by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jun 9, 2012 | Updated on Jun 9, 2012Whenever there’s a debate over expanding online gambling, one of the biggest questions is how sites can prevent underage children from playing these games. Over the years, online poker sites have come up with a number of different age verification techniques that have helped to reduce the incidence of underage gambling, but it still happens from time to time – often with the unwitting assistance of parents.That was the case for Declan Hind, a 12-year-old boy from Liverpool. Declan had played poker and other games before, thanks to some free apps on his mobile phone. But he had never played online poker for real money, and couldn’t have – until his father gave him his credit card, that is.The card was given to help Declan purchase a birthday gift online. But Declan quickly realized he could use the card for other purposes too.“I just went on one of the poker websites and put all the information in,” Declan told The Mirror.Alas, things didn’t go Declan’s way on the poker felt. Though he says he won at times, it wasn’t nearly enough to cover his losses, which quickly mounted. That left Declan in the position of either admitting his mistake or chasing his losses, and the young boy chose the latter.Eventually, Declan would manage to max out his father’s credit card, losing a total of close to £7,000 in the process.“Declan had red-lined my credit card,” Declan’s father Keith told The Mirror, “which is probably a good thing or he probably would have kept going. I was mad, really livid for weeks. But I was also shocked – it was so easy for him to do it.”Stories like these help to emphasize the important role parents play in preventing underage online gambling, by ensuring their children do not have access to credit cards and other payment methods that are under their parents’ names.On the bright side for the Hinds, there was a silver lining to the story. Declan has taken his experiences and is now using them to help other children by working with the Prevention Town charity, a group that helps underage gamblers.
