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

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)

I would say it is definatley a game. A sport you have to do something relatively athletic. I do love poker though almost as much as I love sports.

Game, its not physical so how can it be a sport? Did you know they tried to pass Darts off as an Olympic event not long ago?

YEAH, it's a sport. Not unlike Sumo.

It's a sport for really fat guys.


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Well, is not like you do a lot of athletic work to drive a car, and is a sport.

The thing with poker that never cant be a sport, not because the athletic issue, but because the luck issue, in all the sports is up to your skills and efforts if you win or not, but in poker luck have a % to do with your win, yes you need to have skills too, but at the end, in poker the guy who wins is not always who have more skills.

It is both, clearly, according to most standard definitions.
And sports have lots of luck involved, not just skill, also. If you are a football team with an injured QB at the super bowl, or an olympic runner trying to break a record on a day with wicked headwinds, or a leading Nascar driver with a flat tire, that is bad luck.
I also agree with Zig that online poker can become a sport for lardass fatsos, so all you kids out there watch yourselves down the road. Staring at a monitor for 13 hours a day wont turn you into an athlete, well maybe a fat one...

Poker is a game.Just like any other Card game.Only difference is if your good at poker it can make you some money.

It is a sports game.....lol

Poker is a game... I dont see how it is a sport. I see poker as a mental game, not physical, even though it can be a "physical" game with long tourneys etc. It is exciting to watch but no way no how is it a sport.

Well, here is the Merriam-Webster take on it:

Game: a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other.

Sport: 1 a: a source of diversion : recreation play c (1): physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2): a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in.

Athlete: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.

In my opinion, the stamina part is the kicker. Same goes for chess. Older people with less stamina tend not to play as well as they did when they were younger. I vote sport.

for me is poker definatley a game. maybe brain sport but not real sport.

by the way, which other "games" have a poker personality test ?

It's a GAME of skill. To me, for it to be a sport it has to be something athletic. I get that you have to have great endurance to make it through the huge numbers in some tournaments, but when you have people that are in the "golden years" still playing and doing well, I don't think you can call it a sport. The fact that it's on ESPN doesn't do anything to convince me that it's a sport. The WPT is on the Travel Channel, Poker After Dark is on NBC, I even see it on other channels from time to time. ESPN would be crazy not to have it on considering it's what pro wrestling was to cable back in the day. Ratings, ratings, ratings.

Any "sport" that you can enjoy a beer while playing......... is not a sport.

But not more than a Baseball player!

It's a lifestyle!

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.

I have this argument with my friends all the time. I'd say it is a game. My argument is the chess analysis. Chess is a game of skill as is poker. I would never claim that bBobby Fischer is an athlete.

It could be considered a sport, its on T.V. and their are serious competitions where hundreds of people compete just like a sport. Also there are classes in poker like in sports, amateur and pro. Thats the way I see it.

I see poker as a game much in the way chess or scrabble. No athletic ability needed, just some intelligence at times for some people.

The problem with classifying poker is that game and sport are not mutually exclusive. There's too much overlap and ambiguity between the terms. What exactly determines the sport classification? Stamina? Physical exertion? Scorekeeping?

For instance, I see poker as no different than Backgammon, but I think most people would classify Backgammon as a game, rather than a sport. And there are a lot of sports that don't require physical fitness.

If monopoly tournaments attracted millions of spectators, the games would be televised on ESPN; you can be sure of that. Game or sport? How about taking everything that's classified as either, and just call it a competition.

Wow i wish i knew the answer to this. But i would have 2 say it is both. Think of it this way Football,Basketball...Etc is a game and a sport. U pretty much explained it all. You have 2 know when to hold/fold em. have 2 know when to bet. It is a skill no matter how many people say its not. Both my opinion.

I dont know, I kinda think its a little of both. I mean some people go through life thinking its a game. And some people always think winning is everything. So to win, it would have to be either, it all depends on how you look at it. so I would say it depends on who it is. I like to say for me its both.

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"??

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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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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