Poker IS a sport!

[oldbookguy]

OK, but by tomorrow that could be edited by anyone and it will not be a sport.

Wik is NOT a valid source for information.

Websters:
noun 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
2. a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.
3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
4. jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry: What he said in sport was taken seriously.
5. mockery; ridicule; derision: They made sport of him.
6. an object of derision; laughingstock.
7. something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything.
8. something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.
9. a sportsman.
10. Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person: He was a sport and took his defeat well.
11. Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler.
12. Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant.
13. Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.
14. Obsolete. amorous dalliance.
–adjective 15. of, pertaining to, or used in sports or a particular sport.
16. suitable for outdoor or informal wear: sport clothes.
–verb (used without object) 17. to amuse oneself with some pleasant pastime or recreation.
18. to play, frolic, or gambol, as a child or an animal.
19. to engage in some open-air or athletic pastime or sport.
20. to trifle or treat lightly: to sport with another's emotions.
21. to mock, scoff, or tease: to sport at suburban life.
22. Botany. to mutate.
–verb (used with object) 23. to pass (time) in amusement or sport.
24. to spend or squander lightly or recklessly (often fol. by away).
25. Informal. to wear, display, carry, etc., esp. with ostentation; show off: to sport a new mink coat.
26. Archaic. to amuse (esp. oneself).

Take your pick, there are 26 of them defining 'sport'.

obg

[Legislurker]

I object to 14. Sex as sport is NOT obsolete.

[oldbookguy]

[ QUOTE ]
I object to 14. Sex as sport is NOT obsolete.

[/ QUOTE ]

most agreed!

obg

[MiltonFriedman]

"I object to 14. Sex as sport is NOT obsolete. '

Most States outlaw playing this particular sport for money .... It is even illegal in Las Vegas to play this for money.

[TomVeil]

My friends and I had a conversation once about what is and isn't a sport. What we came up with was these two rules that sports follow:

1) Some measure of physical skill.

2) Strategy in which you must adjust to what your opponent (or opponents) do.

If it doesn't follow these two laws, it's a game. (Although nothing is to say that games can't be competitive and intense)

Now there are strange things that fall on the other side (Track & Field?), but in general, we find those two laws pretty much sum it up.

Bowling - Not a sport.
Golf - Not a sport.
Poker - Not a sport.
NASCAR - Is sitting down a physical skill? Endurance? Dexterity? The jury is still out, but the more I think of it, the more it seems to be a sport to me.

Anyway, I just saw this thread and figured I'd comment :-P

[Homer]

[ QUOTE ]
My friends and I had a conversation once about what is and isn't a sport. What we came up with was these two rules that sports follow:

1) Some measure of physical skill.

2) Strategy in which you must adjust to what your opponent (or opponents) do.

If it doesn't follow these two laws, it's a game. (Although nothing is to say that games can't be competitive and intense)

Now there are strange things that fall on the other side (Track & Field?), but in general, we find those two laws pretty much sum it up.

Bowling - Not a sport.
Golf - Not a sport.
Poker - Not a sport.
NASCAR - Is sitting down a physical skill? Endurance? Dexterity? The jury is still out, but the more I think of it, the more it seems to be a sport to me.

Anyway, I just saw this thread and figured I'd comment :-P

[/ QUOTE ]

Golf follows both of your rules. Watch Tiger Woods attempt to reach the green from 175 yards out of U.S. Open rough, then watch an average tour player try.

[TomVeil]

One my friends argued this point, too, but I disagreed. Clearly golf requires physical skill. But do your opponents change your strategy? Perhaps in a one-on-one match play tournament, they would. (IE, you go for shots because you're X shots down and are basically throwing a hail-mary) However, since most golf rounds (including tournaments) are NOT match play, it's more of you against the course, because you don't interact with your opponent.

[XChamp]

[ QUOTE ]
My friends and I had a conversation once about what is and isn't a sport. What we came up with was these two rules that sports follow:

1) Some measure of physical skill.

2) Strategy in which you must adjust to what your opponent (or opponents) do.

If it doesn't follow these two laws, it's a game. (Although nothing is to say that games can't be competitive and intense)

Now there are strange things that fall on the other side (Track & Field?), but in general, we find those two laws pretty much sum it up.

Bowling - Not a sport.
Golf - Not a sport.
Poker - Not a sport.
NASCAR - Is sitting down a physical skill? Endurance? Dexterity? The jury is still out, but the more I think of it, the more it seems to be a sport to me.

Anyway, I just saw this thread and figured I'd comment :-P

[/ QUOTE ]

In every event in track&field you must continually adjust to your opponent's actions if you wish to compete at a high level.

[jay1313]

My friends and I have had similar debates on what is a sport. FWIW we were more broad in our definition of sports allowing for mental and physical activity. But we agreed that if you can objectively time it, measure it, or score it. It qualifies as a sport. Therefore, anything which has judges is not a sport, it is a competition.

Although you can argue referees and umpires can affect the outcome of a sport, it is not their main purpose, and you could still have the event without referees and umpires.

As an example, you can have a pick up game of baseball, basketball, chess, poker, chess etc. But you cannot get a group of folks together to have a pickup game of figure skating, synchronized swimming, or marching band.

Obviously many competitions require a great deal of physical and mental training and practice but your skill does not determine the outcome. The opinion of the judges do.

Just the thought of some people with too much time on their hands and not enough physical or mental ability to rise to high levels of physical or mental performance.

[popesc]

[ QUOTE ]
"I object to 14. Sex as sport is NOT obsolete. '

Most States outlaw playing this particular sport for money .... It is even illegal in Las Vegas to play this for money.

[/ QUOTE ]

What about last longer bets?