Poker. Is it a game... or is it a Sport?

[mogadown]

ESPN

After watching the final table last night, (was saying g'bye to my guests) I noticed that on ESPN, they were comparing Eastgates winnings to 5 Notable MLB players. Sorry about the quality, but snapped a pic with my camera off of the TV. Wouldnt that deem Poker as a "Sport"??

 

[djrudeboy]

AGAIN - clearly a game NOT A SPORT
Note: all sports are a subset of GAMES hence football is a sport AND a game
Poker is just a game (physical activity is the key)

ACCORDING TO WEBSTERS DICTIONARY

sport |spôrt|
noun
1 an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment : team sports such as baseball and soccer

game 1 |gām|
noun
1 a form of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck.

 

[RogueRivered]

i dont quite get what you mean? poker involves stamina so you class it as a sport? well playing video games for hours on end also requires stamina and i wouldnt classify that as a sport.

the kicker here are the words "physical activity" in the definition of sport. i dont think we can dispute that playing poker is not a "physical activity" in a sporting sense of the word so it can only be classified as a game.

The word physical, if you look it up, means having to do with the body. Are you saying the brain isn't part of the body? Maybe not for some people .

And I can't believe you are comparing competing in poker tournaments like the wsop to playing video games. Although I've never played in a live poker tournament, I've played countless 2-day and 3-day weekend chess tournaments, and they are gruelling, with hardly any time to even eat between rounds. They start early in the morning and can go late into the evening. On the other hand, I'm not sure how gruelling a sport like baseball is with all the standing around and waiting for your turn. At least in poker you can fold if you need a rest.

I've heard Russians consider chess their national sport and they seem to be rapidly becoming a force in poker, too. There are many similarities between the two games, er, I mean, sports.

 

[pokerdog283]

Im going to say its a game. I love the game and play it whenever I can even write in a blog about poker all the time. However I dont see it as an olympic sport anytime soon

 

[vosachlo]

i would say its a game ... if its a sport u would have to claim all other games that involve cards a sport. not even cards, chess? checkers? dominoes? ... those are not sports. they are games.

and i dunno why people claim nascar a sport.

 

[Flushbuster]

Game

I say it's a game also but it does have some of the excitement and adrenaline rushes of sports!

 

[tankdoll]

a sport denotes some sort of athletic ability and/or merit. poker has niether of those. look at it this way bowling, racing and poker fans: if you can be a big, fat, grodie pig and play your game, that's a good sign you aren't playing a sport. golf, too. screw golf.

 

[RichKo]

It's a lifestyle!

Hell Yeah...best answer yet, not part of the question, but definately the best answer.


Poker, Bowling, Darts, Pool are games!! Theres probably some others like these, just can't think of them at the moment...it's kinda late

 

[ckenguy]

IMO if there's no physical ability being displayed it's not a sport.

But poker is a game where else you gonna show it, the shopping channel?


Something funny Huck Seed said on PAD once. He said Gavin Smith was so out of shape he hurt his arm throwing free throws lol.

 

[rimor]

how much of a sport do you have to be it definatly a sport there are no pros at some games or 10$M doller for winning some tourney at a game ?? ? ? lol its a sport

 

[whitebobo]

Poker is a game
Rugby is the only sport on earth

 

[zahemp]

well whitebobo, if sport is defined by having a chance of getting your ear bit off (rugby) then you have to say boxing is a sport too.

 

[mewantskash]

poker is so much more than a game

Poker is more than a game but who told you that sports are harder to master than poker? can't poker be half a game and half sport? after all you need to be mentally competent in order to be successful but skill isn't the only factor. In order to win continuously you need to get lucky once in a while.

anyway Poker is definitely more than a game, but is it really 100% sport?
I don't think so

 

[Stu_Ungar]

I would class it as a game.... to me a sport has an atheletic component

BUT

Darts is classed as a sport.. whats the deal with that????

 

[BlunderCity]

Its one of the most disputable questions out there. Is poker Really a Sport?... or is it just a game? There are a lot of people that say its a game and there is no sport to it, and a lot of people that say it IS a sport which is much more than just a game. Here are a few of my ideas and Im quite undecided.

Game: Its a game of Chance, a game of Luck, after all its just a card game. "it takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master." My Children even know how to play the game. You dont have to be athletic, you dont have to be strong, you dont have to have both of your arms and heck, you can even play this GAME from a wheel chair. Its featured on GSN (the Game Show Network)

Sport: As in most sports, if you are good enough at it, you can play it to earn your living. You have to be able to read your opponents and anticipate their moves so you can defeat them. That would initiate SKILL. Throwing balls is a skill, catching balls is a skill, hitting pucks is a skill. Driving a car at 200mph is a skill. You can earn more money in a 1 week session than a football player can earn in a year. That means being the absolute best in poker will pay you more than being the best player in Football. It is featured on ESPN, The leading sports authority. It covers "The World Series of Poker Main Event" which is what I like to call "The Superbowl of Poker"

Want to hear what you all think. Sunday, I will be watching the Football game... (Thats a game... is that a sport?? I dont want to argue that point)

It's not a sport, a sport is primarily physical whereas poker is intellectual.

And a game doesn't have to include chance, it involves playing for the purpose of having fun. Chess for instance is a game where there is 0% chance in it (apart from the coin toss to decide who plays white and who plays black).

It's really a question of semantic.

 

[Insaneasylm]

no matter how hard you try you will never be able to run a 4.3 40 yard dash but if you play enuff hads of poker you will hit the royal flush