Is poker a sport?

PoKeRFoRNiA · Aug 28, 2009

M33K3R said:
I would consider a game of skill rather than a sport. I think there must be physical activity to be considered a sport.

ALthough poker is not a sport, Sport doesn't always require physical activity. For instance, starcraft is considered electronic sports. If it's a game where skilled player will always beat unskilled player every single time, then it's considered a sport.

MrMuckets · Aug 28, 2009

Poker is a sports game.

PoKeRFoRNiA · Aug 28, 2009

I'm not gonna criticize or debate with people over this thread because everyone has different view. But in my view, poker cannot be considered a sport. Even bboying isn't considered a sport although it takes tremendous amount of physical training and ability to adapt to the music. If bboying cannot be considered a sport, then poker is definitely not a sport. Just to simply think about it, can poker qualify for olympics? It won't even make it to nomination list. There are sports that are nominated to become olympic sports but cannot qualify, such as muaythai, karate, American football, lacrosse, etc. Poker won't even get nominated to even make it into nomination list.

m2lucky · Aug 28, 2009

Wow this is such a crazy topic, I am glad I am getting so many responses. But anyways. Common guys who can consider curling a sport. Rolling a big iron across some ice, that has the same amount of physical activity as poker, and its in the olympics.

doops · Aug 29, 2009

Nope, not a sport. Even though sometimes I think I am gonna have a heart attack from some hands, it's not due to physical exertion. To me, "sports" have a strong element of physical skill. The physical exertion that comes from me leaping up from my chair and stomping around is not skillful. The manipulation of chips and skillful tossing of chips and cards is not sufficient physical skill/exertion to turn poker into a sport, as the challenge of poker is unrelated to the ability to do any physical acts.

Poker is a game. It is, or can be, an intense, stressful, enjoyable exercise in mental acuity, math, and applied psychology. It pits skill against the vagrancies of luck and the abilities of the other players. It's a pretty cool game. But not a sport.

Perhaps it was more of a sport in the days when most of the players carried guns and there was a chance you might have to run away with your winnings or become embroiled in a fight... or a shootout. The necessary skills back then included physical ones.

cowboymenges_2010 · Aug 29, 2009

Unlike most others who posted, I would consider this a sport. It is a different kind of sport in that it's just a card game, but when it really comes down to it you are competing against others to achieve a common goal, and that's a pretty basic concept of professional sports.

jdeliverer · Aug 29, 2009

Kenzie 96 said:
NO.

QFMFT

HoldemChamp · Aug 30, 2009

Don't Believe everything you read in Wikipedia.

And just because the olympic commitee BELIEVES bridge and chess are sports does not make it so. They should consult a good dictionary.

Xavier said:
From wikipedia:

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.

As it says sport is used to describe card games and board games, although more commonly applied to to physical activities.

Bridge and chess are recognised as sports by the International Olympic Committee

ItsMe · Aug 30, 2009

Poker is shown on my sports channel. QED. I rest my case.

HoldemChamp · Aug 30, 2009

So is, likely, competative eating.

I have seen some wacking stuff shown on a sports channel that, well, weren't really sports.

And most sports channels have talk shows all day. That doesn't make those shows sports either.

ihtennis · Aug 30, 2009

not a sport because it involves no athletic ability

Gorblid · Aug 30, 2009

half sports, cause of the competition and skill involved, and half not cause of the lack of athletic.

JOEBOB69 · Aug 30, 2009

HELL NO IT'S A GAME,SOME ONE DEFINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GAME AN A SPORT PLEASE.

crow27 · Aug 30, 2009

anything that you're sitting down the WHOLE time for, not breaking a sweat,(unless you're a nervous sweater) or not taking any physical punishment for is NOT A SPORT. Poker is as much a "sport" as golfing is. If there is little or no physical exertion, it's not a sport. ( I PLAY golf, it's not a sport)

JOEBOB69 · Aug 30, 2009

I was on the same page untill you said golf wasn't a sport????? Golf is a sport ever walked 18 holes in August in Alabama ,it will damn near kill you.But poker no way,still would like some one define the difference between game and a sport.

jaggibson · Aug 30, 2009

Here you are from wikipedia:

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. Some view sports as differing from games based on the fact that there are usually higher levels of organization and profit (not always monetary) involved in sports. Accurate records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels, while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news.

Don't know that this really solves anything. In my mind i probably wouldn't consider poker a sport. However, the definition above seams to leave an area to allow for poker to be a sport. Honestly i could give a shit, i would maybe call it a "hobby sport" if there is such a thing.

PoKeRFoRNiA · Sep 1, 2009

ItsMe said:
Poker is shown on my sports channel. QED. I rest my case.

So wait, whatever they broadcast on sports channel is considered a sport? In that case, Rock-paper-scissors is considered a sport since it's broadcasted on Fox Sports Net. Just because it's broadcasted on sports channel don't mean it's a sport. ESPN and Fox broadcast events for entertainment purposes too. Saying poker is a sport is not any different from saying Monopoly board game is a sport.

Worak · Sep 1, 2009

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competetively .

Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical abilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing),

but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance).

(taken from wikipedia)

So it depends - if you look at the outcome of a single hand played, the element of chance surely plays a great role.

If you look at your overal game with thousands of hands luck eventually evens out - the skill factor becomes much more important.

For me case closed... since I probably play a few more hands.....

Implied Odds3 · Sep 1, 2009

1. a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively:::
It fits most of the definition....

If chess is a sport, poker is.

PoKeRFoRNiA · Sep 1, 2009

Simply ask yourself this. Is Monopoly board game a sport? It isn't any different from poker. Monopoly requires skills in managing money and choices to make of when to buy properties, which properties to buy based on the situation of what properties are bought already, how to roll a dice. Just like poker, monopoly requires skills. Person can't win every single game but skilled player will beat unskilled player overtime.

Can Tetris be considered a sport? It's a skill game of how to place the blocks to delete rows efficiently based on given situation and position of blocks.

Although this is just my opinion, I can't consider poker a sport when they can't even consider bboying a sport. If poker is a sport, then it means monopoly, tetris can be considered a sport too.

andreashann · Sep 1, 2009

Well, chess is a sport, so poker could be considered a sport. Afterall, there are official tournaments and a fixed schedule, just like in any other sport.

PoKeRFoRNiA · Sep 1, 2009

andreashann said:
Well, chess is a sport, so poker could be considered a sport. Afterall, there are official tournaments and a fixed schedule, just like in any other sport.

There's a reason why chess is considered a sport whereas poker isn't. Chess has no chance or luck involved whereas poker has lot of chance and luck involved.

Chess is pure strategy mind sport. Can you beat a chess master at least once in your lifetime? NO. Even if you were to play against grandmaster of chess 100 times, you will lose all 100 times.

Poker is a game where luck is involved. Can you beat professionals like Phil Ivey, Jen Harman, Doyle Brunson? Yes. They may beat you more than you beat them but you can still beat them.

To say poker is a sport is as horrible as saying monopoly board game, tetris are sports.

Xavier · Sep 2, 2009

pokerlovesme said:
Even if you were to play against grandmaster of chess 100 times, you will lose all 100 times.
.

I wouldn't. I've only played a handful of chess matches against grandmasters and one game was a draw

I have a couple of draws against masters as well but havn't beaten one.

PoKeRFoRNiA · Sep 2, 2009

Xavier said:
I wouldn't. I've only played a handful of chess matches against grandmasters and one game was a draw
I have a couple of draws against masters as well but havn't beaten one.

Play REAL chess grandmasters, not the shitty software chess grandmasters you can play on your computer, even though Computers are good themselves. Do you have confidence to beat Viswanathan Anand(current chess grandmaster champion) or any of past chess grandmaster world champions such as Bobby Fischer at least one game of 100 tries? I doubt it. But can we beat Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, or any professional poker players we see on tv several times of 100 games? yes we can. They'll just beat us more than we beat them. But we can still beat them in poker.

This is why chess can be considered a mind sport while poker can't be considered a sport. People don't even consider breakdancing a sport although it requires tremendous amount of physical training and exercise just as much as any sports out there. If poker can be considered a sport, then what's next? Tetris? Monopoly Board Game? Dance Dance Revolution? Counter-strike?

Xavier · Sep 3, 2009

pokerlovesme said:
Play REAL chess grandmasters, not the shitty software chess grandmasters you can play on your computer, even though Computers are good themselves. Do you have confidence to beat Viswanathan Anand(current chess grandmaster champion) or any of past chess grandmaster world champions such as Bobby Fischer at least one game of 100 tries? I doubt it.

This is kind of off the topic point but I wasn't talking about playing computers. I've played against real grandmasters in international tournaments, and I'm good enough to at least give them a tough match.
You didn't mention the grandmaster had to be Anand.
I don't know the exact figure but I think theres about 1000 players who are grandmasters worldwide.
No I probably couldn't beat Anand one time out of 100 but almost all grandmasters I would.
In every sport players are going to lose to someone not as good as them at times if they don't play their best or make mistakes or whatever.
If the better player won every time in sport would be very boring.
I accept that theres lots of luck involved in poker but there is still a massive amount of skill, so I still consider it a sport.
I think there is some luck in anything.

Is poker a sport?

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