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Children and Gambling and Poker
by Jerry "Jet"
Whittaker
Nov 26, 2006
Children and gambling and poker
It
has been estimated that Americans spend a staggering
U.S.$6 billion per year, which translates into half of
the worldwide figures, on online gambling. Online poker
and online gambling have especially gained immense
popularity and increasingly more Americans are hooked to
it. A worrying trend that has been noticed is that an
increasing number of children are freely participating
in online poker and online gambling. It is difficult to
arrive at exact figures since online gambling and poker
invests the player with instant anonymity. Undoubtedly,
though, children are increasingly addicted to online
betting games.
Online is unregulated
These online poker and gambling games are unregulated
because they are operated from foreign shores. Further,
these online betting games indiscriminately target any
individual with a proclivity for gambling. In this
scenario, it is obviously children who are most
vulnerable to their online tactics. Children are surfing
the internet in huge numbers and these gaming sites act
as lures to trap them into a betting mode. Hence,
children who have no legal access to gambling find these
sites alluring. Once hooked to online gambling, children
are more prone to abuse the facility. This sets in
motion a vicious cycle where the child may steal or lie
to adults to feed his online gambling habit.
Regulation is key
How children can be discouraged from adopting wayward
gambling habits has become the topmost concern of
lawmakers. An across-the-board ban on all online
gambling and online poker games is unenforceable.
Besides, online poker is so popular that a whopping 23
million Americans regularly indulge in it. The only
effective solution is to regulate and tax online poker
so that children are immediately identified and can be
educated on the ills of gambling.
Children vulnerable
It
should be remembered that children are turning to online
gambling and online poker because it is freely available
on the Internet. Once tried, though, online gambling can
precipitate a chain of events that lead the child to a
betting mindset. This excitement aspect of online
gambling is what prompts children to visit online
gambling sites. The results of this can be disastrous.
Children become victims of financial crashes that can
take a heavy financial toll. The psychological aspects
should also not be ignored. Children gambling online is
an illegal activity that may land the child in juvenile
detention centers or juvenile correctional facilities.
Thus children gambling online or playing poker online is
a real danger and concerted efforts are underway to
outline effective steps to curb children’s tendencies to
seek online thrills.
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