Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Maybe the HMT crew can give me some input on how you feel about this topic.

My fiancee's brother (he is 16) is a poker player. He started a couple years ago with his friends, and now he plays on the internet quite a bit. His parents are pretty wealthy and are totally self-made... they're concerned that his poker-playing will cause problems in his life when he's old enough to actually get into casinos. He's already won about $2000 in real money and they don't want him to get any deeper. They told him he couldn't play online poker any more. He agreed, but then he got caught still playing online. I'm sort of the family computer guy and while they had taken away his laptop for a week they had me install some monitoring software on the computer. It runs hidden, and keeps a log of what web sites you visit, all the emails you get, contents of the emails, things you type in chat rooms/ims, etc. EVERYTHING. Then it emails any email address you want with an activity report so it's totally stealth.

He kept doing the poker thing, and his parents busted him, and he was PISSED. He knew the software was being installed but he didn't know it monitored email and all that crap. What do you guys think? Was the monitoring software justified in this case? And what do you think about getting hooked on poker at a young age?

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

If he's not losing money, work it out where you get half the earnings for not reporting it to the parents.

He's 16, it's the coolest thing (in his mind) that he could do, and if he's good at it, why not. Cut him off at 10g and make him join the poker world championship.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Better Poker Than Crack, -----s, and gangs :-\

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

find him a new hobby.
do you think its just a phase hes going through. does he have anything else to do?

If it were me.....
I mess with my car and other peoples. I make very little money at it, but I have alot better rewards...so if you took that away from me, yeah I would be pissed. I have nothing else to do. It would be like taking everything away from me. then if you started to track my ----, you would be invading me and that would really piss me off.

look at it like that....

cars and racing can be very addicting, and costly, and can cause people problems. my uncle got a divorce because he wouldnt give up racing....

its his life. give him something else to be interested in.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

man if i were his dad id be real observant of the situation, it sounds like an obsession, but there are many worse things to be obsessed with, as long he keeps winning that is.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

id be pissed if i got in trouble for playing poker online and my parents monitored my sites I went to(although id understand) but my email too? I dont think thats right.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

I think its justifiable. If the kid was just playing for free, I'd say it was fine. But jeez :-\

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

gambling is such a horrible ------- habit. obsessive gamblers are worse than ------- crackfiends. trust me, i live in vegas... so i know this. people come here and waste thier entire life savings, and then borrow money under false pretenses from their friends/family and waste that too. there are so many ------- homeless bums in this city due to the fact that they are obsessive compulsive gamblers.

cut that ---- off now. it is good that he is winning. however, if he keeps winning he is going to start thinking that he is untouchable, cannot lose, and has a "system" to beat the house. then the stakes will go up. not only will he lose everything that he won, he will lose a whole lot more and end up in some serious debt.

personally, i would rather have a kid that is addicted to crack than one that is addicted to gambling.

good luck

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

He used to skateboard, then he messed up his knees. That's about the time he got into poker. He also collects comic books; he's down at the local shop once every two weeks buying 10 copies of this and that. I think he's got a pretty valuable collection, but i'm not sure.

We're separated by about 10 years but I still think of him like one of my buds. He's a really cool kid. I feel bad for the whole situation.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Look for a cheap Honda for him, and tell him you'll help him turbocharge it. Have him use his money for good purposes.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

ummm... gambling is not good. :-\ Especially since he is sooooo young. Lemme tell you, a friends friend was a heavy gambler. Casino non stop, won money but lost a whole lotta money. To make a long story short, he was in massive debt, ran from the cops, and ended up in a 'shoot-out,' and died. It's an addictive thing and he can't/shouldn't get hooked at such a young age. He needs to be controled.

Maybe you should take his cards and replace them with some pokemon cards. Gambling can't be heathly for him.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Dude... his parents bought him a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited... leather, AWD and everything. And with the house they live in, I don't think they would look too favorably on a oldschool honda up on jacks taking up room in their garage. Don't get me wrong, i'm a Honda head ;D

Okay, new question, are any of you guys into poker? Dedicated players, or just occasional? I don't even know if poker is getting really big again; it seems like all his friends are into it.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Well, my sister' bf is rich as hell, and he has a Beretta as a daily driver, and 3 cars in his yard: Caprice, and 2 Camaro's. Took the 400 SBC out of the Caprice (originally from a Vette), Taking all the good parts off the 83 Z28, and sticking them all on the 89 RS. Maybe all rich people aren't the same.

I play poker daily at work, I don't know how popular it is out of there though.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

I think the real important question is................What is the name of the program you used?

There are 22 and 23 year old in the World Poker Championships. If he is good at it and he isn't spending money that he doesn't have then I don't see a problem. What is the difference between a hobby and an addiction?

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

I wish I had parents who could buy me anything I wanted just like that... :(

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Same here :(

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

kids like that appreciate nothing. that car will be tore the hell up. i thought the same thing when I was a kid, then I started buyin my own ---- and appreciated it alot more.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Sure as hell I'd appreciate it more, but I'd rather not appreciate it as much and pay nothing, then pay out my as like I do.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

Why does this matter?





"Guardian" something. I don't remember. It was like $60 bux a copy.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

all of my boys play poker A LOT-there like 19-23. I don't really understand it so i don't play, but they love it and i loan them money and get some of the ---- they win back in return so - i don't know. 2000 isn't really that much dough when you think about it in terms of poker....thats like winning a couple big games. I don't really think it's that big of a deal the way my friends play, except that i don't have ---- to do other than ---- with this site while they do it. I don't know man if the kid gets addicted that could be bad, cause all good things always come to an end- it's a fact.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

i would have shot you for spying on my computer

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

I didn't. His parents did. It was their idea. If I didn't configure that ---- for them they would have had someone else do it. Your perspective is a little different when you come from a family that had been deeply affected by gambling.

Yayo--I feel bad for you. Especially if your friends are borrowing money and ---- from you to play poker. That is how it gets started, my friend. One day they'll want to borrow money you don't have, and you'll be like, that fucker already owes me $$$, wtf... You're right though. All good things do come to an end.

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

they all have money anyway so i'm not too worried and i usually make it a point to give the money to someone that wins ;)

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

anyhow i don`t think it is right to monitor anyone. specially you really treat him like a buddy of you, now think of one day he found out YOU did it and YOU are the one who`s monitoring all his E-mail and stuff.. :-\..
but i understand or might be i don`t, the presure from your fiancee's parents..might be you can talk to them about what u think and tell them you can try to talk him out of it?...

The way he like poker is just like the way we all like cars..no one can really COMPETELY STOP everything that we`ve been doing for who knows how long. what would YOU feel if one day your parents tells you "STOP GOING TO HMT, STOP TOUHING ANYTHING RELATED TO YOUR CAR, STOP TALKING ABOUT CARS, STOP TOURCHING WRENCHES...etc.." it`s just not possible...i guess you can try to tell him try Not to play too often...sooner later he will find something else to do..it might not happend in a month or two but eventually it will stop.

a buddy of mine was quite into going to actual CASINO for a while, too, started with friends. not sure what he plays but i know he would bring two hundred bucks, bet on black jack hundred bucks a hand...after he win for like one or two times he start loseing , loseing evertime. and somehow we relized he`s spending ALL his $$ to try to "revenge". he would rather not eating lunch/dinner/gas $ to spend in casion..
oh well within a month, and after some serious bashing he decided to quit.

eitherway, TALK is the key. get him sober and he will listen. (or not? :P)

Re:Off Topic: Underage online gambling, and privacy concerns
 

his parrents are int the right here, they still controll what he does and are legaly liable for what he does. he gets cought gambleing online with anyone for money it is a steep fine if hes underage. i play poker a bit and found it was more fun to play with friends over pop/beer than it was to play for money. hes just going to have to understand hes still a kid in the governments eyes.