Betting it all

Freshman Aobo Zou hates when his friends gamble while he studies. He starts thinking about the game -- the strategy, the intensity, the money.\nHe wants in.\nFor Zou, just the thought of the game is reason enough for him to put his homework to the side for a little gambling.\n"The game, just the idea of the game, is intense," Zou said. "You just get hooked by the game. It's so much fun."\nEach week, Zou and his friends enjoy a few nights of poker. Usually playing in a group of five or six, Zou said they each put in $20 and then go from there.\nHe says the stakes never get too high. The most anyone ever loses is $40, but there have been games when the pot reached $600. One night, Zou said he was down $80 at one point and finished $10 ahead.\n"Sometimes when I get down the first $20, I'll put down another $20 until I get my money back," he said. "Once you're down, all you care about is getting your money back."\nWhat might start as an innocent deal in poker can sometimes develop into a life-destroying habit that leaves a person depressed, alone and begging for an extra buck.\nConsidered a process addiction, experts have found that compulsive gambling can cause the same social, physical and psychological problems that are often associated with alcoholics and drug addicts. Studies have even shown that gambling is becoming an increasingly popular vice for younger people, including college students. \nAccording to statistics from the National Council on Problematic Gambling, Inc., the involvement in gambling among adolescents in the United States now exceeds the expected onset for their use of cigarettes, hard liquor and marijuana.\nKnowing exactly what causes compulsive gambling is debated. Judy Malschick, a professor in the School of Social Work, said the genetic theory is one of the most popular concerning the cause for a person's addictive behavior. She said it is highly possible that a person's gambling habits stem from the behavior of their family members.\n"If people grew up around gambling when they were younger, it's likely that they'll gamble as they get older," she said.\nMalschick also suggested that environment can influence a person's behavior. She said college students might be more vulnerable to gambling due to the financial freedom and the accessibility of gambling. Along with the year-round gambling outlet that college athletics provide, online gambling has become increasingly available over the past several years. According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, college students are one of the highest-risk groups for online gambling.\nZou said he has never gambled online, but he'd like to give it a try to see what it's like.\n"I tried to do it once," Zou said. "But I guess the IU Credit Union doesn't approve of gambling because my debit card wouldn't work." \nWhile experts might be unsure as to the exact causes of a gambling addiction, Malschick said the consequences are always identifiable. One way to tell if someone is addicted is by observing the negative consequences, she said. Eventually, compulsive gamblers begin to devote less time to their friends and family in favor of gambling, until they can't stop playing.\n"Oftentimes a person's problem can lead them to bankruptcy," she said. "And that can make matters even worse because the person might resort to embezzlement, stealing, selling drugs or prostituting themselves in order to get their hands on some money."\nDee Owens, director of the IU Alcohol and Drug Information Center, said one of the major problems concerning compulsive gambling is the lack of knowledge people have. While most people recognize the potential dangers related to drugs and alcohol, she said many students underestimate the harmful consequences of gambling. \n"The more they play, the more you think they're going to win," Owens said. "They begin to think their odds get better as they lose, which isn't the case at all. Eventually it becomes all they think about."\nBut there are alternatives for gambling addicts. Whether it's in the form of private clinical treatment or a group therapy like Gamblers Anonymous, Owens and Malschick said there are plenty of people willing to help. But the victim has to make the first step.\n"Before anything, a person has to be internally motivated to get help," Malschick said. "Then they have to say to themselves, 'Hey, this gambling problem has really screwed up my life.' If they can get to that point, there's tons of help for them out there."\nSeth Stager, a freshman and one of Zou's poker buddies, said no one in the group really takes gambling too seriously, even when they lose.\n"You regret playing every time you lose money, but it's not like we're betting a lot of money," Stager said. "It really just gives us something to do when we're bored."\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.