Is poker a sport?

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

No. and i'm tired of people calling it a sport. Playing poker requires NO physical acumen whatsoever. Thus, it is not a sport.

Also, anything that is subjective (as in, determined by judges, and not by some sort of definitive scoring system) is not a sport in my eyes. Because of that, the following "sports" (as athletically strenuous as they may be) are not sports. So, stuff like gymnastics and diving are not sports in my eyes. They are, at best, "athletic competitions". They are very difficult undertakings, and they require a lot of skill, but so does walking on your hands or doing the robot. That doesnt make it a sport

Sports have a clear winner and loser. In baseball, the team that scores more runs wins. In track, the person who cross the finish line wins. Sports should not be open to any interpretation regarding the outcome of the game.

Thats my rant for the day. Thanks for reading

Freak

So boxing, rigged as it may be, is not a sport?

Simon

Founder/Admin

If Poker is a sport then Scrabble and Yatzee is a sport as well.

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

i thought about that, and seeing as how the object of boxing is to knock out your opponent (which is clearly a win or lose proposition), boxing is, in fact, a sport. In the old days (like, before 1920) there were boxing matches that lasted 50-75 rounds because the only way to win was to knock your opponent down for a 10-count (I learned this watching ESPN Classic). The new 10-round format is a bastardization of the rules of boxing (but done so with the interests of the fighters' safety in mind). Also, in Olympic boxing, the winner is determined by a point system, where each "clean" punch counts as a point. A landed punch is a landed punch, and whoever lands more wins. thats a sport in my eyes

Wrestling (amateur...not WWE) is a sport as well...because the basic object is to pin your opponenet

Other things that arent sports in my eyes: car racing and horse racing

Anonymous

Why? Its the same as track event in athletics the 1st past the line wins. So there is a clear winner in it

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Because the car and the horse do all the work

The only way I'll consider horse racing a sport is if you say the horses are the athletes. not the jockeys.

AudioSavior

People don't go threw the hoop, people aren't tossed threw the air to go between the up rights. People aren't kicked around for 90 mins and go flying into the net. My point? People control the car or the horse to get it to do what it does and whoever does it better wins. Does that not apply to most sports?

It's all competition and that is what sports is all about. So the definition isn't exactly followed. People change, competition changes and so do how we define things.

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

then i guess video games are a sport too :roll:

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

oh, and the fucking spelling bee isnt a sport either

AudioSavior

Now you are just being silly. You know very well that the other compititions mentioned are done on an amateur or pro level and have their own league or orginization. Some things over time tend to fall into the sports category due to their level of popularity, interest and competition.

I am not saying poker is a sport because I don't think it fits. But Equestrian Sport ( An Olympic event ) and Auto racing are well known to fit into the sport category. Look at other terms like Hunting and sport fishing. They also are concidered sports.