Nine students casually sat around a card table late one Thursday
night. An outsider looking at the group might have seen flashes of
red and black as cards were swiftly dealt between the players or
heard the quiet click of chips as they were shuffled.

However, the men at the table saw little but what lay in the
middle of the table: a pile of one-, five- and ten-dollar bills.
Though these men play poker for money, they said they mainly play
for the sheer enjoyment of the game and one another’s
company.

“It’s fun to hang out with your friends, with the
guys,” said Steve Miller, construction science sophomore and
one of the players. “It’s something you look forward
to, to get out of the school mode. It’s a stress
reliever.”

College gambling has become more popular among students, whether
they play for fun or more seriously through poker games and sports
betting. Many college students use their hard-earned money to
gamble in poker games, casinos, pools and sports according to
statistics in the Gallup Poll. The poll showed in the last 12
months, 67 to 71 percent of college students have gambled their
money in one of these ways.

Even so, gambling is illegal in Oklahoma, and monetary issues
are involved that students may be unaware of.

Poker games

Craig Pinkerton, psychology and pre-med sophomore, said his
fraternity house is one of many that participates in home poker and
online gaming.

“I guarantee you at any time you walk into our house you
would see every person playing,” he said. “That’s
all we do.”

Pinkerton said one of his fraternity brothers spends a minimum
of eight hours a day playing on www.pokerstars.com, an on-line
gambling Web site.

“A lot of people don’t realize how big it is around
colleges and Oklahoma in general,” he said. “It’s
not like basketball or other sports. It’s not something you
have to be
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