Games such as chess, poker (and other card games), billiards/pool game types games (carom billiards, cribbage (pool), cushion caroms, cutthroat etc) may not be considered a sport by everyone. A game like marbles has the physical skill to be a sport, but lacks regular competition. Poker Considered A Sport number of online real money casinos to choose from, each casino has their own stable of available games. You may be looking for a casino that is heavier on the side of slots titles, in which case Poker Considered A Sport you will find these real money sites to your liking.

A while back, a buddy and I had a friendly argument over whether poker should be considered a sport or a game. I have been a professional poker player and poker author for years but, until now, have never given the subject much thought. After some research and contemplation, here is my argument in favor of poker players being athletes.

Is poker a sport or a game? Poker is a sport because it is played for entertainment, is competitive, and almost always requires both physical and mental prowess in order to consistently play and win at the highest levels. Online multi-tabling players are required to have acute hand-eye coordination and both live and online players need physical endurance to play long sessions.

Still not convinced? Let’s break down the definition of a sport into individual elements and see if each can be applied to poker.

Why Poker Is a Sport and Its Players Are Athletes

The Oxford Dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”

Put another way, a sport is defined as a competitive activity done for entertainment that requires both physical ability and skill in order to excel.

Let’s start with the easy stuff and work our way backwards.

1. Poker Requires Skill

This is an important distinction that a large portion of the population doesn’t get. There is a reason that the same poker players win again and again over the long term.

Making Profitable Decisions Requires Skill

In poker, everything you do requires a decision. There are multiple of these small decisions in every poker hand you decide to play. In fact, deciding to play a hand is one of the biggest decisions.

Every action you take in poker takes the skill to realize whether it has a positive expectation and will win money over the long term. This is the part that most people have trouble grasping. Is that short term luck can see a winning decision lose money and a losing decision make money.

But if you play hundreds of instances of the winning decision you will almost certainly profit. Drill press t slot clamps. Whereas, the more iterations of a bad decision you make, the likelihood of being a net loser increases as well.

A Basketball Gambling Analogy

Take basketball for example. If a point guard makes a difficult pass across the lane during a breakaway, sometimes the pass will succeed and end in a lay-up. Other times the ball will be stolen by an opponent or go out of bounds.

No matter what happens, the player has made a calculated “gamble” based on the situation at hand. At the root of his decision on whether to pass or not was what action would score the most points in the long run. If the risk of passing was too great, then perhaps he might take the slightly more difficult 16 foot shot.

The experience and knowledge gained through practice and experience allow a basketball player to make better and better decisions throughout an entire game. Playing poker is exactly the same thing. Experience, knowledge, and practice allow a poker player to make more profitable decisions while avoiding losing ones as much as possible.

This is how skill works for every single sport in the world, including poker.

2. Poker Is Played for Entertainment

This one is easy. Anyone who has played poker for a matter of minutes understands how entertaining it is. Cathay pacific premium economy. The first time that you get all-in versus another player and hit that miracle river card, you will probably be hooked.

For many people, the fun part of poker comes in deciphering the many puzzles which must be solved. What hands could my opponent have? Is he bluffing? Can I pull off a bluff? Those are but a few of the thousands of possible decisions points that could happen at any time during a poker hand.

What If the Definition of “Entertainment” Only Means Fun to Watch?

Even if you get a bit nit-picky with the definition of a sport, poker does really well by this iteration of the word “entertainment” as well. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues to get good rating year in and year out. People love to watch the game because they want to be the people winning that huge amount of money.

I think that’s the reason people watch a lot of sports on TV. They like to see a pro golfer win because they aspire to be a champion golfer themselves. Or they love to watch the 3-point contest in the NBA because they want to be a great shooter (or think they already are one).

I would call this phenomenon entertainment by proxy, due to the vicarious enjoyment achieved by watching a sport. Put simply, it’s fun to watch because it’s fun to imagine being the one doing it.

3. Poker Is Competitive

Competitiveness is another area that poker obviously qualifies as a sport. In fact, the entire definition of poker is built around being competitive. At the root of the game is having one poker hand compete against another poker hand to find out which one is the winner.

Beyond the obvious, the best poker players in the world are not the ones who are geniuses at playing their cards well. The biggest winners are the players who most efficiently recognize what their opponents are doing and build a winner counter-strategy.

In other words, being good at competitiveness is what defines who the best players are.

4. Poker Requires Physical Ability

I am sure I will get plenty of push-back on this one. But please, hear me out.

At face value, it seems like little physical ability would be needed to sit at a poker table for hours upon hours playing a mentally challenging “game”. However, if you reread what I just said, you will gain a clue as to what I am talking about here.

Poker Is Physically Demanding

In order for a poker player to make money, they must put in the hours “grinding” at the table. They also have to play at the times when the weaker competition is at the tables, whether it fits into their ideal schedule or not. These sometimes marathon sessions are both mentally and physically draining. The fact is, that the better shape a player is in, the better he or she will perform.

Case-in-point. Take a look at the average age on the World Series of Poker final table every year. It’s really rare to see any player above 30, much less 40 make it all the way to the end. Why is this? Are younger people just smarter? No way.

Is Poker A Sport Reddit

Younger people just happen to be in better physical shape more often and thus have the mental and physical fortitude to play 7 or 8 twelve hour days straight. Those in poor physical condition tend to eventually break down mentally as well and make a huge mistake that costs them their tournament life.

Online Poker Takes Physical Dexterity

Let’s not forget about online poker players. There’s more to the game than just sitting in front of a computer and clicking buttons with a couple of fingers.

In order to succeed as an online player, it is almost imperative that you play multiple tables in order to maximize your hourly win-rate. This requires acute hand-eye coordination and physical dexterity, as well as a strong mind-body connection in order to minimize errors while playing 600, 1000, sometimes 1500 hands an hour or more.

Over the long term, players with better physical fitness will simply outperform others with similar abilities. In fact, I had a section in my book back in 2012 about the importance of a workout regimen for poke

Is Poker Considered A Sport