Should Poker Be Considered a Sport?

Poker has become incredibly popular over the years as more people have started to see it as a profitable business. Poker is no longer a simple game that guys play on the weekends. For some people, it is a full blown sport and a source of income. The big debate nowadays is whether poker should actually be considered a sport, or if it should still be referred to as a game. This may not make a big difference in terms of how it's played, but it will change the way people see poker in the future. Let's take a look at the facts to determine if poker could be a legitimate sport.

No Physical Activity

Poker is not a physical game. Players do not have to be in shape to be involved with it, and they do not have to exude much effort at all to play it. In this case, poker may be better compared to a game like chess than it would be to a sport like football. If you think that a person needs to run around in order for something to be considered a sport, you might as well rule this one out.

Extreme Mental Strategy

Most people think that poker is a game of luck, but it is much more a game of skill than anything. While a player may have no control over the cards he or she gets, that person does have control over how he or she plays those cards. Milking the most money possible out of a pot takes a great level of skill. That is why the top players reach the final tables of a tournament every time they play.

They're not lucky. They're talented. They have to analyze other players like a forensic psychology major in order to make their next move. It is that talent that may help define poker as a sport.

World Series Tournaments

It is no coincidence that the World Series of Poker has the same name as a major tournament in baseball. It involves a series of rigorous games that all lead to prizes, titles, and fame, just like what you would expect out of a sport. The WSoP is the Super Bowl of poker, and it is something that should be taken into consideration when assessing poker should be considered a sport.

With this in mind though, you need to realize that anyone can play in the World Series of Poker. As long as you have the $10,000 it takes to enter a tournament, you can play. In a sport, you have to be recruited for a team and play accordingly. You can't just get into a Wimbledon tennis tournament because you have money. You have to practice and qualify for the tournament. There is no recruiting in poker, and there are no teams. All you have is a bunch of individuals with enough money to play in different tournaments. That is not like a sport in the slightest.

The Verdict

I play poker on a regular basis, so I know how hard it can be if you try to use it to make money. From a difficulty perspective, I do think it is somewhat like a sport. Nevertheless, I can't deny the lacking qualities it has to truly define it as a sport. I think it could be considered a career more than anything, at least for people who are talented at it. For those that aren't, it's just another way to gamble away some money. Only you can determine where you fall in those categories.