SOURCE: www.bostonherald.com

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Nesson contends that poker is a game of skill, not chance. Given that, poker tournaments, including online play, should be legalized, he said.

Dershowitz is also a devoted poker fan. He plays in the summer with Larry David of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame and he jokes that he knows it’s a game of skill since he is frequently bested by better players.

Like Nesson, Dershowitz contends that, under the same “game of skill” theory, online sports betting should be legalized. It is a belief he is now putting into practice as he tries to keep out of prison an executive charged with running an online sports betting business.

“It’s certainly not a game of chance,” Dershowitz said. “It is ridiculous to call either poker or sports betting a game of chance.”

The professors contend the ban passed by Congress last year is on shaky legal ground. In fact, the tiny Caribbean island nation of Antigua, home to a number of off-shore Internet gaming companies, has already successfully challenged the online gaming ban at the World Trade Organization.

Nesson said his interest in poker extends beyond the game itself and the controversies surrounding Internet gaming.

“It’s really the poker way of thinking that is the most deeply intriguing thing to me,” Nesson said.

“The essence of poker is this business of seeing from the other person’s point of view. You have to figure out just where to stop.”

He believes the game of poker can be a great teaching tool by helping instill important analytical skills. “It’s so much the part of what legal thinking is about,” he said.

In fact, Nesson offers some unconventional advice to his students.

“If they want to do something useful in their outside time, they should play poker,” he said.

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