when to call it quits, but they are taken
away in the online experience.
You have to remember that anything you stand to win comes at the risk of
what you stand to lose. There are many success stories of victorious
student poker players, but you rarely hear about what happens after they
spend their winnings. For example, one student who won $2000 in a
tournament cashed out and bought himself a new flat screen television
set. No one is told what happened next. It is unlikely that he was
satisfied with this win and did not sign in to play anymore. More than
likely, he continued to play, and will or has already ended up losing
more than he won in the flush feeling of victory.
Online sites are even blatantly going for students in new recruiting
campaigns. All Star Poker recently launched a campaign where students
could win their tuition. One student was reported to have played 17,000
hands of cards in less than three months. You can’t help but wonder how
many semesters this would have paid for.
Online poker works along the same lines as the traditional casino. Sure,
the house may take the occasional hit, but it is almost a sure bet that
the winner will end up losing more than she takes away, remembering how
lucky she was the last time.
Participating in online poker can be fun, but students also need to
remember that it is play for keeps.
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