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Copyright 2004 Daily Collegian via U-Wire
University Wire
September 29, 2004 Wednesday
HEADLINE: Online
poker tournament
deals scholarships to college students
BYLINE: By Alex Muller, Daily Collegian; SOURCE:
Pennsylvania State U.
BODY:
Students across the country are signing
online to compete for money and vacations in this year's The 2nd
College Poker Championship.
"Colleges everywhere have a fine poker-playing
tradition," said Lou Kreiger, event host and co-author of
"Poker for Dummies" and "Internet Poker: How
to Play and Beat Online Poker Games."
"It seems natural to hold a poker tournament
where students from all colleges can come together and test their
skills."
Students are invited to compete in the online
poker competition at www.collegepokerchampionship.com from
now until Feb. 20. The players will compete in 25 qualifying rounds
known as Super Satellites, which begin at 4 p.m.
on Sundays.
Pennsylvania State University's Phil Smith
(sophomore-geography) placed 16th in his fourth Super Satellite
competition last Sunday, which was the fifth round of competition.
"It's great because it's free and since
you're playing against other college kids across the country,
you get a chance to gauge yourself against your peers,"
Smith said. "Plus you win money. Last week I won $4."
Smith said the weekly Super Satellites take
about four hours to complete.
The Satellite Event, consisting of the top
10 percent in each of the 25 Super Satellites, will begin on Feb.
20, offering $5,000 in scholarship awards.
About 160 people qualify for the Satellite
Event every week, Smith said.
The top 20 percent of players from the Satellite
Event will play in the Online Final, where first- through 10th-place
winners will receive a spot at The 2nd Annual College Poker Championship
Land Based Grand Final in Cancun, Mexico.
The eighth- through 11th-place finishers will share $5,500 in
scholarship awards.
The top 10 finishers receive the free trip
to Cancun, as well as a VIP pass to a spring break party that
will be hosted by www.collegepokerchampionship.com.
They will also compete for the chance to win $40,000 and a $10,000
donation to any charity they decide that they want to donate to,
according to information on the Web site.
"The competition in Mexico is played in
real life," Smith said. "The top 50 players usually
win a cash prize."
Students can go to the Web site and download
the free software required to play the Texas Hold 'em style of
poker in the online tournament.
"The competition doesn't cost anything,
so you're not losing anything, no matter how you finish,"
Smith said. "It's definitely a learning experience."
In last year's event, Penn State student Cory
Meadows said that he won fourth place in the online poker competition.
Mike Klos (sophomore-recreation park tourism management) said
he heard about the competition through a friend who competed last
year.
"I'm definitely going to play in one of
the Satellites," Klos said. "It's great because you
can always meet people on poker Web sites but this one is specifically
for college kids."
However, Matt Rombach (sophomore-business)
said he thought awarding scholarships for winning a card game
was not reasonable.
"I know kids who work their butts off
to be able to pay for school and now someone can just get lucky
at a card game and win a full ride," Rombach said.
"Next thing you know kids will be getting scholarships for
being good at Candyland."
Students must be going to Penn State full-time
to enter the contest. They can register to compete in for the
scholarship award money online at collegepokerchampionship.com.
(C) 2003 Daily Collegian via U-WIRE
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