‘Gambling’ site open to Knights

A new opportunity is coming to UCF that will not only create jobs for students but also give them a fun, risk-free way to compete with fellow classmates.

YourCollegePokerClub.com is a subscription-based online poker site designed by college students for college students. By paying a monthly fee of $19.95, students can gamble by using virtual dollars that they could turn into actual winnings or possibly a spot in the World Series of Poker.

Chandler Bator, a junior finance major at Arizona State University, was initially inspired to create this site when he witnessed a close friend lose $10,000 playing illegal online poker his freshman year.

"After that, his parents pulled him out of college and I never saw him again," Bator said. "I then noticed that a lot of my friends gambled online and more of them lost than won. I did some research and saw that crime rates were up on campus, from white-collar crime to theft to robbery to suicide. I realized there has to be a safer way to do this for them to have the excitement of winning with no risk."

Bator shared his idea with Barbara Bucca, a friend's mother who had experience in creating subscription-based websites with her business called Charity Stakes that raises money for charities through online gaming.

Bucca was willing to help Bator launch his idea when she saw how he demonstrated compassion and conviction for his idea and fellow classmates.

"I thought [Bator's] discussion had tremendous conviction for trying to help his fellow students to have the ability to enjoy the games that they love, yet having them play in a safe environment in itself was a brilliant idea," Bucca said. "But when he brought up his idea to offer employment to his fellow students, it added the cherry on top."

Currently, the website — which only hires students — has created around 300 jobs at 160 universities and plans to create a minimum of 4,000.

Students are hired as campus marketers and are paid $5 per member they recruit to sign up per month plus a base pay that is still being negotiated.

College students are the basis of Bator's website. With graduation coming up soon, he realizes that there aren't a lot of jobs out there and that isn't likely to change unless students start creating their own.

"I want to be an example to every college kid out here with an idea, know that's it's possible," Bator said. "If you don't do it, shame on you because it can be done."

The reactions that Bator has seen from his own college have been both positive and negative, seeing as how his fellow classmates have played a big part in deciding what goes on the website.

Students at UCF have so far displayed positive reactions.

Freshman advertising/public relations major Samantha Whitman saw the website as something for students to look forward to.

"I think they will react positively and be excited to compete with students from the same school," she said.

Despite the positive outlook from some students, online gambling has been drawing negative attention for quite some time.

According to report done by the Connecticut General Assembly, the Department of Justice has claimed online gambling to be illegal on the basis of the 1961 Wire Act and the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Act.

Online gambling became virtually nonexistent when, on April 15, the Department of Justice indicted 11 owners of the biggest online poker sites, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, and shut down their sites.

Having nowhere else to play, students then turned to illegal offshore gambling sites.

That's what Bator is hoping to beat, feeling that these online sites are just ripping students off.

Though there has been talk in Congress recently about legalizing online gambling in order to create more jobs, Bator still feels like that would be a devastating blow for America.

"From the research I've done and from seeing the effects of when it was not really legal but still going on, I think it would be another downward slide for America," Bator said. "We want to give online gambling and casinos a run for their money."

To register for UCF's poker site, visit knightpokerclub.com or to apply for a position as campus marketer visit YourCollegePokerClub.com.