New York-based business Ultrinsic’s site now provides university students with a platform where they can participate in what amounts to wagering on their own grades. Betting on straight A’s pays top dollar, when betting that they won’t be unsuccessful – what Ultrinsic calls “grade insurance” – is a popular but less lucrative endeavor.
Ultrinsic CEO says this is different than online gambling
Ultrinsic chief executive Steven Wolf wants everybody to know that his company is not an online gambling portal. According to the Associated Press, Wolf makes the distinction between “betting on grades” at Ultrinsic and using a standard online gambling portal- Ultrinsic involves skill, rather than luck. What one person would call gambling, Wolf would call students investing in the future – their own future.
”The students have 100 percent control over it, over how they do. Other people’s stuff you bet on – your own stuff you invest in,” said Wolf to the Associated Press. “Everything’s true over it; I’m just trying to say that the underlying concept is just a little bit more than just making a bet – it is really an incentive”.
How Ultrinsic works for students
A college student 18 or older who’s interested in Ultrinsic can register. The odds on present wagers are tabulated upon the student’s past academic record. Course specifics provided by affiliate colleges also play a role in formulating the odds. The student can wager up to $25 to start, but the cap increases with repeated use of the site. Currently, 36 colleges participate in the Ultrinsic network.
Is Ultrinsic online gambling?
I. Nelson Rose of California’s Whittier Law School says that when standard online gambling involves chance, a fee/wager and some form of prize, what Ultrinsic does is less clear-cut. Grades aren’t always 100 percent within control of the student, as instructor bias is not uncommon. But in most cases, grade responsibility is squarely within the hands of the student. Thus, luck falls largely by the wayside as skill becomes the prime determinant.
Wolf understands that variables can exist within the grading equation. Yet the study efforts of students are what keeps what Ultrinsic does out of the realm of chance-based gambling. ”The biggest variable is how much effort the student wants to put in,” exclaimed the chief executive. “In general, if anybody would study 10 hours a day consistently for one class, they would get whichever grade they wanted to get”.
Further reading
Associated Press
articles.moneycentral.msn.com/news/article.aspx?feed=AP and amp;date=20100810 and amp;id=11861854
Ultrinsic
ultrinsic.com/
