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Poker Can Have its Dark Side
Texas Hold ‘Em was televised by nine channels last week — including
E!, Bravo and ESPN.
More than $192 million was wagered on poker online during a 24-hour
span last week, and 1.8 million people played the card game online in
the past month, according to pokerpulse.com.
Poker is booming — particularly Texas Hold ‘Em, one of the game’s
most popular variations — but it has a dark side. Poker and gambling
often go hand-in-hand, and gambling in Massachusetts is illegal except
at charity fund-raisers in which strict rules are followed.
Playing poker for money also can lead to a gambling addiction, even
among young people.
"I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I’ve never seen anything like
this Texas Hold ‘Em rage," said Ed Looney, the director of the New
Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling. "When crack cocaine came out, the
phenomenon was similar."
One day, Looney said, he talked with three college students who had
dropped out or been kicked out of colleges because of addictions to
Texas Hold ‘Em.
Read the
entire article at:
The Berkshire Eagle
2004 Online Casino News Archive
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