Societies Poker Dichotomy
This story reveals quite well the dichotomy of modern poker, those of us who play or know people who play, view poker quite differently from those whom have never sat at the table. The fact remains that a large sect of society remains quite apprehensive to the game.
Texas hold 'em camp for kids folds after B.C. ups ante
PETTI FONG
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — Good poker player that he is, Larry Klatt knows when to fold 'em.
Mr. Klatt, one of the organizers of a summer camp to teach children to be winning poker players, knew the deck was stacked against him when B.C.'s Solicitor-General called the two-day event "reprehensible."
The camp was to be divided into two groups, with one for 15- to 18-year-olds and the second for players aged 10 to 14. Professionals would teach the youngsters math and analytical skills, in addition to the downfalls of gambling.
"The government was fairly aggressive in letting us know they were going to come down fairly strong on us," Mr. Klatt said yesterday. "We hoped they were keeping up with changes and attitudes. Poker used to be looked down on and it's not looked down on now. You have to educate people and acknowledge that poker is here to stay and the benefits far outweigh the other things."
Solicitor-General John Les, who said he was going to be watching the summer camp "like a hawk" when the camp was first publicized a month ago, amended B.C. gaming regulations this week to force businesses that teach children how to gamble to be licensed.
The camp, which was to culminate in a tournament with prizes, was scheduled to begin in June.
But before the government pulled the plug, Mr. Klatt said the organizers pulled it themselves because they knew British Columbia would shut the camp down.
Mr. Klatt said youths, most of them male, are interested in poker for a variety of reasons, such as learning how to make decisions, and how to read the behaviour of other players.
Poker grew in popularity a couple of years ago when two unknown amateurs beat the top international players to win millions of dollars in the World Series of Poker. Sports and entertainment channels began broadcasting tournaments, turning poker into a spectator sport.
Thousands of people had expressed interest in attending the camp, which was to cost $125 to $225, Mr. Klatt said, and most of the calls were from parents who wanted their children to participate.
One of those excited "parents" who contacted Mr. Klatt to ask for information was actually Jeffrey Derevensky, a professor of child psychology and co-director of the Youth Gambling International centre at McGill University in Montreal.
Prof. Derevensky said many parents prefer that their children play poker at home rather than with friends away from adult supervision. Prof. Derevensky said a large percentage of adolescents are involved in gambling either among themselves, such as betting in a sports match or purchasing lottery tickets.
But more young people now are seeing poker not as a form of gambling, but as a sport because tournaments are promoted on sports channels, he said.
The centre lobbied the B.C. government to shut down the camp.
"Are these skills, such as math and reading people to see whether they're bluffing or not, really helping you improve? I seriously doubt it," Prof. Derevensky said.
The popularity of poker has also spurred an increase in on-line games.
While the number of on-line poker players isn't tracked, nor are figures available for how many Internet gamblers are under 18, Prof. Derevensky says both numbers are rising.
The number of people under 18 playing poker regularly is estimated at between 30 to 40 per cent, he said.
Many teenagers are on websites playing poker for fun, but Prof. Derevensky said the sites are training players who will begin betting money as soon as they're old enough to get credit cards.
Donna Klingspohn, the manager of the B.C. Problem Gambling Program with the provincial government, said on-line poker gambling is unregulated but gaming is under government jurisdiction. The change to the province's Gaming Control Act extends the terms of gaming service to any business that trains minors to gamble.
Ms. Klingspohn said there is no indication that playing poker has driven more young people to treatment. Most of the youths seen in programs are children of problem gamblers.
"If there are problems, we're not going to see it for a few years," she said.
Learning how to play poker well is no different from learning percentages by figuring out baseball batting averages, said Lou Krieger, co-author of Poker for Dummies and Gambling for Dummies.
Mr. Krieger, of Long Beach, Calif., began learning about poker at 7 from watching his father play with his buddies. He said while children under 17 shouldn't be making money decisions, skills associated with poker are worth learning.
"I learned a lot from playing poker and those skills helped me in all sorts of ways throughout my life," Mr. Krieger said yesterday. "Is poker inherently bad and evil? It's a game."
Texas hold 'em camp for kids folds after B.C. ups ante
PETTI FONG
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — Good poker player that he is, Larry Klatt knows when to fold 'em.
Mr. Klatt, one of the organizers of a summer camp to teach children to be winning poker players, knew the deck was stacked against him when B.C.'s Solicitor-General called the two-day event "reprehensible."
The camp was to be divided into two groups, with one for 15- to 18-year-olds and the second for players aged 10 to 14. Professionals would teach the youngsters math and analytical skills, in addition to the downfalls of gambling.
"The government was fairly aggressive in letting us know they were going to come down fairly strong on us," Mr. Klatt said yesterday. "We hoped they were keeping up with changes and attitudes. Poker used to be looked down on and it's not looked down on now. You have to educate people and acknowledge that poker is here to stay and the benefits far outweigh the other things."
Solicitor-General John Les, who said he was going to be watching the summer camp "like a hawk" when the camp was first publicized a month ago, amended B.C. gaming regulations this week to force businesses that teach children how to gamble to be licensed.
The camp, which was to culminate in a tournament with prizes, was scheduled to begin in June.
But before the government pulled the plug, Mr. Klatt said the organizers pulled it themselves because they knew British Columbia would shut the camp down.
Mr. Klatt said youths, most of them male, are interested in poker for a variety of reasons, such as learning how to make decisions, and how to read the behaviour of other players.
Poker grew in popularity a couple of years ago when two unknown amateurs beat the top international players to win millions of dollars in the World Series of Poker. Sports and entertainment channels began broadcasting tournaments, turning poker into a spectator sport.
Thousands of people had expressed interest in attending the camp, which was to cost $125 to $225, Mr. Klatt said, and most of the calls were from parents who wanted their children to participate.
One of those excited "parents" who contacted Mr. Klatt to ask for information was actually Jeffrey Derevensky, a professor of child psychology and co-director of the Youth Gambling International centre at McGill University in Montreal.
Prof. Derevensky said many parents prefer that their children play poker at home rather than with friends away from adult supervision. Prof. Derevensky said a large percentage of adolescents are involved in gambling either among themselves, such as betting in a sports match or purchasing lottery tickets.
But more young people now are seeing poker not as a form of gambling, but as a sport because tournaments are promoted on sports channels, he said.
The centre lobbied the B.C. government to shut down the camp.
"Are these skills, such as math and reading people to see whether they're bluffing or not, really helping you improve? I seriously doubt it," Prof. Derevensky said.
The popularity of poker has also spurred an increase in on-line games.
While the number of on-line poker players isn't tracked, nor are figures available for how many Internet gamblers are under 18, Prof. Derevensky says both numbers are rising.
The number of people under 18 playing poker regularly is estimated at between 30 to 40 per cent, he said.
Many teenagers are on websites playing poker for fun, but Prof. Derevensky said the sites are training players who will begin betting money as soon as they're old enough to get credit cards.
Donna Klingspohn, the manager of the B.C. Problem Gambling Program with the provincial government, said on-line poker gambling is unregulated but gaming is under government jurisdiction. The change to the province's Gaming Control Act extends the terms of gaming service to any business that trains minors to gamble.
Ms. Klingspohn said there is no indication that playing poker has driven more young people to treatment. Most of the youths seen in programs are children of problem gamblers.
"If there are problems, we're not going to see it for a few years," she said.
Learning how to play poker well is no different from learning percentages by figuring out baseball batting averages, said Lou Krieger, co-author of Poker for Dummies and Gambling for Dummies.
Mr. Krieger, of Long Beach, Calif., began learning about poker at 7 from watching his father play with his buddies. He said while children under 17 shouldn't be making money decisions, skills associated with poker are worth learning.
"I learned a lot from playing poker and those skills helped me in all sorts of ways throughout my life," Mr. Krieger said yesterday. "Is poker inherently bad and evil? It's a game."
Comments
Are they going to ban Magic Cards next????
Alot of the same skills that are used in Poker are used by Magic Card players, as a matter of fact some of the new successful players started as very good Magic card players.
Hobbes
Cheers
Magi
Note: Spell check allows freaking, commie and pinko -- man i love this spell checker.