Harvard Law Group Rallies Against Bill to Ban Online Poker

A group formed at Harvard Law School that backs poker as an educational tool rallied outside the Massachusetts State House yesterday to oppose a bill that would impose criminal penalties for playing the game online.

About three dozen people turned out for the rally, CardPlayer.com reports. It was organized by the Harvard group, the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, and the Poker Players Alliance.

The bill would allow casino gambling but penalize online gambling, Legal Blog Watch reports. Anyone convicted could be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $25,000.

The Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society maintains poker can teach skills like strategic thinking, risk assessment and money management. Its president is Harvard law professor Charles Nesson, who was slated to testify, the Boston Herald reports.

“I don’t think filling our expensive jail cells with poker players is what Massachusetts voters had in mind when they elected [Gov.] Deval Patrick,” he said in a statement.