Poker a sport

[ArchAngel71857]

ESPN ran this article (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lovinger/040614) today.

Enjoy and discuss.

-AA

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Excellent article

[Filip]

[ QUOTE ]
5) Competitive eating:

74.1% Not a sport

25.9% Sport



[/ QUOTE ]

Not a sport!? By the definitions posted earlier this MUST be a sport.

[Monty Cantsin]

As the article points out, our common understanding of what makes a game a "sport" is some significant physical component. Clearly Poker doesn't have this.

But it's interesting to consider what other qualities distinguish "sports" from other games. For instance, there are plenty of physical games that we don't consider sports, for example: Hide and Go Seek, Twister, and Red Rover. Physical games become more "sport-like" the more they acquire large-scale institutional organization - tournaments, associations, rankings, etc.

That's what makes Poker (and to a lesser extent Chess and Bridge and even Starcraft and Magic: The Gathering and Scrabble) feel like a "sport", while Othello and Euchre and Halo don't.

Personally, I consider Poker to be a martial art.

/mc

[TimM]

[ QUOTE ]
(and to a lesser extent Chess...)

[/ QUOTE ]

The person pictured in your avatar might quibble with the "lesser extent" portion of this statement.

[ArchAngel71857]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
(and to a lesser extent Chess...)

[/ QUOTE ]

The person pictured in your avatar might quibble with the "lesser extent" portion of this statement.

[/ QUOTE ]

It still looks to me like he is giving me a bony finger!

/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

-AA

[TimM]

See, it is a sport!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/067131579X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Sundevils21]

not much to argue with that. It must be a sport.

[TankSJ]

[ QUOTE ]
As the article points out, our common understanding of what makes a game a "sport" is some significant physical component. Clearly Poker doesn't have this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Reading some trip reports from this years' WSOP I think some might argue that there is some physical endurance required in multi-day (3+) tournaments. Several players mention how draining days 2 and 3 were (if they were fortunate to make it that far).

-tank

[M2d]

If you don't have the physical dexterity to cleanly riffle two stacks of ten chips, you'll never be a player.

[sonataarctica]

Good article. Very well articulated. What i was able to gather most from that article isnt necessarily that poker is indeed a sport(which i think it is not but is definetly a discipline or martial art as one poster put it) but more that poker is here to stay. even when i watch late night poker which is pretty horrible i still find my self getting excited and even when i watch 2003 wsop for the million and first time its still fun to me and entertaining

[Dan Mezick]

TV poker is something new.

Trying to fit poker into the 'sport' category (using current definitions for that term) is just way to limiting.

The demographic of the audience (age, income, education) is incredible for advertisers and poker sells tons of TV ads.

Poker is a new kind of TV entertainment that is not going away. Note that chess and bridge cannot compete in teh TV medium against poker.

Poker has self-defined a new, unique spot in entertainment space. And it OWNS that space.

Just the fact the 'is it sport' article was written tells you this is at least partially true. They don't know what the hell it is, they just know it works on TV.

[Dan Mezick]

The article might as well entitled "TV Poker: What the Heck Is It?"

Of course, the answer is that it is a money machine for the cable programmers selling ads into that demographic.

[TankSJ]

[ QUOTE ]
i still find my self getting excited and even when i watch 2003 wsop for the million and first time its still fun to me and entertaining

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny you should say that. I'll put on the 2003 WSOP whenever it's on ESPN even though I've seen every episode. I know what's going to happen, but I still watch. I don't know if it's a thrill, but I just can't stop watching people and trying to see the thought processes going through their heads.

[Cry Me A River]

[ QUOTE ]
The article might as well entitled "TV Poker: What the Heck Is It?"


[/ QUOTE ]

Seems pretty obvious - It's a Game Show! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm surprised ESPN haven't courted Wink Martindale or Bob Barker as hosts... /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[CptMisery]

Poker on TV is the ultimate reality show. Every time you sit down at a poker tournament, online or in a card room you are fighting to survive. To finish first or at least make the money.

Poker is drama. To steal a line from Wide World of Sports, it is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. It makes for great television and in the mind of ESPN that is the only thing that matters.

Finally, if the former Game Show Network (now GSN) can show dodgeball, no one can question ESPN showing poker.