At times he felt like his only escape from the boredom of everyday life was a trip to the casino. Jason Raymond, a 21-year old Davis resident, has been gambling for the past three years and recently admitted he has a problem. Raymond is a former student from Sacramento City College. He chose not to continue his education after a summer filled with gambling winnings. “I won $30,000 in one summer,” Raymond said. Raymond said he had all the money he needed, so he quit school and his job.

After winning regularly, Raymond thought he could gamble for a living. “I figured I was good enough at blackjack and roulette, that I could do it for a living,” he said. Raymond ended up over $45,000 in debt after three years. Shortly after that he sought help, recently attending a Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Raymond’s story is becoming all too familiar in today’s society. Gambling addiction is affecting more people each day and college students are more susceptible than other adults.

According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, 85 percent of the adult population has gambled at least once. A national study done this past summer by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania established that more than half of all college students surveyed admitted to gambling at least once a month.

A Harvard study found that 4.67 percent of young people have a gambling problem, citing that 42 percent of college students surveyed said they gamble primarily to make money.

Recent research has also shown that college students are more likely to develop a gambling addiction. Pathological gambling, as it is sometimes called, occurs in 1 to 2 percent of the adult population in the United States, while the rates climb to 4 to 8 percent for college students. Arnie Wexler, a recovering compulsive gambler, hasn’t placed a bet since 1968. Wexler runs a national compulsive gambling hotline and is considered a leading expert on the topic. Wexler said his hotline has received a considerable increase in calls from college aged gamblers and their parents. “Parents are calling because half of them are bailing out their kids,” Wexler said. “Bailing them out is one of the worst things a parent can do,” he added.

Wexler said a parent recently explained how a student stole $2,500 to gamble with.

Wexler knows the story all too well as he started gambling when he was 7 or 8-years old. By 14, he was gambling with a bookie and by 21, he was stealing to support his gambling addiction. Wexler eventually got help and is now returning the favor by helping others.

Wexler believes factors such as the current poker epidemic, the rise of online gambling, and lack of education has contributed to the rise of addiction among college students. The recent rise in poker’s popularity has created a new trend of gamblers. According to the Pennsylvania study, weekly poker games among male high school and college students increased 84 percent from 2003 to 2004. The study also showed that 11 percent of that same group bet on card games at least once a week during the same stretch. That is up from 6 percent the previous year.

Poker is promoted heavily on TV, with shows such as ESPN’s World Series of Poker and the Travel Channel’s World Poker Tour leading the way. The popularity of poker has reached college students as many universities have hosted charity poker tournaments, including Sacramento State.

Mark Vill, a 24-year old Reno resident, said he gambles on everything, while poker is his new game of choice. “I roll dice, bet on sports, play slots, but poker is what I spend the majority of my time doing,” Vill said. Vill took up gambling in his senior year in college. He has gambled for about a year now and has never had a problem. “I lose money every once in a while, but I pay all my bills,” he said.

James Croft, a senior environmental studies major, said he plays poker for the competition. “It’s not about money to me,” Croft said. Croft plays weekly games with friends and also practices his craft on a poker video game. “I heard about that tournament on campus last semester, but I was unable to go,” Croft said. He said he will play if they offer another tournament soon.D.J. Sekany, an instructor in social work at Sac State, feels schools should not promote gambling. “Some colleges encourage participation in poker tournaments as a way to get involved,” he said.

Wexler said colleges are condoning poker tournaments and in turn creating a bigger problem.

The popularity of poker has also led to an increase in online gambling activity. According to a University of Nevada, Las Vegas study involving youth gambling, an estimated 15-35 percent of bets placed online involve college students.

Wexler said it makes sense because many older people are not Internet savvy. Students are smart, intelligent and have a better understanding of how to use the Internet.

“Poker has achieved a rate of social acceptability like never before,” Sekany said. He said college aged players are promoted as being successful, which provides hope to others.

“They may look successful, but who knows what happens down the line,” said Wexler. He thinks students will see the success of internet poker players and think they can do it as well. “I would like to see follow up stories on some of these players,” Wexler said.

Vill gambles online, but doesn’t enjoy it as much as going to a card room or a casino. “It is definitely different, it lacks human interaction,” he said. Both Sekany and Wexler believe universities need to educate students on the dangers of compulsive gambling. As it stands right now, most universities do not provide gambling awareness programs, but do for alcohol and drugs. “In many cases, drug and alcohol addiction should be secondary to gambling addiction,” Wexler said.

“My biggest argument for the past 38 years has been that we need to educate people about the problem,” Wexler said.

They would like to see schools begin to educate incoming students. Sekany said if Sac State and other universities are going to have mandatory freshman orientations, then gambling should be included in the same manner as alcohol and other drugs.

“They don’t get it. It is easier to place a bet on a college campus than to buy a beer or a pack of cigarettes,” Wexler said.

Gambling addiction contains the same symptoms as other addictions. Pathological gamblers lie, steal, are in large debt, and distance themselves from friends and family, while some become suicidal. School work suffers as gambling becomes the top priority in the person’s life.

“Students run up debt and the majority of it ends of on credit cards,” said Sekany. He said that students max out on debt, and have no way to solve the problem. “This leads to lying, stealing, and suicide attempts.”

Programs are available for pathological gamblers. Gamblers anonymous is a recovery program available for addicted gamblers. The California Council on Problem Gambling runs a hotline, 1-800-GAMBLER, and Wexler runs hit national hotline, which can be reached at 1-888-LAST BET.

Raymond never thought he would fall into the category of a pathological gambler. “I didn’t realize how big my problem was until I was broke and alone,” he said.

It wasn’t too long after his girlfriend left him that he considered suicide. “I thought about it for a week, but never tried it. I was up one night watching poker on TV and saw an ad for a gambling hotline,” Raymond said. He called and has been on his way to recovery ever since.

Vincent Gesuele can be reached at [email protected]