DAILY HERALD SECTION 1 PAGE 5 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2009 Continued from Page 1

A
and win real money with-
out betting any of their own.
Alex said thats how its able to
operate legally, despite laws
that ban Internet gambling.
Now 17, Alex has seen the
number of users grow steadily
and, in late June, unveiled a
more sophisticated version of
the site with a new design.
Judy Gerber said her sons
love of cards started with his
father, who died ve years ago.
e two were close and often
played cards together.
ats why to me I think
I understood it, she said. I
realize the innocence and the
signicance of it.
Alex, wholl be a senior at
Barrington High School in the
fall, had already been playing
online poker with friends. He
thinks its more challenging
than face-to-face games.
Its interesting because you
cant see the other person on
the other side, so you have to
try to gure out what theyre
going to do, he said.
Sports site inspires
Victor Palmer, the creator of
centsports.com, a similar site
that hosts free betting on sports
games, helped Alex strategize
and provided him with codes
to add features. Alexs cousin
Andy Norbeck lent ideas and
helped create graphics for the
site.
Palmer, a child prodigy who
earned a college math degree
at 16, told e Eagle of Col-
lege Station, Tex., last year
he expected his site to make
$500,000 to $1 million by the
end of 2008.
Will Schobeiri, who now runs
centsports.com, said he and
Palmer had already thought of
using their model for a poker
Web site, but when Alex con-
tacted them with the same
idea, they were happy to have
him give it a go.
Schobeiri said centpoker.
com hasnt taken o as quickly
as centsports.com, which has
gained more than a half million
users since launching in late
2007. But considering what is,
I would say (centpoker.coms
performance) is pretty good,
said Schobeiri, whos just 21
himself. Alex has the mental-
ity to make it happen. ... He has
a lot of potential.
Alexs earnings have humble
so far, with ad revenue gener-
ating $4,000 to $5,000, he said.
So far, the payouts have also
been modest, with the highest-
paid winner on centpoker.com
receiving just $144.
In addition to the commu-
nity pot, revenue goes toward
operating costs. Alex does earn
a prot and said he considers
centpoker.com a part-time job.
Several months ago, he
added a twice-monthly tour-
nament to the site in hopes
of drawing new members. It
worked, and he said he contin-
ues to add 10,000 new users a
month.
His interest in computers is
nothing new. He taught himself
to use applications on a lap-
top he received in eighth grade
and, for several summers,
attended computer camp.
Hes built Web sites for family
members before but had never
before managed his own.
Legality is murky
Alex says one reason he
decided to start the site was
because he and his friend
chafed at Internet gambling
being banned.
e question of the legal-
ity of such non-wagering sites,
though, appears to remain a
somewhat murky one.
Lt. Luis Gutierrez of the Illi-
nois State Police, which has an
Internet Crimes Unit, said the
department doesnt consider
the Web site illegal because
its for entertainment pur-
poses and users arent spend-
ing money. He said players are
essentially getting paid to view
ads.
But University of Illinois
Professor of Business Admin-
istration John Kindt, while
declining to judge Alexs site
specically, said the legality of
similar ones has been success-
fully challenged in court.
Kindt, an outspoken critic
of gambling mainly because
of what he sees as its negative
economic impact, said federal
authorities have added regula-
tions to the law and continue
to modify it. He noted theres
a long history of Congress ban-
ning various types of wire
gambling, going back to tele-
phone gambling.
It would be unwise for a stu-
dent to challenge this trend by
claiming some kind of, quote-
unquote, gray area, Kindt
said.
Moral questions?
Legality is one thing; moral-
ity can be quite another.
Alex says self-professed gam-
bling addicts have told him his
site allows them to safely feed
their habit because they dont
risk their own money.
Anita Bedell, director of Illi-
nois Church Action on Alcohol
and Addiction Problems, isnt
convinced that its such a good
idea for recovering addicts to
use the site. She said players
will become comfortable gam-
bling, become overcondent,
and turn to a Web site where
they can win more money.
Its like a training ground,
she said.
Alex did say younger people
high school and college kids
are centpoker.coms main
users.
Bedell said thats dangerous
because gambling among teens
is on the rise. She cited ndings
from the 10-year-old National
Gambling Impact Study Com-
mission reports nding that
1.1 million minors aged 12 and
18 were gambling, more than
any other age group.
Its very easy for young
people to become addicted
because nobody is watching,
Bedell said.
A steppingstone
Whatever the impact on
its users, centpoker.com has
actually blossomed into a
very good learning experi-
ence for Alex, his mother
said.
She said creating and run-
ning the site has given her son
experience with negotiating
and developing relationships
with partners.
As a manager of the site,
he has to answer user ques-
tions and deal with technical
diculties.
Alex said he wants to study
the Internet and computers in
college, with the hope of work-
ing for a company like Google
or Microsoft. He plans on run-
ning the site as long as he can.
Judy Gerber hopes it will
help him get into a better col-
lege next year by allowing
him to stand out from other
applicants.
Im in awe, she said. Im
really amazed.
Poker: Teens love of cards started with dad
Continued from Page 1
retired dean of biological health
sciences at the College of Lake
County.
Must have been is the oper-
ative phrase for Corn and others
involved in wildlife issues. e
terrain has been leveled, and
the house will be demolished,
clearing the path for an even-
tual commercial use.
With the annual return of
the reptiles expected soon, the
work of Corn and his colleagues
has shifted from research to res-
cue and relocation. ey plan
to intercept and move an entire
population of fox snakes to a
new home in a forest preserve
nearby.
No ones really attempted
this, so a lot of it is guesswork,
said Gary Glowacki, a wildlife
biologist with the Lake County
Forest Preserve District.
Hes overseeing installation
of two large sections of concrete
septic tank, secured for free as
factory seconds, about 10 feet
below ground to serve as winter
quarters.
Ultimately, we want these
snakes to nd this place on their
own, he said.
Without intervention, the
snakes within a few weeks will
clamor to get somewhere that
no longer exists. e fear is they
would continue past the old
home site and into the path of
busy trac.
Snakes dont get old in Lake
County they get run over long
before that, said Corn, whose
special interest in his 40-year
career is reptile ecology.
To prevent that, contractors
working for the property owner
this spring installed a corridor
using a silt fence and wooden
stakes. Funneled into the path
as they left for the marshes,
about 50 snakes were captured
and tted with tiny transmitters.
e reverse will happen
beginning next week, when vol-
unteers begin collecting snakes
from traps placed along the cor-
ridor. ey were fashioned by
Corn using a gutter downspout,
plastic box and other common
materials.
ey will be held at the Wild-
life Discovery Center at Elawa
Farm until late October or early
November before being intro-
duced to their new home.
ose involved in the project
will say only that the location is
in the Lake Villa area.
ere are a lot of snake
hounds around that would
show up in the middle of the
night and take the snakes out
of the traps, said Steve Barg,
executive director of the Liberty
Prairie Conservancy, an open
space and restoration group
also involved in the eort.
Attempts to buy the prop-
erty were unsuccessful, but the
owner has allowed Corn access
since he learned of it about 15
years ago.
Transmitters allow research-
ers to track the snakes to deter-
mine seasonal movements and
preferred habitats. Fox snakes
are not on any threatened or
endangered lists but are becom-
ing rare here.
Scientic papers will be writ-
ten, and Corn even has plans
for a fox cam. If it works, the
process could be used as a
model to save other species in
the county.
Why all the eort? Corn
said the general public doesnt
always consider the big picture.
eir idea of preserving
nature is, We want bluebirds
and squirrels and a bike path,
he said. To maintain an ecosys-
tem, you need all the pieces.
Kings: Snakes tted with transmitters
Continued from Page 1
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