He holds a poker reading group with his 1-L students, after which there is informal play, and his almost missionary zeal has now spread to the Harvard librarians, who are learning the game with hopes that they might teach captive students and transform their arguably moribund institutions from warehouses of dusty tomes to community centers for intellectual engagement and play.

Indeed, play is the operative word here, as Nesson believes that, aside from the concrete cognitive and intuitive skills involved in sophisticated poker play, the game teaches a sense of self-mastery and dominion, of being a player at the table and in the world at large.

As an adjunct to poker, Nesson aims, through his recently founded Mind Sports Research Network at the Berkman Center at Harvard, to study the essential nature of strategic thinking through the study of all the mind sport games–Bridge, Go, Chess, and Draughts. This is the heart of the symposium, detailed on the IFP News page, that precedes the poker night on 13th June.

Masters of the various games will talk about what makes their sports unique — strategically, culturally, and as metaphor — followed by break-out sessions to deconstruct the elements of the game and begin to define a framework for curriculum study (on-line and in schools). Following a panel conversation, moderated by the Berkman Center’s John Palfrey, discussion will move on to poker instruction in the Langdell Library, before decks of cards are dealt for an informal game.

On hand for the International Federation of Poker will be Anthony Holden, the President of the IFP, as well as Sir Harry Evans; poker author and Professor Jim McManus; and Grandmasters in Go, Chess, Draughts, and Bridge.

It promises to be a lively and ground-breaking event, with news of its outcome on the IFP website in the coming days.

An article about the day published by Harvard Magazine detailed Professor Nesson’s vision for mind sports in education.

“Education must strike a balance between physical and mental sports,” said Nesson. “Teaching kids, we can use the notion of starting with play—which is where they are. Schools tend to turn them off at certain points: fractions and algebra are just death on math for so many kids. But in a game, they aren’t just abstract symbols, but tools.”

Also in attendance was Anthony Holden, author and President of the International Federation of Poker, who was unequivocal in his belief in the merits of poker in classrooms.

“Things that can go wrong in poker have parallels in things that can go wrong in life,” he declared. “You are caught out in a bluff in poker—maybe you are caught out in a lie in life. And in both cases, one big challenge is keeping your ego under control.”

The IFP will be among those keeping close eye on the outcomes of the conference, enhancing the role poker can play in mind sports development, particularly in the digital age.

“All five mind sports work online,” said Holden. “There is huge potential for expansion.”

You can read the entire article on the Harvard Magazine website.