Michael Stone, the executive director of the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling reported this week that nearly 4 percent of US teenaged gamblers are compulsive gamblers.
Quoting national studies he said that the number of young people gambling on poker and other card games has skyrocketed in recent years.
In any given week in the USA, about 2.9 million people aged between 14 and 22 are gambling on cards, and more than 80 percent are male, according to a report released this fall by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, which has tracked teen gambling rates for several years.
While poker is a harmless diversion for most teens, some experts caution that the risks of gambling addiction are being overlooked.
Experts have previously reported that the risk of addictive habits developing are greater in players who win rewards whilst young, especially teenagers.