\nDuring a recent poll on Reddit, 460 people were asked to vote on whether 53 different \u2018fringe\u2019 games were actually sports and I take a look at how poker faired.<\/p>\n
\tIs Poker a Sport?Is poker a sport?<\/p>\n
\tAccording to the 460 people who were polled by Reddit user e8odie the answer is a resounding NO.<\/p>\n
\tOf the 53 \u2018fringe\u2019 games that e8odie included in his poll, poker was rooted in last place, with an estimated 11% of those asked believing that poker is an actual sport.<\/p>\n
\tTo rub salt into the wounds, more people believe that competitive eating contests, such as the recent Hot Dog Eating contest that was aired on ESPN, is more of a sport than poker.<\/p>\n
\tSo poker is less of a sport than competitive eating, ultimate Frisbee, roller derby, paintball and cheerleading.<\/p>\n
\tI don\u2019t know about you, but that sits in my palette like a little baby Octopus (yes they eat them alive in Korea, and I have a Korean wife).<\/p>\n
\tBut is it a problem?<\/p>\n
\tShould we care about the perception that poker is just a game?<\/p>\n
\tI think we should, and I am not alone.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou have to take stock and understand that this is a poll of 400 people on Reddit. This is not a proper survey that collects accurate data. However, it does give a trend. Today, only 10% of people believe it\u2019s a sport. But that\u2019s 10%. Next we can reach 20%, then 30%. That\u2019s the new goal,\u201d said Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO, Zokay Sports & Entertainment.<\/p>\n
\tThe views of Alex Dreyfus are very important when it comes to this particular debate. Many believe he is the most influential person in poker when it comes to elevating its status from a game played in a bubble, to a game viewed as sport on a global scale.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe fact that poker is even mentioned in the study is a positive thing. This means there is potential. Perhaps, you are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking, \u2018Is poker a sport?\u2019 perhaps you should be asking, \u2018should poker be promoted as a sport?\u201d said Dreyfus.<\/p>\n
\tThe French visionary recently penned a blog post entitled Sports Marketing: Poker is Mainstream, Legitimate and Bankable where he alludes to a study that shows 21.1% of 18-24 year old males feel that poker should be promoted as a sport.<\/p>\n
\tIn that same article, Dreyfus explains that in the past decade poker has reached 100 million fans, has grown into a $4 billion industry, and last year \u2013 for the first time in poker\u2019s history \u2013 players spent more than a billion dollars playing live tournament poker across 94 different countries.<\/p>\n
\tIf it was an argument based solely on money then poker would very definitely be classified as a sport.<\/p>\n
\tThere again poker is already classified as a sport.<\/p>\n
\tIt\u2019s a mind sport.<\/p>\n
\tDave Brannan is the CEO of Living it Loving it and Mindsports International, and he is working feverishly behind the scenes to propel poker onto the stage that he feels it deserves to be seated.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLet\u2019s clarify something from the start. Poker is a sport, but the industry has a long way to go before this is recognized by potential sponsors, and more importantly governments.\u201d Brannan explains.<\/p>\n
\tThe way Brannan sees things, the problem is very simple, but the solution is very complicated.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPoker only receives support from casino groups and therefore they control all of the decisions. There isn\u2019t one set of rules or governing body for potential sponsors to negotiate with. Poker\u2019s image is tarnished and there isn\u2019t a major non-gaming brand willing to get behind the game to bring it to the level needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSo what\u2019s the solution?<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFind an answer to the above points,\u201d says Brannan.<\/p>\n
\tThe introduction of the Global Poker Index (GPI) in 2011 reminds me of the introduction of the English Premier League back in 1992. It has the ability to shake things up, to add a nice gloss and sheen, a professionalism, and the ability to attract the right level of interest.<\/p>\n
\tWith Dreyfus at the helm I believe they remain our most valuable gateway between the bubble that the poker community resides in and the rest of the world. The recent Fantasy Poker TV Studio format that Eric Danis presented at EPT Barcelona is an example of the kind of innovative thinking that is going on inside the cranium of Dreyfus.<\/p>\n
\tHe is trying to make poker look like a sport.<\/p>\n
\tWe are not trying to flop a Royal Flush here. It\u2019s more like flopping a flush. Just ask the League of Legends (LOL) who in 2013 managed to pull off the impossible by convincing the U.S State Department that the League of Legends Championship Series is a professional sport.<\/p>\n
\tPoker could learn a thing or two about the success of the video game industry.<\/p>\n
\tBrannan also pulls the positives out of the Reddit study.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIf they had done this five or ten years ago, and then measured the change in attitude, then the results would have been very different. Poker is now viewed more and more as a game of skill and will continue to do so. There has been a significant change towards poker over the last few years and we are moving in the right direction just not quick enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSo how can we turn this deep-stacked mystery into a turbo style answer?<\/p>\n
\tDreyfus believes that the players have a vital role to play in the transformation.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe need players to be more visible as ambassadors of poker as a sport. We need to find these people and make sure they are legit. Then we need to help them convince the mainstream media to listen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAs Dreyfus points out in his blog post, the poker industry has taken a significant sidestep into the world of professional sport by hiring legit sportsmen and women who are already in the public eye.<\/p>\n
\tRafael Nadal, Boris Becker, Ronaldo, Paul Pierce, Michael Phelps and Neymar all get a mention as sports stars who have been affiliated with poker either through sponsorship deals with poker companies, playing in live tournaments or just through the power of social media.<\/p>\n
\tWe are also growing our relationships with the greatest sports teams in the world with PartyPoker a particularly strong player in this field with affiliations with Manchester United, Real Madrid, the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.<\/p>\n
\tBut even with these strong affiliations there is still uncertainty over the legitimacy of poker. A few years ago I played in a PartyPoker sponsored poker tournament at Old Trafford, and as a Manchester United fan I was ecstatic to learn that I would be interviewing the legend Bryan Robson.<\/p>\n
\tMy interview questions had to go under the microscope of the United Press officer before I sat down with Captain Marvel. By the time I got the piece of paper returned, there were very few questions that were left for me to ask. The reason was quite simple. They didn\u2019t want their former player associated with gambling.<\/p>\n
\tBrannan is hoping this will change in the future.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI welcome the fact that the GPI has moved its attitude more towards poker being a sport, and hope that along with Mindsports International we can continue to change the views of governments and sponsors alike.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe will be launching a Mindsports ranking system later this year and hope to bring poker into this in 2015 once sponsors are happy that it fits all the correct criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tWithout the likes of Brannan and Dreyfus working tirelessly to turn poker into a legitimate game of skill paraded as a sport, I think we would be light years behind our current situation.<\/p>\n
\tLike the pair have quite clearly demonstrated.<\/p>\n
\tWe are making progress.<\/p>\n
\tThey are starting to convince me.<\/p>\n
\tPerhaps, it really is just a question of time?<\/p>\n
\tAnyway, it\u2019s getting late.<\/p>\n
\tI\u2019m going to make myself a hot dog and watch Debbie Does Dallas.<\/p>\n
\tNow that\u2019s what I call proper sporting action!<\/p>\n
Posted by:<\/strong> TommyC on August 29, 2014, 2:15 pm<\/p>\n Posted by:<\/strong> Skinny on August 29, 2014, 4:23 pm<\/p>\n \tFolks would claim that when they play in a grueling world class tournament the physical and mental stress was extensive. They said it was comparable to a brain surgeon who could be on his feet with the life of a patient in his hands for several hours at a time. These tournaments could last for hours at a time, involving numerous rounds that often extended over several days, perhaps weeks.<\/p>\n \tThese players go thru rigorous training, both mental and physical, with their teammates when preparing for these tournaments. They have coaches and trainers comparable to professional athletes.<\/p>\n \tBut I doubt many of them would consider bridge to be a sport. While playing poker can be similarly grueling, mentally and physically, I tend to agree with the 89% that do not consider it a sport.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Posted by:<\/strong> RFink13 on September 15, 2014, 6:47 pm<\/p>\n \tI don’t consider golf, bowling, or gymnastics sports because they don’t have offense\/defense nor do they have the players from opposing sides on the court\/field at the same time.<\/p>\n \tIf the final score is decided by a judge, it’s not sport. I’ll make an exception for boxing, UFC, MMA, etc because the players are in the ring at the same time and have the chance to decide the outcome before it gets to the judges.<\/p>\n \tJust my two cents.<\/p>\n \tRichInMich<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During a recent poll on Reddit, 460 people were asked to vote on whether 53 different \u2018fringe\u2019 games were actually sports and I take a look at how poker faired. Is Poker a Sport?Is poker a sport? According to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}