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Copyright © 2007 Fox Television Stations, Inc

HEADLINE: Poker Craze Leading To Campus Addictions

Body:
I started playing poker freshman year in college.

Tim is a twenty year old student at a local college. School sponsored card games are what he says sparked his interest.

I started in the dorm rooms, the college had a bunch of tournaments where prizes were given out, like um free food was given out, but then they had small TVs, game systems, video games, movies for tournament winners.

But soon playing for free food turned to playing for fast cash.
And at just nineteen years old Tim says he was spending about two thousand dollars each month playing poker.

I was playing every night and that's when it started to take a toll on everything, school, life, and work most of all.

After his grades slid so much Tim had to withdraw from his classes... To feed his insatiable need to play poker he racked up credit card debt - Thousands of dollars worth.

From online play to ATM cash advances to just not spending the cash I won because I want to keep five or six hundred bills on me, it makes me feel special. So I'd use credit cards for gas, for food, and ugh , it added up one day.

Stories like Tim's are not uncommon on campuses.

I know a couple people who have had to kind of drop out of school because of gambling debt getting pretty high.

Studies show students are two to three times more likely to become problem gamblers than any other age group.

They're natural risk takers, they experiment with a lot of behaviors, for some students that works out fine, they simply experiment with this, get in some trouble and pull back, and learn the lesson and don't' get in more trouble. Then there's others that have a different experience.

Usually I hear about kids who make a good amount of money.

Lots of money

The lure of easy money in face to face games gets some and for others it's the privacy of playing online with easily attainable credit.

One of my friend's friends has won like 10k over a year.

But do these students really know the risks?
Gambling on campus is against many schools' rules.

I don't know what the school rules are, to be honest

And a seat at a poker table is not hard to find.

Some search postings about poker games on social networking sites .
Others seek out high stakes local games.

We're hearing 13 hours and up a day on gambling online, they're neglecting their studies, their grades are going down.

And that's only the beginning of what Dot Duda, Director of the prevention and recovery center at Mount Auburn hospital, has heard from college students that have come to her to get help after having debts that range from 9 to fifteen thousand dollars.

They promise themselves, they say, OK, I won't gamble, but then they're so far in debt, that they play one more time so they can get out of debt. Some kids have stolen, sold things to pay their debts.

It's a cautionary tale that many schools hope students listen to.

Problem gambling can effect any college student.

Laurajane Fitzsimons is the assistant director of counseling at UMass Dartmouth and an addictions specialist.
She says more than debt college gamblers are at risk for depression even suicide.

UMass Dartmouth, along with other local schools, is trying to beat gambling addictions by educating incoming students and parents, as well as faculty about the warning signs of gambling addictions

urging people to take notice of students who:
spend lots of time alone
are constantly asking for money or loans
have sold their things for cash.
and have a fixation on gambling

It's a lot for a twenty year old

Tim is now back in school... Trying to focus on studying ... Working and paying off debt.

He's stopped gambling ... And says his big mistake was putting on the table what he couldn't afford to lose.

And a seat at a poker table is not hard to find.
Some search postings about poker games on social networking sites.
Others seek out high stakes local games.

We're hearing 13 hours and up a day on gambling online, they're neglecting their studies, their grades are going down.

And that's only the beginning of what Dot Duda, Director of the prevention and recovery center at Mount Auburn hospital, has heard from college students that have come to her to get help after having debts that range from 9 to fifteen thousand dollars.

They promise themselves, they say, OK, I won't gamble, but then they're so far in debt, that they play one more time so they can get out of debt. Some kids have stolen, sold things to pay their debts.

It's a cautionary tale that many schools hope students listen to.

Problem gambling can effect any college student.

Laurajane Fitzsimons is the assistant director of counseling at UMass Dartmouth and an addictions specialist.

She says more than debt college gamblers are at risk for depression even suicide.

UMass Dartmouth, along with other local schools, is trying to beat gambling addictions by educating incoming students and parents, as well as faculty about the warning signs of gambling addictions

urging people to take notice of students who:
spend lots of time alone
are constantly asking for money or loans
have sold their things for cash.
and have a fixation on gambling
It's a lot for a twenty year old

Tim is now back in school... Trying to focus on studying... Working and paying off debt.

e's stopped gambling ... And says his big mistake was putting on the table what he couldn't afford to lose

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