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Poker draws large college crowds
At any time, night or , students at the University of Georgia are playing poker, putting aside homework in favor of learning the tricks of poker and other card games. "If everybody has nothing to do, we've had seven to eight hour sessions. It's so addictive," said Marshall Saul, a student whose room is decorated with a poster of dogs playing poker. The popularity of television shows such as "Celebrity Poker", "World Poker Tour" and live coverage of the Texas Poker championships have fueled a card-playing craze on university campuses all over America. College students are perfecting their poker faces in lively games nearly everywhere – in dorm rooms, social organizations, and campus tournaments. Recently, buy-in games organized by some colleges and student groups hundreds, with prizes ranging from money to televisions. "It is crazy on campus," said Rachel Dorfman, a University of Georgia student who often plays poker for hours with her friends. "It is the most popular thing to do right now." Some online poker companies are targeting students with tournaments such as the first College Poker Championships.com, which began free qualifying rounds in January. Prizes range from $500 to $50,000 scholarships, and student winners also can donate up to $100,000 to charities of their choice. The of "World Poker Tour," which kicked off a new television season this month, also say a poker competition between colleges, with scholarship money and other prizes, is in development.
Students spending so much time playing poker is of concern to gambling advocacy groups. The 18- to 24-year-old age group has some of the highest rates of gambling , said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Online tournaments such as College Poker Championship.com are "extremely troubling" because they target students and do not put out warning signs or post helpline numbers for addicts, he said. "It's actively soliciting kids to gamble, and in some states, that illegal," Whyte said. "You wouldn't have a college drinking championship, or a college smoking championship.com."
In New York, the turnout at Binghamton University's free poker tournaments expectations, with up to 260 players in a recent event. A last-minute Valentine's Day tournament drew 150 players. For many poker fiends, the tournaments are a chance to get out of their rooms and off their computers, said Eric Zirlinger, who coordinates the events. "For them, it's a chance to play against a whole different group of people." Many of the players new to the game acknowledge that they picked some of the rules and intricacies of poker from watching it on TV. "You mention Texas Hold 'em (a type of poker game) two years ago, most people wouldn't have known what it was; now it's part of mainstream ," Saul said. Dorfman, who also enjoys playing poker online, said all her friends watch poker on TV. When it comes to gambling, she typically plays with dime chips, losing a couple dollars at the most, although she said other games involve higher stakes.
Whyte's watchdog group wants Web sites and casinos – and even colleges where students are playing poker heavily – to educate people gambling addictions. "What I've heard is that colleges are much more focused on things like drug abuse, date rape and binge drinking," Whyte said. "Gambling is seen as a victimless crime at best."
But for Steve Lipscomb, CEO of the World Poker Tour, there are a lot evils on campus than college students playing poker. "Of all the things you're confronted with in college, this seems to me to be just about the most benign form of entertainment you'll find," he said.