The College Poker Championship, Where Cash Scholarships and Charitable Donations are Won at the Poker Table

by Lou Krieger | Published: Jun 04, 2004

With all the excitement about the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, it's easy to overlook another championship event that's been flying under the radar of those among us who no longer spend our days on a college campus. But for those still in school, the big news is the first-annual College Poker Championship, an event that crowns one student as the best college no-limit hold'em player in the world.

Colleges have always been poker hotbeds, and many of us cut our teeth on fraternity house card games. I'm a product of that environment myself – a guy who spent lots of time playing at the college poker casino some students naively thought was the student union. They were games in which our enthusiasm and banter usually exceeded our skills and bankrolls, and we would have been no match for today's better-educated, more-skilled college poker players. With today's rapidly escalating interest in poker – and this interest in poker seems to be taking hold among college students faster than any other segment of the population – it seemed only natural to create a tournament allowing poker-playing college students to test their skills against each other while competing for large scholarship awards.

is an online no-limit hold'em tournament series, and participation is exclusively reserved for students enrolled at colleges and universities anywhere in the world. Participation is entirely free. There's no entry fee, and no purchase of any kind is ever required. Each week during the qualifying rounds, $500 cash scholarships are awarded; $5,000 in scholarships will be awarded during the semifinals, and the final event will award $50,000 in college scholarships. As an added feature, $10,000 in donations will be made to charities or organizations designated by the winners.

The organizers of this event expect it to grow in subsequent years as it gains in popularity. During the first year, $70,000 in scholarships will be awarded, along with $10,000 in charitable donations. Charitable donations bring a fund-raising element to the College Poker Championship, and each charity or university organization chosen by a participating player will receive a monetary donation based on student rankings in the final event.

The College Poker Championship is a win-win event for all concerned. Since no entry fee is required, each student who plays is freerolling for scholarship money as well as for cash donations to a charity or university club. And when the dust finally settles, someone will be recognized as the best college no-limit hold'em player in the world.

The tournament is run by College Poker Championship.com, a not-for-profit entity that receives sponsorship and tournament support from RoyalVegasPoker.com. It's a four-month event, and during that time, 18 preliminary events will be played, with a minimum of 30 students qualifying each week for the semifinals. Players are eligible to participate in as many qualifying rounds as they like, but can qualify only once for the semifinal event.

Qualifying rounds take place each Sunday at 2 p.m. EST, with the last qualifying event set for Sunday, May 23, 2004. The 500-plus students qualifying in these early rounds will be invited to participate in the semifinal, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 30, 2004 at 4 p.m. EST. The top 200 students will move on to the finals, slated for Sunday, June 6, 2004 at 4 p.m. EST.

Registration is easy, and students can sign up at www.collegepokerchampionship.com. Students need to provide their name, e-mail address, contact number, student ID number, and expected graduation date in order to register. They'll also have to provide their school's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, along with the charity or university club they've selected, and the address, phone number, e-mail address, and the name of a contact person at the charity or club. The last requirement is downloading the RoyalVegasPoker software and registering an account.

Eligible universities and colleges include accredited two-year and four-year institutions, as well as graduate schools around the globe, and students must be at least 18 years old to enter. Students who qualify for a scholarship in the semifinal or final event will be asked to verify their scholastic eligibility by submitting certified university transcripts to collegepokerchampionship.com. Eligible participants must be currently enrolled as a graduate or undergraduate student for the term between January and June 2004. Alumni of a university are not eligible to participate unless they are currently enrolled as students.

I'm the host for this event, so you can look for me on the College Poker Championship website. While the scholarships offered at the College Poker Championship won't equal the prize pool at the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour, this is a terrific opportunity that I wish was around when I was in school. The chance to demonstrate poker skill, along with an opportunity for recognition among all college poker players, is just terrific – and so are the scholarships and the chance to play the hero by rewarding a deserving charity or university club with a donation. And it's all free. That's important, especially when you're a college student. At least it was when I was in school. Free wasn't just important to me back then; sometimes it was everything.

If you're a college student, here's your chance. Play poker, gain fame, win scholarships, reward a deserving club or charity, show your poker skills, strut your stuff, have a grand time, and it won't cost you a cent. So, what's not to like? Wow!