by Elton Gahr

Created on: March 05, 2009   Last Updated: March 16, 2009

There are three things that make a sport. Direct Competition, skill and physical activity. I understand that not everyone would agree with these three criteria but I believe that they are reasonable. The desire to call things a sport is understandable. If you call something a sport it gains a level of credibility that calling it a hobby or a game doesn't. There is no reason for this assumption though and if we take away the stigma on hobby and game we can stop worrying about if things are sports.

The first of these criteria is simply enough for poker to match. Only the person with the highest hand wins, other people lose, but there are many so called sports which do not meet this criteria such as golf and cheer leading. These while skilled and physical activities without direct competition they are hobbies not sports. Again this is in no way denigrating these. Sport is not a better thing than hobby. They are both meant to be fun and very little else.

The second is marginally more difficult for poker, but as anyone who has played any amount of poker will tell you, there is talent in understanding when best to hold or fold as well as watching the other players in an attempt to gain an advantage over them. Things which do not include skill are many card games such as War, coin flips, and some very basic physical activities which are mastered by every child at the age of four though they take enough physical activity that it can be considered skilled.

Finally there is the part which eliminates poker as a sport. While I'm sure a tournament can last a long time I doubt that very many people would consider it a physical activity. This causes poker to fall into the same category as monopoly and chess as a game but not a sport. Again, I repeat this is in no way meant to be disrespectful to these activities but to say that they do not meet the criteria of sport.

All of this is important not only because of the importance of words and their meanings in general but a larger problem is that which i approached earlier. For some reason the idea of sports has been raised to a level of importance in our society while many other activities which are just as useful and important are put down because of a societal stigma not so much on the activities themselves but on those who are thought to be those who participate in those activities. This must stop. We must stop looking down on others because the form of enjoyment that they chose is different from ours.

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