Do you consider poker a sport?

This has been discussed many times before.

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It depends on how you define sport I guess. Most people class sport as a physical exercising. There is actually no real definition on what sport is apart from competitive, skilful and strategy activity.. which poker falls into. There actually isn't any word on sport being physical, I think it's how we are all brought up and it's just stuck as "sport"

So I guess you can class it as a sport but I class sports as doing something physical,

ie: Football, Tennis etc.

ramdeebam said:

It depends on how you define sport I guess. Most people class sport as a physical exercising. There is actually no real definition on what sport is apart from competitive, skilful and strategy activity.. which poker falls into. There actually isn't any word on sport being physical, I think it's how we are all brought up and it's just stuck as "sport"

So I guess you can class it as a sport but I class sports as doing something physical,

ie: Football, Tennis etc.

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That the crux.

Most definitions of sport involve physical contest.

Therefore poker is best described as a game rather than a sport as a game does not involve a physical competition.

TBH the more condensed the dictionary the more condense the definition.. so cheaper dictionaries tend to give a vaguer definition.

An example of the definition of sport would be the ruling given by the Olympic committee on the possible conclusion of body-building.

The ruling being that as the outcome is not decided based on a physical competition, bodybuiding is not regarded as a sport (even though it required an extreme amount of physical activity in its preparation). The outcome of a bodybuilding event is determined not by physical competition but but by a subjective decision made by the judges.

Weightlifting, however, which is very similar in terms of training, is a sport as the outcome is determined by the outcome of a physical competition i.e. who ever lifts the most on that day wins.

So a better way of determining if something is a sport or not s whether or not the Olympic committee would define it as a sport or not rather than finding a dictionary definition that suits the posters argument.

Incidentally the chess crowd are fighting the same battle. They want it included in the Olympics, but the committee rejects it because of the absence of physical competition.

PurgatoryD said:

LOL! So *that* is the problem with my game... I wasn't born with a rabbit's foot! Anyone have any ideas for a non-rabbit footed ex-poker player?

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Yeah go to the hospital and get your feet replaced by rabbitfeet.
To be sure get some horseshoes too and then give poker another try.
You sure will have problems running the NY marathon, but you'll be crushing the tables.

you can say poker a competitive sport where people who win can gain weight and who lose game can loss weight

Of course poker is sport, it is a sport of the mind, mental athletics. Physical fitness is essential for a sound mind and to excel at the highest level requires years of commitment, discipline, sacrifice and self control.

This one really is a no brainer IMO.

It occurred to me the other day the parallels between poker and golf.

Both are perfected from repetition of the correct movements until it almost becomes a part of muscle memory. But there's still room for creativity in the moment.

And with both, you can be going along fantastically, make one mistake and ruin all of your hard work.

I think the "Is poker a sport?" thread count is catching up to "Stars or FTP?"

The forum search function is your friend, folks.

Well people will debate about this for eternity, but the fact is that poker is a competitive game and not a sport. That's not an opinion.

http://www.dictionary.com

Sport - an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

While poker does require skill, along with mental stamina, and exercise may improve mental acuity (you can technically train for it) there is nothing, even remotely, athletic about competing when playing poker in the slightest. Sadly, fishing is more of a sport .

If poker is a sport, then professional poker players are athletes. Now that's some funny ****.


*blind date*

Chick: So, what do you do?

Leather ass: I'm an athlete.

Chick: Omg really, what sport?!

Leather ass: Poker.

*end blind date*

PurgatoryD said:

LOL! So *that* is the problem with my game... I wasn't born with a rabbit's foot! Anyone have any ideas for a non-rabbit footed ex-poker player?

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You weren't born with a rabbits foot? Thats weird. You should probably get that checked out lol

Definitely not a sport! Competitive, yes. Requiring skill, sure. But so are any number of other games. Physically it requires very little from its participants, and I think of sports as physical contests.

no

I have had a long going debate on this issue with many pro's and amateurs.

I BELIEVE: Poker is gambling, therefore in itself is NOT a SPORT... HOWEVER... POKER TOUNAMENTS ARE a Sport ...WHY??...

Because, playing a Poker Tournament IS NOT GAMBLING!

Then People have to ask how is Live poker Gambling and poker tournaments NOT gambling? And the answer is SIMPLE: Let's take a look at Basketball, is Basketball Gambling, NO, but can you Gamble at Basketball? YES!

In the same way, Playing Live Poker is gambling because at anytime you can REBUY chips, hence you are Gambling.

But in a POKER Tournament you are not entitled to keep on buying chips,(except in a REBUY tourney and even then it runs out at a certain time), you buy in for a SET amount, with the SAME starting stack as everyone else, and you are out when you either lose all your chips, or you win all the chips, hence you are NOT GAMBLING.

I have always refered to Gambling as having Little to NO control of the odds of play, in other words blackjack is Gambling, Craps is Gambling, Slot Machines and Pull Tabs are Gambling, betting on the outcome of a sporting event is Gambling.

But PLAYING in that sporting EVENT, or playing in a tournament, whether it'd be Golf, Basketball, Football, Hockey or POKER, is playing a SPORT and NOT Gambling!

in my opinion poker can be considerate a sport because for example you have to be concentrate for all a tourney for traying to win it also for become a champion you have to do thousends of trainings..yes, you not have to have a great physical for play it but you must have intelligence and so on...

Skill game that's competitive? yes. Sport? no.
It doesn't require any physical activity while element of luck is involved that cannot be controlled by the players.

If Poker is a sport, then monopoly board game, starcraft online game should be considered a sport as well.

Bboying(breakdancing) is not considered a sport although it requires tremendous amount of physical strength and exercise and rather than a sport, it's considered an art since it's a dance.

if bboying is not a sport, then Poker is definitely not a sport.

To AceHighSteve, Poker Tournament is not gambling? You should consider reading Harrington's book, which he describes it very well.
Tournaments are like lottery. Only difference between lottery and poKer is, in lottery, everyone has equal chance of winning. in Poker, better players have more tickets into the pot, which increases their chance of winning, while poor quality players have fewer tickets or no tickets in the pot. But it's lottery and gambling.

Oh, and also, before you write another ignorant comment like that again, you should look up a movie 21 or watch documentaries on MIT blackjack team. Blackjack is a skill game also. the skill edge may be less than poker since house always has the edge overall while having limited options to control the outcome but if you have a very good memory and calculation skills with nicely planned out betting strategies, you'll profit over the long run. It's been proven, hence causing casinos to kick these players out.

Just because there's an event doesn't mean it's a sport. There's starcraft competition worldwide but does that make starcraft game a sport?
there's rock paper scissor competition that's always broadcasted by ESPN. does that make rock paper scissor game a sport?

Poker is one of the very few things I still care about at this point in my life, but stacking chips and lifting the bottle to my mouth isn't all that athletic.

It's a sport. Along the lines of fishing and hunting. A sport don't have to have physical endurance, even though poker does have that, sometimes.

To tell you the truth I have never really worried which category it fell in, maybe just plain old GAMBLING. We play TWO-UP in Australia, would love to call that a sport.

Anyway, Yes, it maybe true that to play poker you need to have the same discipline as any other sport, but I dont know many sports that you have to Learn, Train, Play and Perfect all at the same time.

Does anyone remember The World Series of Dice with Ashy Larry on The Chappelle Show? This argument reminds me of that sketch.

C00T said:

It's a sport. Along the lines of fishing and hunting. A sport don't have to have physical endurance, even though poker does have that, sometimes.

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this one made me lol

C00T said:

It's a sport. Along the lines of fishing and hunting. A sport don't have to have physical endurance, even though poker does have that, sometimes.

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Way more mental endurance than physical, well I guess unless you're a fat slob that cant get up and walk around every now and then.

Salty Mouse said:

It occurred to me the other day the parallels between poker and golf.

Both are perfected from repetition of the correct movements until it almost becomes a part of muscle memory. But there's still room for creativity in the moment.

And with both, you can be going along fantastically, make one mistake and ruin all of your hard work.

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And then you spend the next 3 weeks trying to figure out what it is you're doing wrong that has thrown your whole game off course.

Although I am kind of missing what muscle memory is required in poker - although Chris Ferguson has certainly perfected that.

Can't believe I am defending NASCAR, but knowing some drivers they assure me it is very grueling, both physically and mentally. They may not have to run fast or be linebacker strong, but them boys is in shape.

And who in the hell calls hunting a sport? I can't even begin to number the hunters I know (and have had to listen to their stories) and not a one has ever used that context. But none of them are stupid enough to hunt while drinking either. They wait til they get back to camp.

I have argued with my friends about whether poker is a sport. The main problem with saying poker is a sport is the fact that everyone just sits around a table or in front of a computer playing cards, no matter whether you are playing for free or for millions of dollars. The one distinctive part of a sport is the athletic nature of it, just like many people have said above, and nascar and hunting are considered sports because you are engaged in physical activities which require a lot of mental stamina. Although poker fulfills this latter part, it is not physical in the least.

NASCAR falls under the heading of Motor Sport

BigJamo said:

To tell you the truth I have never really worried which category it fell in, maybe just plain old GAMBLING. We play TWO-UP in Australia, would love to call that a sport.

Anyway, Yes, it maybe true that to play poker you need to have the same discipline as any other sport, but I dont know many sports that you have to Learn, Train, Play and Perfect all at the same time.

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i can appreciate this point of view most certainly