One of the most annoying trends at my school is an obsession with poker.

I’m not sure how big poker is at other schools, but at my school, you’re not cool if you can’t play Texas Hold ‘Em, Five Card Draw or a plethora of other card games.

This gambling trend started about two years ago, with poker tournaments on channels such as ESPN. The risks and rewards of poker, and the mysterious, masked poker players, were romanticized. Players such as Johnny Chan, who would bet big and cover their personalities with stone-cold poker faces, became role models.

Soon, poker games were springing up all across campus, and almost every student had a deck of cards in their backpack. Two years later, the gambling craze has passed its prime but is still very much alive.

Students are throwing away money that they should be using for other purposes. It’s not uncommon to hear of kids who gamble away their lunch money and go hungry. Several people have asked me for a dollar or two because they lost their money in a poker game.

For some, poker isn’t just a hobby or a passion, it's an addiction. It’s scary to know that some teenagers gamble at school and then go home and play online poker.

But it’s everywhere -- in class, at lunch, after school, at every corner of the campus.

I’ve tried my best to distance myself from these circles, and keep my money in my wallet, where it belongs. The lunches at my school aren’t exactly gourmet meals, but I’d rather eat them than go hungry because I lost all my money.

Vidur Malik is a senior at Mission San Jose High in Fremont.