College students raising the stakes in poker games have some experts raising concerns about gambling addictions.

Teenagers and young adults are twice as likely as people over the age of 24 to become addicted to gambling, according to Rose Gruber, executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling.

College-age students are at a "point in life where they like high-risk things," Gruber said. "Gambling can make them seem important to their peers."

Dan Mongoven, sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said in addition to the high-risk aspect of the game, he likes the "rush" poker provides.

"It's just a good feeling," he said. "I don't really know how to explain it."

Mongoven plays poker every day, sometimes online and sometimes with friends. He said he plays online more frequently because it is easier and more accessible. He is a fan of partypoker.com and pokerroom.com.

"I definitely play with money," Mongoven said. "It's not really worth it without. I've won a few hundred, and some guys are up even more."

Other students, such as Stan Zurawski, play more frequently with a group.

Zurawski, a freshman in the College of Business Administration, said he plays with a group of friends on his floor in Straz Tower two to three times a week.

"I think it's just something to do with a group of friends," he said. "It's like a competition. You want to be the best at it."

The competitive nature of gambling is another reason Gruber cites as its allure toward young people. She said problems occur once a person is gambling more often than usual, spending more money and letting it affect other areas of life.

"Sometimes students think they're too young to have a gambling problem," she said. "They go through denial."

About 10 percent of calls to the council's 1-800-GAMBLE-5 addiction hotline come from 18- to 24-year-olds, Gruber said.

"Even though that group is twice as likely to become addicted, we are less likely to hear from them," she said.

Within the age group, Gruber said men make up the majority of those addicted to gambling because they tend to be drawn more to sports betting and card playing.

Dr. Ned Rubin, a psychologist for Aurora Behavioral Health at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, agrees sports events, such as the NCAA tournament, can be especially addicting for students.

"College students are at risk," he said. "Especially with sports betting. People go nuts. They lose thousands and thousands of dollars sometimes."

Mongoven feels people can gamble frequently but not be faced with an addiction.

"I like to call it a hobby that I do a lot," he said. "I could stop if I want. An addiction's something that harms you."

Zurawski said he does not consider himself or anyone he knows to be addicted to gambling.

"Everyone I know seems like they'd be able to stop if they had to," Zurawski said. "It's just something they like to do. Why not do it a lot?"

Frequent gambling is not necessarily a problem, Gruber said.

"It is a problem when it changes from just a hobby to a focus of a person's life and other things begin to fade away," he said. He advises frequent gamblers take the Lie/Bet Scale gambling addiction screening test.

The test asks people two questions: Have they ever had to lie to people important to them about how much they gamble, and have they ever felt the need to bet more and more money?

Rubin said answering yes to either question might suggest a problem.

Mongoven said going "all in" all the time is not necessarily different from any other activity people habitually engage in.

"It's pretty much what I do," he said. "Other people watch TV. I play cards."