General Discussion - Is poker a sport or a skill?

[KLGambiT]

Whats up everyone, I hope this is the correct forum for this post. It seems like so many people refer to poker as a sport and i would like to know if these same people consider chess or other skill games a sport. In my mind a sport is a game that you have to be an athlete to play, you must have at least a small amount of physical stamina. I realize sitting at the tables for hours at a time takes a toll on the body, but anyone can do it. This post is not meatn to take anything away from poker, i love the game, but i do find it funny when its refered to as a sport. Does anyone have any comments on this topic?
-Kyle

[bisonbison]

A sport is any game where rules are enforced because the outcome matters.

The English language ain't perfect, but I don't think it's confusing to say that rugby and poker and stock-car racing are all sports. That doesn't make poker players athletes.

[swede123]

Bison is correct in that one of the definitions of sport is "an active pastime; recreation" which clearly includes Poker. Of course by this somewhat loose definition collecting stamps and surfing porn are also sports.

My personal opinion is that poker, chess, bridge, darts, pool, bowling etc. etc. are all games. Do they require skill? Yes. Do they exert you physically, at least a little bit? Yes. Should they be Olympic sports? Hell no!

If I was king of the world I'd also eliminate those "sports" in the Olympics which are judged on a subjective scale (figure skating, diving, gymnastics) etc. But that's another story for another day.

Cheers,

Swede

[bisonbison]

Just because I consider something a sport doesn't mean I think it should be an Olympic event, and my definition of sport pretty clearly eliminates philately and porn.

There are interesting sports and dull sports, well-designed sports and idiotic sports, athletic sports and intellectual sports. I'm not saying you have to treat them all as equal, but the more skill oriented success in a game is the more sporty it has the potential to be.

[soko]

Geeze, and all this time I thought it was a card game.

[Bluffoon]

It's on ESPN so it must be a sport.

I would refer to it as a game.

[beta1607]

[ QUOTE ]
It's on ESPN so it must be a sport.

[/ QUOTE ]

The national spelling bee is on ESPN too I shudder to think of that as a sport.

[housenuts]

poker is as much a sport is psychology is a science. and frankly i'm quite tired of psychologists whining and trying to say they are scientists. however, i guess no poker player claims to be an athlete, unless of course they are an athlete of a real sport.

[Megenoita]

The definition of a sport, the connotation of the word that we're talking about here, has at its center two things-diversion and physical exertion. Unfortunately, poker doesn't qualify as "physical exertion", though it is argued all the time, lol.

A working definition of sport: an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition

I grew up believing that baseball wasn't a sport...a hardcore athlete believes that no game is a sport where a person can be fat and excel (except in rare instances where the gamer is exceptional in skill so as to offset his corpulence) /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Thus, in my view, baseball is not a sport (that's more of a joke growing up, but it illustrates a point).

M

[beta1607]

"a hardcore athlete believes that no game is a sport where a person can be fat and excel"

So then you think that football is not a sport or at least not for offensive linemen? What about shot put and hammer throw?

Sure those guys have a lot of muscle but a lot of fat too especially compared to say an NBA point guard or a water polo player.

[mosquito]

Football is not a sport. It is an analogy of war.

[mikewvp]

Ofcourse its a sport, ofcourse its a skill, those of you talking about athletes are pretty dull in my book (Except for the people simply clarify than a poker player is not an athlete). A sport does not have to be ATHLETIC. I can also do ATHLETIC things that aren't sports, ex: jogging with no competition. This thread is dumb why am I even responding.

[K C]

I guess common to all "sports" is that they involve a physical activity that is primary to the outcome of the game. All sports are games, but not all games are sports. In terms of poker, yeah there's physical activity, but it's not really anything that's fundamental to the outcome. It's more of a mental game of course, like chess. So no, I guess it wouldn't be a sport according to how the term is generally used, but who cares anyway /images/graemlins/smile.gif

KC
http://kingcobrapoker.com

[ACW]

It can matter a lot.

There's been a campaign going on in the UK for a while to get duplicate bridge recognised as a sport. Sports are eligible for community funding from the sports council, while games are not.

On the flip side, since bridge got some level of recognition from the IOC (I think it's on the list of potential demonstration sports), drug testing has been introduced. Strictly speaking, I should be careful about taking flu medicine if I'm planning to play bridge once I recover. In practice, the tests have only been carried out at high level international competitions, but in theory they could turn up at my local club and test everyone....

[BarronVangorToth]

[ QUOTE ]
philately

[/ QUOTE ]

Bravo, Bison, Bravo!

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[Francis]

Maybe I'm too old school, but I'm sorry, poker (to me) isn't a sport.

A sport must have some physical component to it. Poker, chess, backgammon, etc. are all games of skill. I can respect the skill, work and dedication it takes to excel in these games, but don't call it a sport.

I could be a quadrapligic and still be a world class poker player sitting in front of my monitor driving the buttons with my tongue controlled keyboard...

My rule of thumb is this; If I, a 44 year old weekend warrior engineer is physically able to kick the ass of the worlds best at something, it's probably not a sport, it's a skill... And yes, I'm aware some poker players are young and fit, but that has nothing to do with their poker prowess /images/graemlins/smile.gif

In the end, it probably doesn't matter (unless you're trying to get government funding for your game in the UK)

Regards,
Francis

[Francis]

[ QUOTE ]
This thread is dumb why am I even responding.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey! I resemble that remark!

[berk]

Are there any sports that require a degree of luck or chance beyond the athletes' limitations/control? To quote Roy Cooke "Poker is a game of people, played with cards."

[Leduke]

I think that sport and poker has a lot of common things: player (in poker) and competitor (in any kind of sport) must have success and skills. I think that poker can be compared with any sport. I found comparison of poker and tennis in one poker strategy (http://www.ipfpoker.com/poker-strategy-articles/few-tips-about-playing-poker/879) article