A new problem is creeping up in Canadian universities. Students with laptops and credit cards are becoming hooked on Internet poker. Everything on campus is online, from registration to course notes. Computers are not only accessible to students on campus, but they are a necessity for work at home. Combined with the world of instant messaging and downloadable music, students are glued to their computer screens. More and more students now have laptops. They can bring their computers with them everywhere, along with their electronic addictions. The availability of virtually everything online has translated to gambling and created a problem that did not exist 10 years ago. The majority of my guy friends play poker the old-fashioned way, around a table. It is, for the most part, harmless. There's a $5 buy-in to join the game, and things rarely get out of control. The danger with online poker is that you don't have a social safety net. You are alone in your room and no one is watching. Your buddy can't warn you that it's getting late and that last bet is not a good idea. I know fellow students who spend six or seven hours gambling online every day. Some spend even more than this. The financial repercussions are obvious when several hours of every day are dedicated to online gambling. But Internet poker hurts more than the pocketbook. Every hour spent gambling is another hour of class missed and many students' grades are dropping because of this. University is a time of freedom. Students are living without parents for the first time. Many have use of their parents' credit cards and if not, it is easy to get one on campus. There are booths set up every year where students can sign up for credit cards. You even get a free T-shirt. Financial freedom is coming at a very young age, especially now with Ontario university students as young as 16 and 17. The problem is increasingly prevalent among girls. That's because most face-to-face poker games go on between guys, and girls who want a game often can't find enough girls to play with, and feel out of place entering tournaments. The solution: online poker, where women are not singled out or intimidated.
Most of my friends who gamble online do not have a problem. Many play for points instead of money. But those who spend too much time and money gambling often do not realise that this is a problem.
They don't need to visit a casino. They are in the comfort of their own homes and may even be finishing their essays while playing poker. When we are able to take a 15-minute study break to play online games several times every day, gambling becomes a part of our daily ritual, so that a little gambling becomes a break as normal as checking your e-mail.
It's a part of campus life most parents seem not to hear about, along with breakfast keg parties (beer and pancakes) or the brisk market in fake ID to get first-year students into bars.
Money? There's a detachment, somehow. Once your credit card number is entered, all you need to do is point and click. As with eBay or other forms of online shopping, people tend to overspend when they don't have to dole the cash directly out of their pockets.
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