Nothing Left to Gamble

It's midnight, the house is silent except for the occasional clicking of a mouse and typing on a keyboard.?The silhouette of a figure is seen through the glare of a computer screen. He fidgets with a chewed-up black pen in his fingertips and occasionally runs his hands through his hair in frustration. His foot has a rhythmic tapping that coincides with the fluttering of his fingers and a twirling pen. Suddenly all movement stops, he inhales deeply and waits.

"Yes!"

Scott just won an $890 jackpot in an online gambling tournament. He is only 16 years old.

According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, between two and three percent of the US will have a gambling problem in any given year. That's anywhere from six to nine million Americans. Studies have also shown that more than 70 percent of youth between the ages of 10 and 17 have gambled in the past year.

Scott (whose name has been changed for the story), is the vision of a typical Southern California boy all the way down to his flip-flopped feet. He is an average student who goes to school everyday and hangs out with friends. But Scott has a hobby that he can not live without: online gambling. At 14, Scott played ?his first game of Texas Hold 'Em in the garage of ?a friend's house. Little did he know that he would ?grow to love the game.

"Scott does not leave that computer once he walks through that door," Maria, Scott's mother explains. "It seems like he can't live without it."

Most children grow up playing various betting games without even knowing it; remember pogs and marbles? According to the National Academy of Sciences, one in three high-school students gamble on a regular basis. Scratch tickets, the lottery, and sports betting are among the most popular with teens.

Tony, a student at California State University, Fullerton, as well as his two roommates, use the online site, sportsbook.com to bet on college and pro football.

"You can bet for anything, you can even bet on who's going to be the next president."

Tony admits that he spends up to four hours every day on the computer betting. According to Dr. Yoshinoka, a clinical psychologist, most people gamble to feel a high. Problem gamblers do not like to admit that they spend too much time with their hobby.

Most college students today are the first generation to grow up with gambling being legal and available nationwide. Dorm rooms are not off limits to the easy and accessible lures of winning quick cash and feelings of excitement. More and more college students are turning to gambling for the sheer thrill and exhilaration. But, when you're a college student who can't stop gambling what do you do? A game of luck turns to chance. How far are college students going to make a buck and feel a high?

Erik, 18, is another gambler. While attending UC Santa Barbara, he and his buddies would spend their nights at a nearby casino where playing cards from 11 p.m. till 6 a.m. was not uncommon.

At 21, Erik was able to cash in on a trust fund left to him by his grandmother. The idea was to go into the casino with $10,000 and stick to just that amount, but that's not what happened that night. Erik walked in a "high roller" and left $31,000 in debt.

Every day for about a month Erik would go back to the casino and try to make some money back, but couldn't. He even turned to dealing drugs where he only dug himself into a deeper hole. He was later arrested on suspicion of dealing and transporting marijuana and was found guilty. Today Erik lives with his parents and attends counseling sessions with a Gamblers Anonymous group. He did not return to school and is still paying back his debt.

The estimated financial cost of the addictive disorder known as "problem gambling" was $6.7 billion last year, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Bill is a 44-year-old who lives in Los Angeles, California. He does have two jobs and makes a little over $100,000 a year despite being homeless. This is an above average income according to a 2007 census which stated the average income was more than $50,000.

Why is Bill homeless? He has been gambling for the past 20 years and says he's done it all; bookies, casinos, lottery tickets and sports. In 1996 a family intervention led Bill to seek help. "I was clean for about six months, but one thing led to another," he says.

Bill can't explain his urge to gamble, but he compared it to being a child and wanting to take his sister's toy. "It's not like I need it or really have to have it, I just want it."

According to Linda Chamberlain, an expert from the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at the University of South Florida, " … when somebody is gambling [it] is … the same as what happens when they are taking cocaine."

Gamblers Anonymous explains the compulsive gambler as a person who is dominated by an irresistible urge to gamble and an obvious symptom of an emotional disorder.

At 14 years old, Scott was beginning to show signs of having an uncontrolled addiction. Scott does not have the ability or the urge to slow down his playing time. Which leaves the question: where will he be five or ten years? T

GAMBLERS' ACE IN THE HOLE Gamblers Anonymous offers the following questions to anyone who may have a gambling problem. These questions are provided to help the individual decide if he or she is a compulsive gambler and wants to stop gambling.

Most compulsive gamblers will answer yes to at least seven of these questions.

Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling? 

Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy? 

Has gambling affected your reputation? 

Have you ever felt remorse after gambling? 

Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties? 

Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency? 

After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses? 

After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?

Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone? 

Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling? 

Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling? 

Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures? 

Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family? 

Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned? 

Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom or loneliness? 

Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling? 

Did gambling cause you to have difficulty sleeping? 

Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble? 

Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling? 

Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?