Law professor defends online poker
12th February, 2008
Harvard law professor Charles Nesson has restored some well-deserved credibility to the game of poker by affirming the potential analytical benefits that gamers can acquire.
Appearing on America's Comedy Central Network, Dr Nesson told political satirist Stephen Colbert - best known for his appearances on the Daily Show - that online poker is getting a "rough deal" from lawmakers.
Federal laws passed two years ago place a ban on depositing funds in internet-based poker rooms, but according to the professor this unfairly lumps them with games of chance in which house odds tend to favour the gambling operator.
Dr Nesson said that, in contrast, poker is a game of skill based around multi-tiered levels of reasoning - psychological as well as mathematical - and that sportsmen and women who successfully foster their talent for the game can indeed draw benefits from it.
"It is my mission to legitimise poker as a teaching tool, a learning tool," he told an animated Colbert. "Poker is the quintessential American game."
The law professor went on to criticise a proposed bill in his home state of Massachusetts which aims to impose prison sentences on online gamers, saying it was curious that the proposition comes alongside another bill seeking to legalise three land-based casinos in the state.
Poker Alerts is the site that gives you up to date online poker news from around the world
