Weekend Rant: How is Poker a Sport?

By Africanlegend
Poker has never really been anything a but a hindrance to my general well being. Since ESPN decided to add it to their new assault of loosely defined "sports," it has simply been interrupting my ability to watch real sports.

ESPN now defines sport as: Any activity, including 1 or more people, in which the participants compete for some kind of prize.

So don't be surprised when Whose line is it Anyway and The Biggest Loser suddenly become lucrative enough to be classified as a "sport."

Brett Johnson has a Fish Catch Rate (FCR) of 45% when fishing on the road!

ESPN have already gone so far as to show re-runs of poker games instead of European Champions League Soccer, followed very soon thereafter by Fishing, Paint Ball and other activities that you can perform with alarming effectiveness under the influence of Marijuana. That to me should be a legitimate standard for designating something as a sport. Ask yourself the question, can I do it drunk or can I do it high? If the answer to either of those is yes or that the inebriating substances improve the quality of the activity, it probably isn't a sport.

I am probably just upset because I can't really play poker at all. I get why people sit around a table and play against one another but I don't think I get playing  poker online at websites like Pokerstars.com and how it impacts conventional poker rules. Aren't you supposed to outfox your opponent with the now famed "Poker Face?" How does playing poker online even work? I don't understand it. Maybe someone can explain it to me, because I was definitely under the impression that the human element and the ability to read your opponent based on his/her body language and mannerisms was a key element of the game of poker. By the way, I learned that from watching numerous James Bond flicks.

SOOO...should Poker be called a Sport? Or is it just a glorified drinking game?

Category: Sports