"When did Poker become a sport?" Topic

I can barely stand to watch the punting duel on ESPN but ESPN2 is showing a rerun of people sitting quietly playing cards. Seriously, is there no curling match tonight? How about shuffle board?

I agree completely. The noise of people playing with their chips seems to be a draw for some, though.

I saw a tournament of "Magic: the Gathering" on ESPN2 once, when I was in the hospital. Some clown commenatator evidently thought he was John Madden.

Nurse, I need morphine, STAT!

So when will it be our turn?

Well it does include a lot of betting – which I think is integral in many more-mainstream "sports." It's no worse than bowling, darts or 9-ball.

"When did Poker become a sport?"

Since ESPN discovered during the NHL strike that poker gets better ratings and costs less to put on the air.

Never.

DeanMoto- how is it not worse than bowling,pool, and darts? You at least have to have some physical skills and use body movement to be a professional in those games. Poker requires the same movement skills as required to take a dump!
I do like to listen to that Norm guy on the World Series of Poker. All the rest stinks!

@carne98:

Amen brother – that's why we're inundated with mediocre "rality" shows too – the actors don;t have to get paid!

how is it not worse than bowling,pool, and darts?

I recall a saying whilst visiting Ann Arbor, MI, "Bowling is an excuse to drink, and drinking is an excuse to bowl."

My favorite was the time about fifteen years ago when I saw ESPN cover the William Tell Meet at Tyndall AFB. Here's more info on it for those who don't know what I'm talking about:

link

As for Poker: meh, I like to watch it from time to time. More enjoyable for me than some other "sports" at times. Still it would be neat to see a chess tournament on ESPN once and awhile.

Well, it beats the highschool football and basketball games they now put on. Who cares about Piscataway High outside of northern NJ?

I think a nice, miniatures version of Avalon Hill's Gladiator game should be televised. That game has action and gambling.

George Carlin's rules for what a real sport is,comes to mind.

I saw a tournament of "Magic: the Gathering" on ESPN2 once…

Really????
What's next? A 40K tourney on ESPN?
A hot D&D session on Lifetime?
LARPing on The Outdoor Channel?

I saw a tournament of "Magic: the Gathering" on ESPN2 once…

Really????

Yes, and I can't blame my meds either. They were all antibiotics.

I remember in 77 or so, and ABC televised the Putt-Putt golf championship. Another weekend, the had arm wrestling match ups.

CRITTER that must have been on Wide World of Sports when they would show stuff like cliff diving, demolition derbys,and DART TOURNAMENTS!

I miss the Wide World of Sports; that was when TV was TV.

Yes, but Wide World of Sports only got away with that stuff because it was filler around boxing!

'Remember those "Ernie Shavers" and other classic boxing matches? Good stuff

Darts is hilarious to watch, because all those English players guzzle beer during the match and look like they can break pipes in half with their forearms. THAT beats so-called "Texas Hold-Them" any day of the week in my book, and I grew up playing poker.

I remember the cliff diving in Acapulco. Riveting stuff. But just like racing, you really just wanted to see a crash…

I recall a saying whilst visiting Ann Arbor, MI, "Bowling is an excuse to drink, and drinking is an excuse to bowl."

The line, as I recall Gallagher delivering it some 25+ years ago, was "…and drinking is an excuse for your bowling." Having watched drunks bowl, the comedy is obvious. Just stay closer to the door than they are, so the bowling ball brawl between lanes 8's "Budweiser Berserkers" and lane 10's "Hamm's Hurlers" doesn't pin you down…

Poker is not a sport – it is a game. A sport requires that you wear different shoes.