PokerRoom.com, winner of the 2006 UK Gambling Awards poker site of the year is bringing poker to universities in the UK, and the search is on to find the best student Texas Hold 'Em player in the country.

The promotion will see scholars up and down the country getting the opportunity to play poker, and if successful the best players will qualify to play in dedicated tournaments online, with the chance of winning the star prize, a brand new £15,000 sports car.

The tour began in Liverpool on 20 February and will encompass Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham and London, before ending up in Bristol on 3 March.

Thousands of students will play the first round of the tour at their local student hangout and pick up expert tips from PokerRoom.com and the online tournament will take place the following day, with the winner from each university proceeding to the final. The top 10 online poker players will then meet in the nail-biting final on PokerRoom.com on 11 March.

PokerRoom.com's chief executive Patrick Selin says, "With the launch of the Student Poker Tour, we are taking the exciting world of poker directly to a growing audience and developing a relationship with a previously untapped market. We aim to show students that anybody can be a great Texas Hold 'Em player given the tools and the know-how from PokerRoom.com."

Launched in 1999 with a 'play money' format, PokerRoom.com was among the first gaming sites on the Internet. In 2001, with the introduction of 'real money' games, the site quickly became one of the top sites with growth rates larger than any competitor.

The site was voted best poker site by readers of PokerPlayer, InsideEdge and Total Gambler at the 2006 UK Gambling Awards held in January, thanks to its efforts to be a bit more 'fun' than the competition. With innovations such as the 'Pokah!' community which enables players to set up profiles, chat and send messgaes, proving particularly popular with users.