The Collegiate Poker Tour: Easy Money or a Bad Gamble?
For Craig Rabin and Jason Beck, poker isn't just a game. It's what they're betting on to launch their first business together.
The two recent college graduates started Collegiate Poker Tour Events a few months ago. It's a traveling poker tournament that hits college campuses starting in the fall.
Students can sign up and actually compete in Texas Hold 'Em games for a shot at $85,000 in scholarship money.
"People are really attracted to this and it's getting a lot of students involved," said Beck, who is 21. "We know that poker is a way to draw kids in."
The idea sprung out of a class project for both of the men, who live in the Chicago area.
As a student at University of Miami, Beck worked for the school's intramural department and saw how hard it was to draw students into activities there.
He and long-time friend Rabin, who attended Illinois State University, have bounced quirky business ideas off each other for years, dreaming of working together after college.
There was the traveling car waxing idea, a web design business and even a short endeavor into selling T-shirts emblazoned with college logos. But when Beck came up with the idea last October that would tie college intramural programs, poker and scholarships into one business, that's what the two set their sights on.
At Illinois State, Rabin, 22, was in an entrepreneurship class where he had to make up a company for a school project and he used the idea he and Beck had come up with about the poker tournaments. He got an A.
After they both graduated, the two put all their energy into the company and already have six colleges and universities signed up and handfuls more interested.
Campus Poker Tournaments
The first competition is at Illinois State University in November. Other schools that have committed to dates are the University of South Carolina, Ohio University, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Saint Louis University, University of South Dakota and University of North Dakota.
At the tournaments, the only criteria is for students is that they are at least 18 years old and enrolled in full-time classes at the university where the poker tournament is held. Graduate students are also eligible, as long as they're full-time.
Because all the tournaments will be through the school's intramural department, Rabin and Beck will not tolerate any gambling. As many as 500 competitors will be allowed to participate in each poker event, with the tournament structured to last five to six hours if there's enough interest.
The winner from each campus will then earn a seat at a national tournament for a chance to win up to $85,000 in scholarship money. At the tournaments, students can also win gift certificates and other freebies from local sponsors in that area.
"The response we've gotten has been tremendous," said Rabin. "Although some of the schools are wary, they like the idea. The students think it's crazy and we've gotten several e-mails trying to convince us to come to their school."
Gambling Problems
Poker tournaments such as this have become the latest rage, often endorsed and frequented by celebrities. However, some say it could be problematic to use this game of chance in an academic setting.
"Their target audience has some of the highest rates of risk factors and gambling problems," said Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.
Whyte says that gambling addiction isn't about winning money, it is about the rush of gambling and staying in the action.
"So playing for 'fun' can be just as compelling to a problem gambler, even if there is no money on the table," he said.
Rabin and Beck plan to have Gamblers Anonymous booths at their events. The two said the tournament idea is win-win for everyone involved.
"Schools need to boost their intramural participation rates and this can do it," said Rabin. "This is also one of the most unique opportunities for sponsors to target college students and have them take their product back to their dorm room."
© 2008, Young Money Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
