ACE... JACK.... DEUCE!! - The obsession with Poker

I have been waiting for the day when I have the time to sit and write about this new craze spread across the world...Texas Hold'em Poker. Before I go any further I must state that I played a 10 hour poker session last night and after incurring a sore back I woke up today and decided to look more into what's going on with the game and how its gotten to this level where it being played on kitchen tables across the nation. I do not want to come out and say its wrong or right, what I do want to do is using some articles for reference understand the possible effects this can have on the future of the next generation. To add a little spice I shall go ahead and give an insight to my infactuation with the game as this game has become a staple sunday night session at my house.

"Poker is back. Thanks to television and the internet $110 million is wagered everyday online with an estimated 50 million Americans playing and many of those players are teens. But when it comes to playing poker, even for fun, is it putting teenagers at risk? Are they gambling with their future? " - KFMB: SAN DIEGO, CA
The basics of the game remain unchanged but it has moved out of the smoky backroom and into the limelight on every channel on TV these days. From ESPN to the Travel Network, on any given day u can find a channel on televising a live poker event or a charity game involving celebrities who are playing for a charity of their choice. With tournaments such as the World Series of Poker where a $10,000 buy-in can win you upto $5 million with a lot of patience a little bit of skill and in my opinion a whole lot of luck, and the World Poker tour which gave out $8 million in winnings in the year 2003 it is no wonder that everyone wants to try a hand at this juicy prize. Poker is no longer a game that is looked upon as gambling and played by the "bad-boys", rather , it has been re-invented as a "Sport" and its one where you need not any physical skills (besides the ability to sit on a chair for long stretches as a time.. lol) but must be able to read the other players and outsmart them.

Ask any teens or tweens and they'll tell you poker is in. Ask their parents, and they'll marvel that TV's and video game consoles are gathering dust. Over the last two years, poker has increasingly become the centerpiece of family game nights, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, post-prom bashes, even weddings. - azcentral.com
Even though the game has been re-invented and is not looked down upon, I still wonder if its a positive thing. I have some moral conflicts when I imagine 10 year olds throwing candy on a table to represent poker chips. In this article, a mother says she feels happy knowing her son is just playing at home with some friends rather than in the streets and being up to no good. Sure its great to be watching over them and know that they are safe but I would think encouraging a game where risk, luck, and usually money is involved may seem harmless at the time but in the long run are we encouraging a gambling culture. The economy doesn't need more people in debt and as the trend is showing people are spending a good chunk of their money on this so called "sport". It may begin as kids losing their stash of candy they put as the prize but they could be setting themselves up for a lot more to be lost as they accumulate earnings. On the other hand a person working minimum wage hoping to double up could put themselves in a big hole with one or two losing games a week. The question I ask is can this be controlled? On the home game level, its just not possible as what you do in your home is your own problem but it can be limited in a way on the grass roots level where TV stations broadcasting poker events should have some kind of warning presented before the start just the way other TV program has some parental warnings thus informing the parents of the possible effects of watching poker. If there is a warning for a show like Las Vegas there should be one for Poker in general on TV.

Now kids as young as 10 are being dealt hands, often with parents' approval. Poker paraphernalia is being hawked everywhere from supermarkets to kiddie emporiums such as Toys R Us. All of which rings alarm bells for gambling addiction experts who warn that poker could be a slippery slope into other high-risk activities. - USAToday
Did you know that a kid can walk into Toys R Us and purchase a set of poker chips and other poker related paraphanelia? Well my research tells me yes. I do think this is a major issue.. If kids cant walk into casinos and gamble how are they allowed to go purchase these items. Shouldn't there be an age limit to control this happening where your 10 yr old gets a gift certificate for his birthday goes out and buys a set of chips and goes on to lose all his allowance playing poker with his friends. One kids lunch is another Kids new poker set. Poker back in the day was also very much a male dominated game and today you see women and girls playing it with the best of them. They say women find it easier to forget a lost hand and move on to the next than men do. But this trend just proves more my point that this is spiraling and anything in excess is never good and I think the people of power need to take a minute to look at what they are selling and look at the long term effect of bringing poker into every home. I read a story somewhere ( cant find the link) where there is a group of kids that live in a small town of a few hundred people and since there is not much to do their parents give them money to play poker on a friday night rather than drive the 10 miles to a movie theatre. hmm.. this just seems off to me. Another instance I read off is if you live in a small town you don't need people to play poker all you need is a computer and some kind of internet connection and before you know it you can be betting your savings away. *shrug* I know I sound negative and it may be contradictory considering I play as well , I just feel there need to be some controls on who can play thus not hurting the economy and not driving more people in our countries into debt.

WOW... I didn't realize how much I had to say I will continue this tomorrow with a part two talkin about what poker is for me and some stories I have collected over the last year in playing home poker games. A little preview for it is :

"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned"-From the movie The Color of Money
The words Tilt, Flop, River, Paint, and 4th street carry a whole different meaning for those who have entered the world of poker. When I hear the word river, I don't think about a stream of water that empties into the ocean rather I think about the last community card shown on the table when playing a game of Texas hold'em. Then that word will further trigger the memories of getting a BAD BEAT on the river. I came across a website dedicate just to this "rivered again" and it made me smile... Yes!!! Bad Beats deserve a shrine :)