Poker a sport
 

ESPN ran this article today.

Enjoy and discuss.

-AA

Re: Poker a sport
 

Excellent article

Re: Poker a sport
 

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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.

Re: Poker a sport
 

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

Re: Poker a sport
 

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(and to a lesser extent Chess...)

[/ QUOTE ]

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

Re: Poker a sport
 

[ 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!

[img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

-AA

Re: Poker a sport
 

See, it is a sport!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/06...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Re: Poker a sport
 

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

Re: Poker a sport
 

[ 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

Re: Poker a sport
 

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