Students drawn to 'lure of quick money' in gambling
Gambling is a casual hobby for some students, an expensive addiction for others.
Sometimes, a little friendly competition just isn’t good enough. Sometimes, something of value needs to be on the line.
And for college students, nothing holds more bare value than cash.
Gambling is a common occurrence on campuses all over the country, where it thrives mostly in the form of sports betting and poker.
Some students gamble as a healthy way to invigorate that “friendly competition.” A couple of friends each bet on a golfer they think will win the British Open. A group of buddies get together for a biweekly poker game.
“I gamble because it adds more intensity to the sporting games I’m watching and I just love poker,” said Steve Raum, a sophomore at Marist University in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. “The lure of quick money helps, too. I only bet if I’m confident.”
Raum added he has control over that “lure,” as he usually only wagers with his friends. It’s the ones who’ve lost control who often find themselves in financial trouble, and there’s more of them on campus than you would think.
I entered a school-sponsored poker tournament at Penn State during my first weekend there as a freshman. Its primary goal was to introduce new students to other new students, but some wanted to start their own weekly game. I figured there couldn’t be any harm in that, so I joined.
A few weeks later, I was out $100. I stopped going when some upperclassmen showed up to recruit for an even more expensive game.
High-stakes sports betting is even more prevalent on campus because it’s so much more convenient. Anyone can bet online using a credit card.
Sherwin Lotfi, a sophomore at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., would routinely bet on sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, football and boxing. Then, one day, he lost $350.
“I felt like crap and stayed away from betting for a while,” Lotfi said. “Until I came up with a technique.”
Lotfi said he would bet parlays, which are a form of group betting. Parlays are harder to win because they depend on all wagers in the group to win. However, the payouts are much higher.
“It’s a lot more fun than watching your money leave your hands in blackjack,” Lotfi said.
For those who wish for their wagers to be off the record, many campuses have bookies. A 1995 Sports Illustrated article takes a look into the illegal life of a student bookie at Florida. If managed correctly, it’s a full-time, extremely profitable business. The bookie’s clients rarely net a gain.
In his 1997 book, Gambling in California, Roger Dunstan argues pathological gambling may be a psychiatric disorder on the same level as depression or substance abuse.
He adds that those who are addicted are nearly impossible to identify because the symptoms are difficult to trace back to their wallet.
College students who recklessly gamble their money are especially vulnerable. The potential to make some extra cash is appealing when you’re tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but it can become disastrous all too quickly when luck doesn’t go your way.
Dan Norton is a Summer 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about him here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.