Poker fans, it’s time to put your chips on the table and go all in.
HurricanePokerClub.com, which will launch Dec. 1, is a subscription-based legal site that will allow students to enjoy the thrill of gambling without losing their cash.
Chandler Bator, a junior at Arizona State University majoring in finance, is the founder of Your College Poker Club, the parent site for HurricanePokerClub.com.
“I did a lot of research and asked students what their motivation was to go on to these sites and the biggest reason wasn’t money, but the thrill of playing poker and winning,” Bator said. “I felt I could definitely recreate that experience in a safer environment.”
He was motivated to create this entertainment site his freshman year when a close friend of his lost approximately $10,000 on Full Tilt Poker, a well-known gambling website.
“I walked around campus and noticed that a lot of other students had similar stories and were losing amounts of money on these gambling websites, which even back then were illegal in the United States,” Bator said. “A lot of students were being targeted by these sites so I thought there had to be a better way for students to get that experience with poker that a lot of them were craving.”
Gambling sites that allow individuals to deposit infinite amounts of money with a potential risk of losing it all are illegal in the U.S.
However, Your College Poker Club is a subscription based website that allows students to access the game room and win cash and prizes based on their performance. Bator had a lawyer overseeing this project step by step to ensure the legality of the site.
College students will have to pay a monthly fee of $19.95 in order to stay subscribed to the site and access the various gaming activities. There are 160 universities throughout the country that were selected by Your College Poker Club to participate based on the population of the school, standing of the school within the sports realm and school spirit. Each university has its own individual poker club site.
The monthly membership fee will give students access to the site’s game rooms, private matches with anyone in the country, a weekly $10,000 prize giveaway in the World Series of Poker tournament and the ability to place virtual dollars on any major sporting event with Sports Book that will pay off the top 10 performers.
“We have a certain amount of money that comes out of the subscription fee that is allotted to the prize pool. So the more students that join, the more creativity and things we can bring in,” Bator said. “As we grow we will see what these students are interested in and tailor the prize pool to their wants and needs.”
Students will have employment opportunities with this entertainment site. Bator hopes to hire 25 students per university to work for the company and take ownership of the site.
“Each school is different and the students at the school would have the best idea of what their student population is looking for,” Bator said. “Students that are in college are one of the hardest hitting demographics to get jobs right now. So I think providing income to these students will be a great accomplishment.”
Some students believe that losing money in poker is part of the game’s charm.
“I think it would be a bad idea because losing money is part of the game so it won’t be as exciting as real online poker,” freshman Cern Metin said.
Others feel that money is just an extra feature in the game.
“I believe that poker doesn’t have to be about money,” sophomore Joey Flag said. “The act of winning or the stint of losing can still be fun without losing all your money in a bet. A system that students play online poker with each other would be good.”