Sami Grimes
Teen Reporter

In a mess of pushed-together desks during reading time, three students, Jake Morrison, Dominic Smith and Mike Smith, stare intently upon the faces of one another.

ìLay íem down, Dom,î says Morrison, a senior at Forest Lake High School, referring to the five cards held in his opponents hand.

Dominic lays down a pair of sevens with a sigh.

Smith, having already folded, looks on in amusement as his two classmates finally finish the hand.

However, nothing was really gained in their game since nothing monetary was bet.

Regardless, the trend of card games in general being played by high-school aged youth has increased statistically over the past three years, and the game mentioned above is just one example of the many that are taking place in classrooms, lunchrooms and basements within this community and the entire nation.

ìI prefer it over reading,î Smith says jokingly, ìbut seriously, itís a good way to pass time.î

ìAnd itís not like we gamble or anything. Itís not allowed, and we usually follow the rules,î remarks Dominic. ìThatÖand weíre poor,î adds Smith with a laugh.

Passing time is a relatively common reason for youth to play cards, but what are some of the others? Why has poker and other card games suddenly become so popular?

Many will argue the recent introduction of reality television shows such as ìCelebrity Poker,î ìTexas Hold íEmî and others have sparked interest in the younger generation.

Their popularity in the ratings has proved many are watching, and obviously using the knowledge they gain from those shows to further their own game.

Others will persist the interest was sparked when cellular phones began to come equipped with poker and blackjack.

In any event, some 50 million Americans are playing various versions of card gamesóand the majority of them are younger than 30 years old.

Letís flash back to a few years ago, four to be precise.

In 2001, television had barely picked up on poker, and most shows dedicated to the game were either in infancy, or hadnít even been thought up yet.

According to statistics from the 2001 Minnesota Student Survey for Forest Lake, only 2 percent of male seniors at Forest Lake High School played cards for money daily.

Granted, this survey doesnít account for how many male seniors were playing cards without betting, however when you compare that number to the 7 percent that gave the same response in the 2004 survey, itís safe to say that the numerous factors believed to influence youth have preceded to cause students to play and bet more.

One of those students is 18 year-old Kelly Bresin. ìI bet so I can win!î Bresin, who proudly admits to playing poker religiously online and with her brother as well, learned all she knows from Celebrity Poker.

ìI play Texas Hold íEm, and if it wasnít for T.V. I wouldnít know what I was doing,î she said.

Her comment is evidence many youth are getting their knowledge of the game from the media.

Card games are, of course, an entertaining form of recreation.

For example, on New Years Eve, instead of partying in an unhealthy and hazardous manner like many teenagers did, Amanda Slowinsky, and a few of her friends, enjoyed a few games of cards to pass the time until the ball dropped.

ìWe all were awful at the game, but it was just a lot of fun and a great way to bring in the new year,î Slowinsky said.

The musty basements of teenagers are quickly turning into great places to hold hand after hand of 5 Card Draw or War, mostly because they offer a cheap alternative to more expensive activities.

However, there is a downside to this popularity amongst youth. With the glamorization by the media and accessibility through the Internet and on cell phones, there also is another factor of increase that is more worrisomeógambling addiction.

A problem most often associated with older adults, addiction to gambling has been somewhat overlooked during this explosive trend.

Six percent of senior males are betting money on sports teams every day. Eight percent are buying lottery tickets or scratch-offs daily. Five percent are gambling at casinos each day as well. Despite the fact 17 percent of males and 8 percent of females in the senior class feel bad about the amount they bet or about what happens when they bet money, there still has yet to be a decrease in the final numbers.

Those percentages may seem small, but the third statement above as an example. Five percent means that five boys out of every hundred in the twelfth grade gamble in casinos everyday.

Information made accessible to the public via the National Council on Problem Gamblingís website says youth who gamble are ìmore likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as substance abuse, delinquency, fighting, embezzlement, theft, and white-collar crime.î They also encourage parents to be on the lookout for signs of gambling addiction, such as varying amounts of money, increased desire to borrow money, and other alike instances.

For more information, visit www.ncpgambling.org.

When played in moderation and for fun, card games are rarely harmful.

Some students, though, disobey the rules at school and get caught. One student, 16 year-old Brandon Sundberg, recalls a day in his life when this was exactly the case.

ìIn ninth grade, there was a substitute teacher and she had told us to take notes. A friend and I finished early and we got out the deck and started playing poker, and she caught us and we both got referrals and detention,î he said.

Sundberg, now a sophomore, is quite knowledgeable on the ìundergroundî of gambling among students.

ìThere are two kids really at school who are known for getting everything organized. Basically they get it from their parentsÖthey pay attention to the numbers they hear and filter it down to the high school level, and then those kids set the rates so that they can make a profit regardless of the outcome of the bet.î

It may come as a surprise to many in the community betting is such a common occurrence for students at the high school level, however, perhaps with the final numbers out, a solution may be come across.

What will statistics show in 2007, when the Minnesota Student Survey is taken once again by freshmen and seniors?

By then, one can only imagine that the novelty and glamour of reality television shows will have died down, and shows such as Texas Hold íEm and Celebrity Poker might even be cancelled.

Will the statistics of gambling have decreased? Will the new-found popularity of card-games grow dormant once again only to await another revival? Who really knows, but one thing is for sureóGo Fish will outlive them all.

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