SIOUX CITY, IA -
If you're up for a game of poker, you'll most likely call up some friends and meet at your house to shuffle up and deal, but in the state of Iowa poker players could soon have an online option.
The Iowa Senate's looking at a bill that would legalize internet poker, but some folks say that move could be a bit of a gamble.
This newest bill the Iowa Senate's looking at will be discussed starting Wednesday.
For the second time in two years, Iowa's looking at legalizing online poker.
Some Iowans are already playing illegally, but Iowa's Racing and Gaming Commission says making the game legal could cause another set of problems.
"Prevention of gambling of underage individuals, controls that would ensure that cheating and collusion didn't take place," says Brian Ohorilko, Director of Gaming for the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission.
The prospect of online gambling raises some questions, like: would legalized online gaming equal more Iowans dealing with addiction?
The folks at Sioux City's Jackson Recovery Center help people with gambling addictions, they say if online poker were legal we probably wouldn't see a spike in addictions, but people who are already addicted could be in trouble.
"Folks who do have a problem have a chance to make their problem bigger quicker, and there aren't as many avenues for that person to have interaction with other folks who can point them in the direction of places like Jackson where they can get some help," says Sarah Deck, Clinical Supervisor of Staff Development for Jackson Recovery Centers.
Another issue: when you're online those consequences, like losing a lot of money, don't feel real.
"There's no one that you actually hand a $20 bill to, you don't even have to touch your credit card every time, you just put a credit card number in and then you play and that can cause people to spend more money or to not really feel like its real money," says Deck.
Just a few questions as Iowa decides whether or not to gamble on online poker.
This next step for the bill is just a discussion, it could die in that committee, but it has to move on by this Friday.
Gambling addiction is no joke.
The folks over at Jackson Recovery say that if you're spending so much time, money and attention on gambling that it interferes with other areas of your life, that's a sign you might have a problem.
