Two of the best poker players in the world gathered before a full house at Harvard Law School (HLS) last night and called for the card game to be legalized both online and across the country.

Howard Lederer, a two-time World Poker Tour champion, and Crandell Addington, one of the founders of the World Series of Poker, told the audience that poker—which is illegal in several states, including Texas—should be allowed to emerge from its backroom days.

"Poker is a microcosm of life," Lederer said. "Good players make their own luck."

Despite the sport’s growing popularity since the game first appeared on television and the Internet, it has continued to face opposition from lawmakers and lobbyists.

President Bush signed the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act last year banning online gaming. The act prohibited financial intermediaries from transferring money to online gambling services, preventing players from using their credit cards to finance these games online.

Lederer said that because it is a game in which skill plays a significantly larger role than luck, lawmakers should work to legalize and facilitate online gaming.

"Poker is a game that should be treated differently on the Internet," he said. "It deserves separate status."

Andrew Woods, a third-year student at HLS who recently founded the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society (GPSTS), said that poker teaches life skills, including risk assessment.

But Addington acknowledged that the game still faces many lingering negative perceptions. When he played poker in Texas in the 1960s, Addington often brought weapons to the game because sheriffs cracked down on games, he said.

Weld Professor of Law Charles R. Nesson ’60, who moderated the debate and dealt the questions, pressed the speakers on whether poker was a game of chance or skill, arguing that a distinction needs to be made between the two if a legal standard is to be applied.

"If you’re a leader, you want to build your people around the development of skill," he said.

Lederer responded by saying that, while luck is involved in many hands of poker, he was still willing to bet that skill is the main factor in deciding who wins or loses a game.

"I can’t really think of a game that’s played among a large group of people that doesn’t involve skill," he quipped. "People don’t get together and flip coins."

—Staff writer Kevin Zhou can be reached at kzhou@fas.harvard.edu.