Is poker a sport?

[MickeyT]

I know it's not basketball, so if the moderators want to move this, it's OK with me. But I wanted to see what others thought.

The Peoria Journal Star continues to report on the World Series of Poker. This is a contrived event for the sake of TV. There are and have always been many top poker players in this country who play for stakes as high or higher than on the WSOP, but they have always done so in private and not on this made-up event. When I see people like Ben Affleck and other celebrities on these shows, it makes me gag.
This is not a sport IMO.
Many newspapers refuse to cover it as a sport. But the PJS must be hard-up for sports news to cover. Anyone else have an opinion?

http://pjstar.com/stories/073106/SPO_BAHNLDFT.080.shtml

[tornado]

It is no more a sport than hot dog eating, tiddley winks, or patty cake....but it's what sells, dontcha know?
It's just more evidence that sports-programming TV stations and news media outlets (with their sports sections) will sell out to anything that gets attention.

Honestly, if Rubik Cube solving contests became popular enough, they'd get coverage by ESPN then the PJ Star sports section.

[BU fan]

It is no more a sport than the annual Monopoly tournament

http://tollbrothers.com/monopolytournament/program_guide.jsp

[mike radigan]

Believe it or not, but ESPN had the Paper, Rock, Scissors championship on the other day.

[BU Bill]

I didn't see the Paper, Rock, Scissors championship, but let me guess-- did they treat it and the "athletes" with the same tongue-in-cheek seriousness they do with all these pseudosports?

That little prank is getting very old.

[OrangeandBlack74]

On Tuesday nights, ESPN is covering both the WSOP and the World Series of Darts.

Games masquerading as sport.....it's only a matter of time before they have Scrabble championships or the WSOCAL (World Series of Chutes and Ladders)!!

[flipper]

poker is not a sport but it is extremely popular and growing. i enjoy both playing it and watching it on tv.

[it's boogie time]

I guess I won't be inviting any of you to my weekly poker game (and I'm starting to feel like I'm dead money with the rut I've been in).

I don't think it is a sport. It's a fun hobby for me. I think the Journal Star wrote about the event since they had a local story to attach it to. In the sporting world, this is a pretty boring time of the year.

[tornado]

On Tuesday nights, ESPN is covering both the WSOP and the World Series of Darts.

Games masquerading as sport.....it's only a matter of time before they have Scrabble championships or the WSOCAL (World Series of Chutes and Ladders)!!

they already did have the Scrabble world championship on once last year, and they did televise the National Spelling Bee.

[molar50]

Watching people playing poker on television is like watching people paint on the Home and Garden Network. It is not a sport.

[chicagobob]

Tourney Poker is a Sport

I think tournament poker is a sport. I can understand why many could doubt this but as someone who plays in the largest tournaments in the world I look at this as a sport and compare the professionals in this sport to any professional in any other sport. To be good in poker you need skills and luck. In no other sport does luck play a bigger role and dispite this fact there are still 100 players around the world who consistently rank near the top in the tournaments despite the luck factor is proof.

The other question to ask too is this gambling. I don't think so however I do believe that playing poker for cash is and could be dangerous--particulalry internet gambling.

[MacabreMob]

There are 2 types of gamblers in the world... Losers and Liars.

I am a Loser.

What are you?

[chicagobob]

Wining Liar

[georgethedog]

Re: Tourney Poker is a Sport

I think tournament poker is a sport. I can understand why many could doubt this but as someone who plays in the largest tournaments in the world I look at this as a sport and compare the professionals in this sport to any professional in any other sport. To be good in poker you need skills and luck. In no other sport does luck play a bigger role and dispite this fact there are still 100 players around the world who consistently rank near the top in the tournaments despite the luck factor is proof.

The other question to ask too is this gambling. I don't think so however I do believe that playing poker for cash is and could be dangerous--particulalry internet gambling.

If tournament poker is a sport, then please define what a sport is to enlighten us.

[smitty]

The other question to ask too is this gambling. I don't think so however I do believe that playing poker for cash is and could be dangerous--particulalry internet gambling.

I have read that there have been many studies and reports that confirm a link between the legitimization of gambling by these poker tournaments, and a huge rise in gambling addiction. Online gambling sites are seeing a tremendous surge of gambling activity by young people. One of the links below reports that 89% of kids from 12-17 now gamble online. When you couple that with statistics that up to 5% of all gamblers will become addicted, we are in for a big problem.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15163166.htm

http://www.parisbeacon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2954&Itemid=145

http://alumnimagazine.uconn.edu/fwin2005/fwin05f1.html