More College Students Paying for Tuition with Online Poker Winnings

April 1 - Never before in the history of poker has the college scene been so involved in the game. Universities across the land regularly hold exciting Hold 'em tournaments to earn money for charity and some schools even offer poker courses as a way to stimulate strategic thinking.

With college tuition costing tens of thousands of dollars per year, and the cost of living spiraling, many parents simply cannot afford to put their kids through school. As a result, many students are taking up online poker expressly as a way to make money to pay for their tuition.

Experts estimate that college poker is one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment today, despite the fact that the United States government has clamped down on the pastime through laws such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Overall revenue for online playing, college poker included, is around $2-billion annually.

It is not unheard of for college students to spend up to 30 hours a week playing poker online, in a bid to improve their game and win at tournaments. One student, Hunter Fritz, told his university newspaper that he played regularly and knew that he had hit on a good thing after winning a poker tournament and a $160,000 windfall. Today he plays three hours a day on the internet and considers this his job. "It allows a lot of freedom," he said. "You don't necessarily have to work as many hours but at the same time you have to deal with a lot of stuff no one else has to deal with."

College poker players and their professors have also been extremely vocal in opposing the latest moves to make online poker a felony in states such as Washington and Massachusetts. Joining forces with powerful grassroots organizations such as the Poker Players Alliance, these groups argue that poker is a game of skill and strategy that should not be lumped together with other casino games of chance.