I’m going all in. I’m putting all on my chips on the table.
I’m prepared to defend all of those brave souls who sincerely believe that poker is an actual sport. I know there are a lot of people who think I’m crazy for thinking that a card game like poker is a legitimate sport, so let me try and explain myself.
Those people who created that “Poker in Athens” website aren’t nuts. Sure, their website may seem like a joke, but I think their cause is a righteous one. Just look at what so-called sports will be featured at this year’s Olympic games.
No, I’m not talking about synchronized swimming. As far as I’m concerned, synchronized swimmers are athletes. It takes some real skill to pull off those nifty routines they do in the water.
But should people who ride horses be considered athletes? I think not. If equestrian sports truly are sports, I think it’s the horses that should be getting the medals and not the riders that ride them.
And what about shooting? Shooting is an Olympic event, as well. Is shooting a sport? Nope. It’s a skill. Yet, somehow the pseudo-sport of shooting has managed to find its way to the Olympics.
Let’s not forget about some of those other so-called sports either.
The tenth annual X-Games finished up last Sunday in LA. For the first time ever in X-Games history, the events were televised live on ESPN and ABC. Now that’s something I was seriously looking forward to watching.
Don’t get me wrong here. I have a ton of respect for guys like Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist, but I don’t think what they do should be considered a sport. I just don’t think the ability to do gnarly tricks with your skateboard necessarily qualifies you as an athlete.
Nor do I think that being good with a cue stick makes you an athlete. Pool is a game you pass the time with. It’s a game you play in a dimly lit, smoke-filled bar. It’s not a sport. Nevertheless, pool continues to be shown on ESPN and ESPN2.
You know what’s also shown on TV? Bowling. Bowling isn’t a sport. It’s a recreational activity. Yes, lifting up a bowling ball does take some strength. But I’ve seen sickly children lift up a bowling ball with ease, so I know it can’t be that difficult.
Another recreational activity that has been recently turned into a sport is darts. I’m serious. Late one night, while flipping through the channels, I happened to come across a televised darts match on Fox Sports Net (FSN). I couldn’t believe what I had seen. I think I pinched myself twice just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I’ve also had the pleasure of watching other strange things on sports television. A couple months back, I watched the 2004 National Spelling Bee—televised live on ESPN. And in the past, I’ve also TiVo’ed cheerleading competitions, taped highlights of the Outdoor Games, and checked out what was going on in the world of sportfishing. Don’t believe me? Check out your TV listings. Trust me, you can watch stuff like fly fishing and tree topping and on television nowadays.
I think we’ve come to a point, as a society, where we seem to think that anything remotely competitive should be classified as a sport. That’s why I believe that poker ought to be called a sport. Not because poker is in fact a sport, but because just about anything can be made to seem like a sport in this time we live in. Why not add to the growing list of activities that can be classified as sports?
In fact, why not add academic competitions to that growing list too?
When sports fans hear the words “college bowl,” they immediately start to think about college football and the BS (I mean, the BCS). But there’s another “college bowl,” which refers to the academic competition between groups of students from different colleges. You know what I mean. National competitions where college kids—like myself—answer trivia questions like: “Who was the first person to circumnavigate the globe?”
The definition of sport has changed forever. There’s no way we’re going back to the days when baseball, basketball, football, and hockey were the only real sports people talked about. In this day and age, anything can become a sport—which might not be such a bad thing after all.
Take poker, as an example. Even if you don’t think poker is a sport, there are some things you got to love about the game.
It’s a Game of Risk:
Unlike other sports—where there are guaranteed contracts and such—every time you play a game of poker you actually run the risk of losing money. You have to believe that that sense of risk forces poker players to always bring their “A” game, so to speak. If you get knocked out early in a big tournament, you’ll go home with a huge hole in your pocket.
In the NBA, if you’re under contract, you get paid the same amount of money whether you play well or don’t. Travesties like that don’t happen in poker.
Underdogs Win:
In poker, relatively inexperienced players like 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion Chris Moneymaker can win big. Just imagine if the Montreal Expos beat the New York Yankees in the World Series—it would be mind-blowing. Unfortunately, we all know that’ll never happen.
But in the world of poker, the impossible is very possible.
The Strategy:
Learning poker isn’t as hard as learning the West Coast Offense or the Triangle, but to be a successful player you have to be crafty and daring. I liken the poker player to the pitcher who gets hitters out by changing speeds (slow-playing) and intimidating (raising and bluffing).
Ah, the sport of poker…isn’t it great?
Vincent Lim resides in sunny Southern California and is currently enrolled at UCLA. When he's not watching a game or tuned into ESPN, he enjoys surfing the Net and studying history.
