What do you think of poker becoming an Olympic event?

I was just reading another online report that says that poker could become an Olympic event. Maybe as soon as 2028. I personally think that it shouldn’t be an Olympic event. Unlike other sports, luck is a part of whether you win or lose. You could be a great poker player, but if you keep getting terrible cards and your opponent(s) get great cards, eventually you’re going to lose. Also, if you’re a terrible poker player, but you keep getting great cards, you may fold the first few hands, but eventually you’ll stay in on a great hand.

Well, from what we can tell, it appears that as you say, poker in the Olympics might be considered for inclusion in the Olympics in the next five or so years.

This is mostly driven by a new game format called Match Poker. Match Poker purports to remove the gambling element from the game, which could render it a "sport" and make it more attractive for the Olympics.

The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) is the non-profit organization that was formed roughly 15 years ago and is trying to turn poker into what it calls a "mind sport."

Here's how it works.

First off, it's a team game. Teams are split up at different tables, with one player from each team occupying each of the different seat positions. All players start each hand with an equal number of chips; Texas Hold 'em hands are played on a digital device, which allows for scoring, replay, and analysis. The same cards, both the two down cards and the five community cards, are dealt to players at the same seat at all tables.

Say there are eight tables. All players in the first seat, each from a different team, receive the same two down cards. All the players in the second seat, and third, and forth, and so on, receive the same two down cards, different from the rest. Then, the flop, turn, and the river cards are the same at all eight tables.

After the round, each team’s chips from all eight tables are combined, with "points" allocated according to the most chips. In this way, the best players/teams can be determined.

The stacks are reset for the next round. At the end of a pre-determined number of rounds, the team with the most points wins.

From what we understand, with luck of the draw and the gambling element removed, Match Poker has been provisionally accepted as a sport, which qualifies it for the Olympics.

That said, a number of objections need to be overcome for that to happen.

First, poker is, of course, a mind game, while almost all "sports" are physical activities. The whole definition of sports would have to be reconsidered and a European Union court in Luxembourg in 2017 ruled that a sport must involve “a not-negligible physical element."

Second, poker can't be considered a "global" sport, since many countries ban its playing.

And perhaps most importantly, the Olympic Committee has already considered a card game that many believe would have made an Olympic "sport," namely bridge.

The world's best bridge players can make a lot money playing it, but it's not considered a gambling game. Also, the World Bridge Championship has been held every two years since 1960, which would seem to recommend it for the Olympics. Indeed, the International Olympics Committee classified bridge as a sport in 1998, along with chess.

Even so, the IOC found that neither game was eligible for the main Olympic program.

Can Match Poker overcome such obstacles? At this point, we tend to doubt it. But anything can happen.

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AyeCarambaPoker Oct-05-2023

Poker is a sport

I proved it - but it actually depends on when you are from

http://ayecarambapoker.blogspot.com/2018/05/of-course-poker-is-sport-but-only-if.html?m=1

Kevin Lewis Oct-05-2023

They stole the idea...

...from duplicate bridge, which uses a similar (though less technologically sophisticated) method to remove the element of luck.
In both bridge and poker, the way to eliminate the effects of short-term luck is to play a sufficient number of hands. So making the hands everyone plays identical speeds that up.

Should poker be an Olympic sport? No more than making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches should be.

Cyclone99 Oct-05-2023

Not a sport

Sounds like an interesting format, but it's still a game, not a sport. Same as bridge and chess. Chess involves no luck, and is played in every country in the world. Still shouldn't be in the Olympics.

thebeachbum Oct-05-2023

It won't

It won't make me watch the Olympics again.

black jack Oct-05-2023

Kevin - great idea

Maybe making and then eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches could be added as a sport. I’ve been training for over 60 years - now I’m dreaming of that gold metal…

OMB13 Oct-05-2023

huh?

Got to be the dumbest idea of the 19th-20th-21st century combined.

Kevin Rough Oct-05-2023

There used to be art in the Olympics

From 1912 through 1948, art was part of the Olympics.  Olympic medals were awarded in architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture.  So not everything technically has to be "sport".

Jeff Oct-05-2023

@Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis wrote, "Should poker be an Olympic sport? No more than making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches should be."


There actually is a sport based on eating. It's called "competitive eating." Its Superbowl is the July 4th hotdog eating contest at Nathan's in Coney Island, but there are many other contests worldwide.

The reining competitive eating champion, Joey Chestnut, holds the sport's record of eating 76 hotdogs in 10 minutes. He claims to train for the contests and his lifetime winnings add up to $600k. This would probably bar him from a future Olympics.

It has been proposed as an Olympic event and the Nathan's contest is carried by ESPN.

jay Oct-05-2023

380 gobsmacked

OMG  - I could be a 380lb cigar chewing, scotch swilling,  black lung hacking 65 year LD and still be declared a gold metal Olympic Athlete. 

We need details. 
- How will they test for performance enhancing drugs ?
- if I am missing a leg is there a special Olympic category I can join ? 
- What income level dictates amateur status ? 

It would be rare for any athlete of any calibre to earn 3 gold metals is subsequent Olympics. They simply age out. Conversely poker players improve with age. 6 gold metals over 25 years. Yep it could be done. 

Finally does all my time sitting in a casino in front of a video poker machine count as training time eligible for an athletic scholarship? Or better yet a Goverment grant for athletic endowment.

Thomas Dikens Oct-05-2023

Poker Fit

Well, for me anyway, poker is physical.  A 12 hour a day multi-day tournament requires stamina to play properly the whole way.  Of course, being close to 70 and with "low vision" I tire faster than most.  If you see someone at the Aria using a small telescope to view the board, that's probably me.  Does it matter than a day at the tables is four times longer than a Marathon? I have an acquaintance who won an Olympic Gold medal in Curling. I bet I get more tired than he does.  I don't see how it would hurt anyone by letting it in.   Smiles, Tom

Randall Ward Oct-05-2023

poker

it's not a sport, especially not an Olympic sport.  I can't watch all the sports now, sure don't want this

Question of the Day - 05 October 2023

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