On Tuesday, a hearing in Massachusetts will feature a discussion of whether poker should legally be considered a game of skill. Supporting the measure is the Harvard-based Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society (GPSTS).
The bill in question would, according to Andrew Woods of the GPSTS, remove poker legally from its stigma as a game of chance. Woods told Poker News Daily in the days leading up to the hearing, “What this recognition would do is move poker out of that legislative regime. Right now, poker is classified as a lottery in Massachusetts, which any poker player knows is something of a joke. This is explicit recognition that poker is a game of skill.”
Massachusetts State Representative Brian Wallace proposed the bill, which is numbered 4069. The measure is quite succinct in its language and signals out poker as a game of skill. It reads, “Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit, limit, criminalize, regulate, or require a license to operate, set up, promote, aid, play, or otherwise participate in games of skill played peer-to-peer, including but not limited to poker.” Wallace, a Democrat, has served in the Massachusetts legislature since 2003.
With its home chapter at Harvard, the GPSTS has become heavily involved in supporting Wallace’s legislation. On the organization’s interests, Woods told Poker News Daily, “We’re interested in being involved because the bill follows our goals and interests. The bill very precisely states that poker is a game of skill. Across the country, you’re seeing a lot of states coming up against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and instead looking at intrastate poker. They can’t get around the federal law, but they can allow it within their own state.” The UIGEA was passed in 2006 at the urging of then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).
The GPSTS is focused on defining how skills derived from poker can be applied to the real world. Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson founded the organization, which, according to its website, uses “poker to teach strategic thinking, geopolitical analysis, risk assessment, and money management. We see poker as a metaphor for skills of life, business, politics, and international relations.” GPSTS chapters can be found coast-to-coast, including at Dartmouth, New York University, UCLA, the University of Michigan, and Stanford.
The fall session of the GPSTS featured the annual Harvard versus Yale poker tournament on the eve of the schools’ match-up on the gridiron. Harvard bested Yale in 2009 and other GPSTS rivalries include UCLA versus USC and Princeton versus Penn. Woods explained that the organization has continued to grow leaps and bounds after two-and-a-half years: “We’ve been evolving our course work and activities to be in line with our mission be an institution that helps develops a skill set in poker that is applicable and fun to use. We’ve had success and are continuing to expand operations.”
A member of the GPSTS or poker community may testify at Tuesday’s hearing in the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee. On the federal level, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) leads the charge on behalf of the internet gambling industry, having introduced HR 2267. The bill provides a complete framework for licensing and regulating internet gambling in the United States. Woods gave his take on federal legislation already on the books: “People’s views on internet poker are founded on archaic concerns around gambling in general. There are legitimate concerns about people playing it too much and those should be dealt with, but to prohibit it because it’s dangerous is kind of ludicrous.”
Visit the official website of the GPSTS for more information on this burgeoning organization.