Can Poker be considered a Sport?
Poker is a game that is enjoyed and played by millions of people around the world. It is a game of skill and intrigue and usually huge amounts of money are won and lost in a poker game. The basic idea is to bluff your opponent into thinking you have an amazing hand of cards when you actually do not and win the pot of money. Having ancient origins, this game has become a very popular activity all over the world and is broadcast on numerous popular sports channels. Is poker destined to be a sport or a past time like chess, or will it become something more and become a full sport one day? Well it is hard to say but one thing we do know is that it is a very interesting game nonetheless.
It is thought that poker has evolved over ten centuries to become the modern game that is played today. There are claims that poker’s origins stretch back to ancient China, to the year 969 AD, when the Emperor at the time played a card game with his wife. In the 12th and 13th centuries, ancient Egyptians were known to have played some sort of card game and the Persians played a game in the 16th century called ‘As Nas’ which had rounds of betting and card rankings. Also, in the 16th century the Spanish played a game called ‘Primero’, which had an integral strategy that included betting and trying to deceive opponents into thinking a player had good cards when they did not. This original Spanish game is the closest relation to the modern game and it is believed that this was what inspired the game we play today. From Spain the game travelled to France and then French colonists brought the game to Canada. The game spread from Canada to America when a group of French-Canadian settlers founded the city of New Orleans. From there the game spread throughout America and then the world. It is known to have been played very actively in the Wild West with regular games taking place in saloons all over the country.
The game may have a very rich history, but does that qualify it to become a sport? Well that question is very difficult to answer and needs to be looked at in detail. Those that argue that poker should qualify as a sport say that even though a sport is defined as an activity which has a physical aspect to it and poker does not have any sort of physical activity to it at all, at the end of the day every sport is about competition and spectators that fans will support. If we take it simply on the principle that sports is all about winning and competition then poker definitely qualifies. There is a lot of drama involved in poker, there is usually intrigue and there is a lot of tension as well. Poker can be classified as a real spectator sport because of the intense action that takes place. Yes there is no physical action going on except moving chips into the centre of the table, but still a lot of mental activity takes place.
Poker is trying hard to become an Olympic sport in the future. In April of this year, the governing body of the sport, the International Federation of Poker, was accepted into the International Mind Sports Association. The big news here is that the International Olympics Committee recognises the International Mind Sports Association, which means that poker will be considered as an official game of skill by the Olympic Committee. Poker has been classified as a game of skill and differentiated over games of chance and luck. Players of the game possess a certain set of skills similar to a chess player and their style of play does not rely on mere chance. Being accepted into the International Mind Sports Association is the first step in the right direction for poker to get accepted into the Olympics as a sport. There is a long way to go till that day comes but it is still a possibility.
The debate still rages on about poker being a simple activity or a proper and full-fledged sport. This debate will continue for many years until a definite answer is found or until poker makes it into the Olympic Games, ending all debate about the legitimacy of poker as a sport. Until then it will have to continue to exist in the realm of half activity – half sport.
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