“One of the nicest kids…”
- Jun 2, 2009
On December 9, 2005, a young man robbed an Allentown, Pennsylvania, bank of $2,871. While bank robbery is not unusual, the identity of the perpetrator made this instance unique.
The robber, Greg Hogan, was a nineteen-year-old finance and accounting major at Lehigh University. He also was president of his sophomore class, a cellist in the university orchestra, an employee in the school chaplain’s office, and the son of a Baptist minister.
One friend summarized the collective shock for the school newspaper, The Brown and White: “Nobody expected Greg would do something like this.”
What would cause a young man like Greg Hogan to rob a bank? The answer is simple but sad: gambling addiction. According to his lawyer, Hogan began playing online poker for fun and relaxation, and became addicted in the process of losing about $5,000. He began borrowing money to cover his debts, debts that eventually caused him to hand a bank teller a note claiming he had a weapon and demanding money.
“This is one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met, but his gambling addiction led him to make a terrible, terrible mistake,” his attorney said. If youth gambling trends continue, more desperate teenagers may be in the news, and adults are helping the process along.
Until recent years, gambling was primarily an adult activity with a bit of shame attached. In many circles that is no longer the case, and poker is where gambling often begins.
Poker, as you probably have noticed, is wildly popular. Poker tables are sold in many furniture stores. Party stores sell poker party décor. Poker sets for children are found in toy departments. A search of an online toy store found over two hundred poker items, including a pink poker set for girls. Other discoveries include ladies’ clothing adorned with gambling symbols and, the most shocking, gambling Christmas ornaments.
Many parents see poker not as real gambling with serious consequences, but as a way for their children to learn skills in strategy, mathematics, and human behavior—all while tucked safely away in the family room.
As of 2008, “the [Internet] card playing fad that we saw earlier in the decade appears to have lost its steam among young people ages 14 to 22,” said Dan Romer, director of the Annenberg Adolescent Risk Communication Institute (http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org). A strong drop in weekly use of Internet sites followed passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
However, the study also showed that despite the leveling off of card playing, Internet gambling sites still are accessible to youth who are able to bypass the law by using third-party payment systems.
The Annenberg Institute estimates that more than 300,000 youth ages 14 to 22 gamble for money at least once a week on the Internet, and over 700,000 gamble at least once a month. “Many young people…are still risking their financial futures on poker,” Romer said. “This calls for continued efforts to educate young people about the hazards of Internet gambling.”
I’m sure Greg Hogan would agree.
Editor’s note: Greg Hogan served 22 months in prison and was released in June 2008. Under the terms of his probation, he can’t use the Internet without permission from his parole officer. A violation could mean more time behind bars. His felony conviction likely has killed any chance for the Wall Street career he’d envisioned. The unusual nature of the crime fueled a national debate, not only over the legality of Internet gambling but about whether colleges should be doing more to supervise students on campus. In May 2009, a new Sands Casino opened a few blocks from the Lehigh campus.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Gambling