Gambling News - May 2005 Edition

"College Poker: Not Gambling, it's 'Scholarship'"

25,000 students across the US participate in College Poker Championship.

25,000 students across the United States participated in the College Poker Championship competition. No more need be said about the rising interest in the College Poker Championships! The number of contestants exceeds last year’s number by 10,000 players.

The results of the semi-final and final rounds were posted on the website of the hosting company www.collegepokerchampionship.com.

The winner of the competition is to receive a $41,000 scholarship, and the $52,000 pool is to be divided among the next nine finalists of the competition. The Poker game played at the championships was Texas Hold Em. There was no entry fee and students were assigned a pre-determined, imaginary amount of money to play with in each round.

Next year’s competition is already in the planning stage by the organizers. There will be a change in the final competition, next year, as the organizers intend to have finalists play each other face-to-face. The final face-to-face competitions are likely to be televised.

As usual, not everyone is enthusiastic about the ease with which college students can play at online gambling sites. Many people fear that competitions such as these encourage gambling and could breed future gambling addictions. The number of students playing in the poker championships is estimated at 4,500. Kerry Johnson, a spokeswoman for College Poker Championships, countered the concern over gambling by maintaining that the competition does not encourage gambling. “We’re showing how poker can be used as a strategic learning tool. There are lots of examples of how it’s already used in the classroom”, commented Kerry.

Moreover, sponsors of the competition are quick to point out that actual money is not involved since the winners receive scholarships and not cash payouts.

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