I suppose an “About Me” page is where you would expect to read a third person professional write up on myself. Hmmm…. well that’s not really my style, so I’ll just go ahead and tell you “about me” in my own words. 
Online Poker Addiction – Gambling Addiction 2.0
July 20th, 2008 by Jeremy EnkeAs an online gaming webmaster and the founder of the largest poker affiliate community in the world, I like to think I have been on the forefront of industry news and growth for the last few years.
The reason I wanted to write about this topic (online poker addiction) is because it is one that is almost taboo and not really something affiliates or operators ever discuss. After all, if people did not lose money in rake or games of chance, I may still be hustling an outside sales job in Corprorate America.
Nonetheless I think it is a topic that needs to be addressed at some point in our industry. If we do not address it as an industry, the politicians and morale do-gooders will address it when the time comes for real regulation.
I believe that 90% of online poker players have no problem with addiction and probably play with discretionary income or for entertainment. Unfortunately there is that small % of players that will become addicted. Not that this should be a big surprise though, gambling addiction has been around since the days or riverboat casinos. The reason I called this article Gambling Addiction 2.0 however is because online poker players have so many outs and excuses when it comes to denial of their problem.
Another reason I wanted to write this article is because ironically enough there ARE affiliates out there who have never cashed out an affiliate payment and gamble their revenue away each and every month. This is sad, and is why I have always been a big proponent of NOT paying affiliates into players accounts.
In respect to online poker addiction and why it is 2.0 though; If I had a dollar for every time I saw someone lose their entire bankroll or not be able to pay bills because they were “running bad” I could probably retire. Let’s say I had 100K in my bank account and consistently went to the casino and played slots every night until 4:00 A.M. losing $75K in a few months. Everyone would agree that I had a massive gambling addiction. With online poker however, individuals can simple say they are “running bad”, or blame losing 50% of their net worth on “variance”.
I remember when I started playing online poker and you had to get permission from Lee Jones to even sit in a $100-$200 Limit game. Now days anyone can increase their deposit amounts with a simple email and be playing $300-$600NL with their life savings in less than a few hours.
I am a firm believer that each individual in the world is responsible for their own actions. Likewise if someone tricks off their entire roll or life savings, that is a them problem and not a me problem. But over the years I have seen the limits increase and the amount of people sitting with $50K+ online grow exponentially. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be able to “take shots” at the higher limits.
But I am saying as the deposit limits and table limits in online poker keep rising; at some point when we do get closer to regulation, operators having a GA link in the footer of a site, and a “self exclusion” tab is not going to be enough to convince politicians that the industry is doing enough to curb online gambling addiction.
So there, I crossed the line and actually brought up the idea that online poker addiction exists and that it is probably easier to get addicted to than any other form of gambling. Personally I’m glad I gave up any hopes of ever being a poker player and stuck with the business side of poker many years ago.
If you found this article from a search engine while searching “online poker addiction” or “online gambling addiction” and you think you may have a problem, here a few links that will be helpful.
July 20th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Nice post man, a lot of great points you brought up
July 20th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Great Post!
July 20th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Yes I am also believe in that 90% of online poker players have no problem with addiction and probably play with discretionary income or for entertainment. I love poker very much and It is my life. Nice Post!
July 20th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I can see why online poker addiction is such a huge problem in college as well. My buddy who is still in school was telling me how every kid in college who has been playing for less than 12 months (with their first credit card of course) thinks they are a winning player and tries to rush through the limits.
When I was in college there was no online poker. I think I was addicted to keg parties and trying to bring girls home though.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:31 am
Hey Jeremy,
Good post, really. I have been in a situation myself that I played poker in the higher limits and lost quite a lot. Although I do understand the game of poker well enough to take away money in live tourneys and home games, I have self excluded myself from basically all the poker sites I used to play at. The reason for this is that it’s too easy to loose significants amounts of cash. As it never goes through the hand, it seems to have less value than IRL. Besides, being an affiliate, playing poker can NEVER compensate the possible figures that you can make as an entrepreneur.
Cheers,
Giorgio
July 21st, 2008 at 8:37 am
I had a feeling that this post would be a popular post. Most of us working in poker have either experienced how easy it is to go on tilt, or we know friends who truly are addicted to it.
To everyone else reading this, feel free to share your thoughts as well.
-Jeremy
July 21st, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I used to love poker, but after a while it felt too much like a job. Then when I got killed in the cash games for three months straight I realized that between poker and my full time job I only broke even for those months.
At that point I quit playing for a while. I could have easily gotten addicted though had it been the other way around and I was winning.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:10 am
Yes Jermey, I too agree with you 90% of the players have no problem with addiction. Most of them working in poker have either experienced how easy it is to go on tilt.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
You are a cruel man Mr. Enke… trying to rank for gambling addiction terms, with the link to your poker pages in the post.