TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

Two opposing forces draw Neuman and his six friends - all 16 and juniors at Baldwinville's C.W. Baker High School - to Steve Wilson's basement just about every Friday night: Excitement and boredom.

"It's the rush," said Wilson, the teen whose parents allow the games.

But a minimal cost to play ($10 is common for a game of 6 holdem) also makes poker one of the few things a group of bored 16-year-olds can do for fun on a Friday night, said Matt Yando, also seated at the table.

"Even if you lose it, what else can you do for $10? How much does it cost to go to a movie on a Friday night?" Yando said.

Parents, teachers and mental health professionals that treat people addicted to gambling are somewhat concerned. But most acknowledge that the games at least are legal and are a better alternative than drug and alcohol parties.

Young people don't see the games as dangerous, but as places to socialize, test their skill and win a few bucks.

Whatever brought Neuman to Wilson's basement on this Friday, his chance at the $70 pot now rests between him and one other player, Corey Heffron.

Neuman has two nines in his own hand, another nine sits in the community cards. A three-of-a-kind is a pretty good hand, one that often wins a game of holdem.

He flips his down cards - a challenge to Heffron to do the same.

What Heffron has, Neuman doesn't know. It doesn't matter. He's all in.

The draw

The thrill of winning Texas Holdem and the fear of losing Texas Holdem creates the pleasurable sensation of a "rush" described over and over by gamblers, said Jim Klein, Gambling Information and Counseling director at Utica-based Human Technologies Corporation.

Add to that a new Texas Holdem emphasis on television coverage by networks like ESPN's "World Series of Poker" and celebrities like Ben Affleck and regular-guy-turned-poker-star Chris Moneymaker taking part, and the draw is obvious, said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

"Glamorization through the media, particularly on TV, has really driven (poker) gambling up among kids," said Whyte.

The percentage of youth who gamble has not grown much in the past 10 years, Whyte said, but more teens are choosing poker over games of physical skill or hand-eye coordination, like darts or shooting hoops.

Most of the teens agreed televised poker initially turned them on to the game. But they still watch: Now it's to pick up tips.

The poker trend, and teens' pursuit of the rush, worries some parents and gambling experts.

"Most of the kids who gamble may not become problem gamblers, but it's planting the seed for a potentially devastating problem," Whyte said.

People who start gambling younger are more likely to develop problems than those who try it later in life, Whyte said. Compulsive gamblers become addicted to the rush and can't resist gambling to recreate the feeling despite psychological, physical, social or vocational disruption.

"Like someone who explains that a glass of wine is OK with dinner, but not a whole bottle, parents must send the same message of moderation about gambling," Whyte said.

Less than 3 percent of adolescents surveyed by the New York State Council on Problem Gambling were classified as problem gamblers, while about 14 percent were "at risk."

According to a 1996 study by the New York State Council on Problem Gambling, as many as 41,000 adolescents in New York had experienced severe gambling problems and nearly 200,000 adolescents were "at risk" of problems.

At a conference on gambling addiction held in Las Vegas this month, Harvard researchers told Klein and the experts that gambling will probably rise in teens and younger generations thanks to the increased exposure to gambling, including sweepstakes and televised gambling.

It's something Greg Yando worries about, too, and his son knows it.

"I've voiced my opinion that the pots are getting bigger and that it's becoming a priority," Greg Yando said. "I don't know where this (gambling) is going to lead."

He has urged his son to stop gambling entirely, but admits that it's good to know his son is safe, sober and under adult supervision at the Wilsons' home when he plays.

Matt Yando acknowledges that it's hard to walk away from a chance at winning, and said that he could stop gambling if it interfered with his life.

"I'm not going to stop playing poker," Matt Yando said. 7

6 "But I'm not going to play as much, and I'll definitely think twice about (gambling) in between poker nights.

"Anyone can become addicted. I'm just glad my family's there for me."

School policies on gambling

Every school district in Central New York has rules against gambling for money, but policy differs on card games.

Three years ago, Jamesville-DeWitt High School officially banned all games, including cards and electronic games, in its school code, Assistant Principal Robert Hughes said.

The policy removes the chance of covert betting, he said.

"If you go up to a group of kids and ask, 'Are you gambling?' of course they say no," Hughes said. "It's really hard to tell. . . . They're not going to say, 'Yeah, we were gambling, and this is how we keep track.' "

Baker High School Principal Olivia Cambs organizes the school's games club, which allows students to play strategic board and card games after school, sans betting.

Texas Holdem Poker requires the same use of critical thinking and strategy that make many gamble-free table games fulfilling hobbies, Cambs said.

"I have a 14 year old who loves poker," she said, but he does not gamble when he plays. "We don't gamble in our house. . . . It's just not an issue."

She said she did not know of problems with any students gambling in school, and law enforcement officials say they have not responded to any major incidents of violence stemming from gambling at any of the schools in the area.

Playing Texas Holdem poker for money in public places is illegal, but small games at a private residence are not.

"Every year, around Super Bowl time, we get complaints about sports boards at local bars," Syracuse Police Inspector Michael Kerwin, adding that gambling in an establishment with a liquor license is illegal. "We investigate those. . . . But it's not the focus of our vice operations."

The showdown

For Neuman and his friends, the stakes are relatively low - a $70 pot for the final winner - but the tension is high as Neuman gives Heffron a cool look. He has just pushed his chips to the middle of the table to the shouts and cheers of the other players who have folded and are waiting for the outcome of this hand.

Neuman turns over his nines, and everyone at the table takes in his best five cards: Three nines.

But this is why they call it gambling: Heffron flips three aces.

As the shouting rises, Neuman's head drops briefly, but snaps up when Wilson reminds him he might have one more chance to win. The final card in the community - the river card.

"Neuman needs a nine," Wilson shouts over the commotion.

It's a six.

Beaten, Neuman slumps in his chair; Heffron heaves a sigh of relief and scoops the chips toward him on the table.

"Hey, who wants to feel Corey's heart?" Heffron says. A little ridicule is part of the spoils.

"Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose," Neuman says. "Your fortunes can change so quickly. That's the great thing about Texas Holdem."