Pokers Popularity Grows Among Teenagers :: essays research papers

In Chicago, Illinois, among many other cities across the nation, a new trend has swept teenagers like a plague. Poker, or the newly named Texas Holdem, has been the new hobby to most kids, boys in particular. Since the football season has been over, one boy even turned his dining room, a arse for family time and bonding, into a full fledged poker parlor with chips, and plenty of decks of cards.      Texas Holdem came about sometime in the beginning of the decade, and has become more an more frequent among teenagers. Launched from TV competitions between everyday people and even celebrities, kids from even our community have become hooked. In fact, some parents condone it. They regain that the game teaches strategy, critical-thinking, and mathematics attainments. One parent even compared it to smoking pot, saying hed rather have his clawren play Holdem than not know where they are. Its "safer" because unlike drugs that impair your judgments, the chil d is occupied with something that, if developed, can be cured by just taking it away. Josh Kohnstamm, father of Josh in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, says "its become the perfect break off for his studious 16-year-old son, Josh, who takes everything too seriously. Allowing him to whoop the schools best athletes -- computer geek that he is -- and come away feeling lucky when that is a sensation that rarely happens in his everyday life." But I could only wonder if the game was more about self-fulfillment and confidence, or critical thinking and math skills? Either way, the child is gaining, isnt he?      But then again there are also the adults who think that the game is a bad habit, and develops bad romp habits. "Its fun. Its exciting. Its glamorized on TV and in the media in a way that other addictions are not," says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. "Theres the impression that through skill you can b eat the odds. But randomness is always going to have a bigger factor in determining the outcome than your skill." The fact is, is that gambling is an addiction and has been known to be hard to overcome. However, I dont think that anyone can actually say that it is forbidden because I really think that no matter what, every person takes a chance which can be considered gambling.      Im not sure where I stand on this issue.