This was a hot topic of conversation at the BoDog conference this past week in Las Vegas. Now that Poker stars are competing on sports channels like ESPN and FSN, should they be considered athletes? Here is a view from the Associated Press.

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It's a gamble to confuse poker players with real athletes


Elvis was in the building, though the King would have been horrified to have this kind of entourage in his prime.

Toward the middle of the room, a guy played his cards from inside a big fuzzy orange Elmo puppet head. A portly player who looked like he was about to have a heart attack had a woman massaging his back while he fiddled with his chips.

Then, from above, came the call dear to every athlete's heart.

"****tails to table 131," the voice on the loudspeaker said.

And to think, there are still people who don't consider poker a real sport.

Those people are nowhere to be seen this week at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas, a carnival-themed resort in the midst of hosting a real carnival called the World Series of Poker. Here, the believers are all trying to cash in on the poker craze.

That's why a chunky Elvis showed up, nearly bursting out of his jumpsuit. On his arms were three men dressed as drag queens, though for some reason they didn't bother to shave.

"They said Elvis was dead, but I brought him back to life," said the tall one in a red sequined dress. "That's the sign of a real woman."

OK, so the Elvis wasn't real. But there was nothing fake about the money at stake.

Some lucky player will walk away next week with more than $7 million for outlasting some 6,000 others in a tournament that owes much of its popularity to online gambling sites of dubious legality and television.

Eight or nine other finalists will earn at least $1 million. That's 10 people. Left unsaid is that everyone else will be donating their $10,000 buy-in to the winners.

The eventual champion may be an old pro like Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson or have a good nickname like Jesus or Fossilman. Better yet, he may be an online player who doesn't need a nickname like Chris Moneymaker, an accountant who invested 40 bucks in an Internet tournament two years ago and won $2.5 million.

They'll be chronicled in the newspapers and in the ubiquitous poker magazines. Sports giant ESPN will try to build its ratings by airing taped pieces of the event for months like it is live.

They're crafty, quick thinkers, playing for big money. Just don't confuse them with real athletes.

Real athletes need more skills than just a good bladder for long hours at the table and enough fingers to count on. They don't sip scotch while they play, or run for a quick smoke during a break.

Besides, winning at Texas Hold 'Em really is mostly luck.

"I'd say it's 98 percent luck and a half percent skill," said Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson, who claims a third grade education and a World Series poker title from the 1970s when the sport was the province of big gamblers from Texas.

Sure, millions are at stake and millions will watch. But millions watch the Westminster Dog Show, too, and even the canines must think of that as more of a beauty contest than a sport.

That didn't stop poker wannabes from jamming the aisles between tables to get a peek of the action.

Of course, they probably were thinking that if not for a few bad clicks on the computer, it would have been them at the tables.

****tails anyone?

Tim Dahlberg writes for the Associated Press.

uh, im gonna have to go with NO bob.

That's what makes it so great. You can't hit a 98mph
fastball from Randy Johnson and you can't throw a TD
pass to Randy Moss (even if you were allowed the
oppurtunity most likely), but if you have the stakes
you might be able to sit down, no matter your size,
weight, age, or gender, and take a pot away
from Doyle Brunson or Phil Helmuth and listen to him
go on one of his favorite tirade.

However, I forgot to reply to the original question.

If you consider poker a sport, don't you have to consider
chess and other board games a sport too then? Then what?
Crossword puzzles? I believe a sport has to require some
physical skill, but that doesn't make poker any less
interesting.

Poker is a mind game.... Nothing physical about it.

Chess is considered a sport.

Sport is any kind of game that can be played at a life or death level without actually killing anyone.

However, in the case of mental games as chess or poker, it is only a sport if the life is dedicated to it. For your average Joe it's not a sport, but a pastime. In other words, poker is a sport to maybe 1 or 2 percent of players (or whatever number). In physical sports that percentage flips around, with the exception of golf, where it is closer to 50-50.

Next question. ;)

The 10-metre Shooting range (with eighty firing points for air gun events and four Running target stands).

http://www.athens2004.com/infographic/en/SH.html

Then no reason poker to say poker is not a sport. :)

Sifter

tiddlywinks?

the simple answer is no. where do you draw the line? am i an athlete for entering a stock investment contest? what about fantasy football? you are not an athlete just because you compete in something. i.m.o.

actually requires more athletic skill than Poker.

Calling Poker a SPORT is an insult to Tiddly Wink players everywhere.

CT

Main Entry: ath·lete
Pronunciation: 'ath-"lEt, ÷'a-th&-"lEt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin athleta, from Greek athlEtEs, from athlein to contend for a prize, from athlon prize, contest
: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

G

Gives you strong fingers from the mouse...lol