If you were to twin Las Vegas with an English town, Cambridge would certainly be near the bottom of the list. However, while the latter may be lacking anything on the scale of “Caesar’s Palace”, you would be surprised at the number of students for whom gambling is part of their daily lives. The explosion of internet betting sites has given rise to a new breed of gamblers, markedly different to those you would associate with your smoky high street bookie. Students have become a prime target, with companies like Absolute Poker running advertisements offering the chance to win a term’s tuition fees. For most people, though, the purpose of gambling is as a source of adrenaline, adding excitement to sporting events on television, or as a social activity, with groups of friends playing poker an increasingly common sight around the colleges.

In the new era of ‘super-casinos’, betting exchanges and poker celebrities, it is easy to forget about the dangers of gambling. Research has found that students are inclined to take risks due to their lack of ties, having less to lose and the capacity to start again in the face of bankruptcy.

Nevertheless, lost friendships, ruined degrees and a rock-bottom credit rating are not easily repaired. Perhaps it is positive, therefore, that the travelling Churchill Casino only run pretend money events at May Balls and the like. Max Lines, co-manager of the casino, has seen their popularity grow, but insists that “there is no culture of binge gambling in Cambridge”. He does admit, however, that by giving people the opportunity to play for fun, it may build their confidence for the real thing. For most, this entails five or ten pound live poker games and occasional deposits online, with even the Hawks’ Club getting in on the act with a new poker room. The most regular poker game can be found with the University’s Poker Society that meets every Sunday for “no limit” Texas Hold ‘em tournaments. Even this small-time gambling has not sat well with some college authorities, with Homerton and Emmanuel banning poker sites, and others deterring students from using common rooms to play cards.

The one man who knows student betting habits better than anyone is Steve Wood, the manager of Ladbrokes in Market Square. Roughly 5 per cent of his customers are students, mainly coming in to bet on Premiership and Champions League action, often in the form of weekend accumulators. “There are no big student punters,” he said, arguing instead that drink and not gambling is Cambridge’s most prominent vice.

For Cambridge students gambling shouldn’t just be about winning or losing. The skills employed when rationally assessing the chances of a bet succeeding are very similar to those needed in high flying city jobs, and whilst Nick Leeson may have got it very wrong, many gambling graduates settle in better than most. It may also surprise you to learn that students of academic repute have been involved in high-risk gambling scams. In 1979, a group of friends from MIT used their mathematical knowledge to turn the odds of blackjack in their favour, through a sophisticated card-counting scheme, making them millions of dollars.

For most Cambridge students gambling is clearly not a way of life, but with increasing betting opportunities in our new ‘risk society’, there is every chance today’s small-time punters will be the high rollers of tomorrow.

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