Poker’s popularity hit a new high when the World Series of Poker, the games most illustrious event, became a staple on cable television and was broadcast into millions of homes. Online poker quickly became part of the dark side of online gambling. An unfortunately expected side-effect was the popularity among students and the ability for individuals under the age of 21 to access off-shore gambling websites and open their own personal poker accounts via credit cards.
Many parents have found out the hard way that their child has accrued a debt from playing online poker. It has evolved since finding such success online, going mobile by moving to smart phones, and becoming even more popular.
What can you do?
1. If your child has a smart phone, talk to them about the applications that they are installing
2. Set guidelines to make sure you stay aware of their online behavior
3. Be mindful of the parental restrictions that you can place on their phones
4. Review receipts of applications, even free smart phone applications create a receipt that is emailed to the master account
The bNetS@vvy team certainly enjoys playing poker and what makes it enjoyable is that we’ve all learned to play responsibly. We encourage you to talk to your kids about online gambling and want to empower you with information that makes that conversation easier and effective.
If you are a parent that has faced this situation, please comment below. We would love to hear your story!
Leave a Comment