Poker and chess, sport or game?

[JirinPanthosa]

I've heard various rumblings about things like Poker and Chess entering the Olympics.

I want to say, I absolutely love both these games, but it's a bit awkward to me that people are arguing that they are sports. To me, a sport requires physical movement. Maybe there deserves to be some sort of 'game' equivalent of the Olympics that includes things like Chess, Go, Poker, Settlers, etc, but it confuses me when people argue for them being considered sports.

Anyone know the counterarguments that argue for why games like card games and board games might be classified as sports?

 

[rahullak]

I'm on the fence on this.

What about E-Sports though? Are they real sports? Should they be in the Olympics?

 

[Kibbin]

I would say they don't have any physical skill to them and therefore shouldn't be a sport. I guess you could argue the poker face is a physical skill but not enough. Therefore darts is a sport and dominoes is a game despite them both being pub games so to speak. By this logic I think an e-sport dance dance tournament could be a sport while League of Legends is still a game.

 

[Kor]

I've heard various rumblings about things like Poker and Chess entering the Olympics.

I want to say, I absolutely love both these games, but it's a bit awkward to me that people are arguing that they are sports. To me, a sport requires physical movement. Maybe there deserves to be some sort of 'game' equivalent of the Olympics that includes things like Chess, Go, Poker, Settlers, etc, but it confuses me when people argue for them being considered sports.

Anyone know the counterarguments that argue for why games like card games and board games might be classified as sports?

Seeing as how the official name of the event itself is actually "Olympic Games" and not "Olympic Sports," I don't see any problem at all with including competitive parlor or pub activities as some kind of official event.

Kor

 

[Nyotarules]

Game

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Yeah, it's called 'Olympic games' but currently only includes physical sports. If you open it up to games of intellectual skill rather than physical skill, then it should also have all numbers of other popular board and card games that are games of skill like Go, Mahjong, Catan, Scrabble, etc.

Also, there are like 70 events in the World Series of Poker, do you only add a Hold'em tournament or do you add all the variants? Also only full table or also a head to head tournament?

 

[The Lady Eve]

Poker is absolutely the greatest card game ever invented - especially 5 card draw, 5 card stud, and 7 card stud with no wild cards damn it, the way Jesus intended.

It is not an Olympic sport. Imagine the athletic categories: "Pass The Chips and Dip," "Who Wants Another Beer?" "What's The Gravy In This Meatball Hero?" and "Joe's Got Emphysema But He Only Smokes Filtered Cigarettes And Cigarillos."

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Seeing as how the official name of the event itself is actually "Olympic Games" and not "Olympic Sports,"

Same diff.

I don't see any problem at all with including competitive parlor or pub activities as some kind of official event.

I don't agree. The Olympics have always been about physical competition. That was always their intent, and should be limited to that. To include games like poker and chess (which require no physical ability) is an insult to the spirit of the whole thing.

I mean, what's next? Olympic Pong? Olympic Duck-Duck-Goose? Olympic Try To Find Out Where The Hell You Left Your Car Keys?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Poker is absolutely the greatest card game ever invented - especially 5 card draw, 5 card stud, and 7 card stud with no wild cards damn it, the way Jesus intended.

It is not an Olympic sport. Imagine the athletic categories: "Pass The Chips and Dip," "Who Wants Another Beer?" "What's The Gravy In This Meatball Hero?" and "Joe's Got Emphysema But He Only Smokes Filtered Cigarettes And Cigarillos."

No Limit Hold'em is the most popular poker by far now, eclipsing 7 card stud. But I'm partial to Omaha Hi-Lo.

Come to think of it, if they did make Poker an Olympic sport, knowing what I know of Poker players, would they *really* be that into it if there were not a cash prize? The WSOP main event had an 8.8 million main prize, and the Big One even higher. High roller bowls, similar. Would they really play with the same intensity for a colored pice of medal and bragging rights?

Pro athletes are different from pro gamblers. Pro athletes are just extremely competitive normal people. Pro gamblers are *not normal*. They are functional addicts.

 

[The Lady Eve]

I freaking hate any kind of Hold'em. A million years ago when my parents' poker crowd occasionally played it, the game was called Spit In The Ocean.

Flop, river, etc. - die in a greasy pizza in the middle of a pot.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Which poker game is best is a matter of preference. I like the hold'em games because they have a balance where you have just the right amount of information about your opponent's hand to make the game more about the math and your reads on your opponent.

I think Open Face Chinese Poker is a really underrated variant of the game. I've only played it a few times. Although that version is the most about math and not at all about reads.

 

[Atet]

It's a strategy game.

 

[Kor]

Since this thread is still on the front page of the forum and it's only been a few months since the last response, I figure it's okay to add the following:
"Chess is an affiliate member, or fully recognized by, National Olympic Committees in 117 countries, and chess as a sport is recognized in 107 countries."
Source: https://www.fide.com/fide/fide-world-chess-federation.html

So yes, chess is a sport.

Kor

 

[JirinPanthosa]

If chess is a sport, so is any strategy board game. Where do you draw the line, or do you just say “Every skill competition is a sport, regardless of physicality”?

Official recognition by a committee somewhere isn’t a definitive answer for everyone, just for that committee.

Dictionary definition of sports is “An athletic activity requiring skill and physical prowess and often of a competitive nature.” Chess does not meet the physical prowess requirement.

 

[Kor]

Maybe it should be played on a giant board with big pieces that weigh a hundred to two hundred pounds each, depending on the piece. And you have to hop on one leg while moving the pieces. Then the game would require physical prowess.

Kor

 

[Pharris]

I do consider them both a sport and a game. I mean, for someone it is a sport due to the competition on a professional level, while for most of us, they are just some games that we are playing with some friends in order to spend the free time with some purpose.

 

[Cornyx]

I do consider them both a sport and a game. I mean, for someone it is a sport due to the competition on a professional level, while for most of us, they are just some games that we are playing with some friends in order to spend the free time with some purpose. The same thing about e-sports, like Dota 2 or League of Legends or even Counter Strike, for us these are just some games, while for the pro players it is a sport. For me poker is something more than just a game, however I do not consider it a sport. I am earning my living out of it for the last couple of months, as I am gambling on NOPE basically on a daily basis.

I have got the same idea dude, I consider them both a sport and a game

 

[Malicia]

People who think poker is all luck don't know about position to the button, knowing what are premium hands and reading tells. Love the idea of Poker being introduced to the Olympics and can see why because it's an exiting game for spectators which the following link shows is a factor but it seems like the whole format of 'Match Poker' doesn't allow for a final table and ultimately heads up tournament. Maybe it does and I'm not understanding it fully:

https://www.pokernews.com/news/2017...-recognized-sports-path-to-olympics-29194.htm

I hope to see something set up that sees players being seeded over the next few years in satellite tournaments to narrow it down to qualifiers ahead of the next games in a multiple game format like HORSE and 8-Game so players that advance have an all round understanding of the different formats.

 

[XCV330]

game

 

[dupersuper]

They're games. That being said I don't really care about the Olympics and would be fine with them being included.