What is the real value of a college education nowadays? With the ever-rising costs of tuition, you had damn well better be prepared to pay off a good $60,000-$200,000 in student loans. If you do the math, you might think twice about that master's degree in philosophy.

Fortunately, a small boon has accompanied the rising costs of post-secondary education and the floundering economy. If you went to college and are a poker player, you might already know what we are getting at – which is of course, that college is a great place to learn to play poker.

While it's no secret that there is a ridiculous number of outstanding poker players who are still in or have recently left college, what people don't talk about is why that is.

There is a clear connection between college and poker. A connection, we hypothesize, that has more to do with the social culture of college than any sort of formal academia or math that is taught there.

Lifestyle

Poker and college just work together. Poker not only makes for an exciting pastime with a cool cache that can be played almost anywhere, even the messiest of dorm rooms, it also goes great with beer. And rumor has it that college students have an affinity for that particular beverage.

Poker is great for getting a group together for some casual drinking before hitting the town. And it's equally great to play when the night ends early and you and your buddies aren't ready to go to bed.

Most importantly though, college life is a great way to bring people together to share strategy and talk tactics. It's probably this, more than anything else that has led to the onslaught of skilled college poker players.

These guys often live together and play together, and when the game of choice is poker, they learn together too.

In interviews with young poker pros it's common to hear that they and their buddies started playing poker together, then got into it and ended up sharing strategies on what works and what doesn't.

It's a great way to have fun, but it's an even better way to improve your poker game.

It also doesn't hurt to be as Web savvy as college students tend to be. After all, with the speed and multi-tabling aspect of online poker, it's entirely possible that a 22-year-old college student could have seen more flops than Doyle Brunson. How's that for perspective?