udxgk er] spend the money to go bowling or to watch a movie?” Gerke said. “I wouldn’t say I’m getting addicted to [poker], but I do like playing it, [and] getting together with a bunch of guys is always fun.”
THE COST
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harmless, it comes with risks that teens might be unaware of, one of which includes the cost
GAMBLING TERMS
lthough casual gambling may seem harmless, it comes with consequences. Gambling under the age of 21 is a crime in Iowa and can bring afelony A company, often online, that charge on a first offense if the amount spent handles sports betting and keeps exceeds $500. Gambling under $100 carries a serious misdemeanor with a potential for track of games. jail time. This isn’t the only risk, as the consequences of gambling can be more than just legal trouble. The total amount of money playAccording to the Iowa Department of ers have wagered during a hand. Health and Human Services, almost a quarter of all teens have participated in gambling. Of those teens, 85% have gambled in the past An upfront payment before enyear. tering a game or tournament. “They’re doing it for the social aspect of it, for the excitement of it. These are just kids Source: OxfordLanguages [who] are participating in an activity that young people enjoy. It’s not about money. Most of them probably lost money. These are of playing. Especially when playing with poker just young people having fun,” Diamond said. chips, it can be easy to spend large amounts of Despite many forms of social gambling being money while losing track of how much they al-
SPORTSBOOK
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ready spent. “The hard thing about poker is it doesn’t feel like you are playing with real money because it’s just colored chips in front of you. The thing with sports betting is that you see dollar values. With poker it’s a lot easier to go down that rabbit hole,” the anonymous source said. “Especially with card games and betting in general, you hit the ‘Oh I almost won that one’ or ‘Oh if I didn’t fold I would have actually won.’” Another risk is the potential for addiction or pathological gambling. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, up to 5% of adolescents and young adults who gamble develop a disorder. AP Psychology teacher Travis Henderson explains how gambling can be even more risky for teens. “The prefrontal cortex is not fully developed as a teenager, so the impulse control is harder for them. It’s being driven to get that hit of dopamine, [and] it will be harder to say no to their brain. [That] part of your brain that says ‘Maybe we don’t need to do that today’ isn’t fully developed,” Henderson said. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, gambling can also be harmful and addictive to children’s developing brains. Children introduced to “harmless betting” by the age of 12 are four times more likely to engage