Give & Take
Online Gambling
"Rob", is a 19-year-old sophomore at a highly respected major university. Rob started playing low-stakes online poker when he was 17 and continues to play, he says, "to pay my way through school." He’s covering more than just his tuition and board. He says that he’s made "hundreds of thousands" of dollars over the past few years." The day I interviewed him was a particularly good day, he told me. He said he made $18,000 that morning in just a couple of hours.
As you read Rob’s story, consider that this is his perspective. As with other articles in our "Give and Take" series, there are other issues to consider, so please also read our companion article, "Experts Take on Online Gambling: Most Teens Lose and Even Winners can be Losers".
One could certainly argue that Rob's is a success story. After all, he’s beating the system. But even though he wins, there remain questions as to whether what he is doing is right – right for him and right for others. Besides, not everyone is as good as Rob. In order for Rob to make money, others have to lose it and there are plenty of people – young and old – who lose substantial amounts of money in online gambling. Even Rob admits that it’s not for everyone. "Most people are going to lose in the end so I'd probably warn them to be careful."
While Rob’s success may be unique, there are plenty of other young people – especially boys and men – who wager on cards. A September 2005 report from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania estimates that "about 2.9 million young people gamble in an average week." Further, "the likelihood that young men will gamble on card games continues to increase." The survey of young people, ages 14 to 22, "found a 20% increase in monthly rates of card gambling compared with our previous study conducted in the summer of 2004."
Internet gambling, according to the study, jumped "from 1.1% in 2004 to 2.4% in 2005." Based on these numbers, "approximately 580,000 young people from 14 to 22 gamble on the Internet on a weekly basis. Most of these young people are under age 21." As you might expect, not everyone is doing as well as Rob. The report asked people to self-identify whether they suffer from one of four problem symptoms: "preoccupation, over-spending, tolerance and withdrawal." "In 2004, 44.9% of young people who gambled weekly reported at least one of the problem symptoms," according to the Annenberg report. "In 2005, the percentage increased to 54.5%." About 10% of the respondents said that their gambling led to owing other people money with an average debt of $74. And even though Rob and other card players claim that they are playing a game of skill, "card players tend to report more problem gambling symptoms than other types of weekly gamblers." The report concludes, "If the trend toward card playing among young people continues, the overall severity of symptoms may also continue to increase."
Rob didn’t start online. He began by playing poker with friends and family members. "Probably the same as everyone else," he said, "just playing poker in my house, and I decided online would be fun." Over time, he figured out he might be able to make some money. "I realized I was good at it, because I beat my friends all the time. So I thought it would be a good way to make extra spare cash."
Still, it took awhile before Rob was good enough to compete with the big boys. "I mean, I was good because I was playing with friends, but I was nowhere near as good as I am now. Like I was playing online for a long time before I would consider myself a professional, and I only got that from playing online because you can play multiple tables at once. You can play all different players, all different games."
I guessed that Rob was a math major, but I guessed wrong. For some games, he said, "I took the time to figure out what games I’m good at. For some games you want to be good at math." For others, "it’s about recognizing patterns and it’s about understanding the player and understanding why he’s doing what he’s doing so it’s pretty much psychological."
Rob majors in Political Economy and says that he fully intends to finish college and possibly go on to graduate school despite his success in online poker. He’s not sure of his long-term plans, but he imagines working in business or international policymaking. "I definitely wouldn't want to be a professional poker player. I think it's kind of stupid. I don't really see anything rewarding. It’s the same reason I wouldn't want to be a day trader. You're just making money from money. I mean, it's a good way - I'm in college, I'm paying for my tuition. I pay for my car, I have to pay for everything, so I need it, basically. But as far as a career path, I don't want to be a 40- or 50-year-old playing poker for a living. It just doesn't seem rewarding to me."
I asked Rob about the risk factor. Doesn’t he worry about losing money? "Well, poker, I don't see it as gambling. There’s short-term luck built into the game. That's why it's attractive, that's why it's popular and it's an exciting game, but in the end everyone gets the same luck, there's measurable risk, so it's just who is better. I get worried on individual hands: Is he going to get lucky or something? But it's kind of something you get over once you play high stakes and play a lot."
