Poker as a legitimate sport
ESPN, Travel Channel coverage has increased popularity
David Cho, MBA2
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: Sports
Poker has recently had a meteoric rise in popularity. For all practical purposes, people treat it like a real sport. This Tuesday night during primetime, ESPN will broadcast the ending of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event. In case you're not familiar with the World Series, this year 5,619 individuals paid $10,000 each to play in a gigantic game of no-limit Texas Hold'em where the winner walked away with $7.5 million.
Mostly because of ESPN and the Travel Channel's coverage of the World Poker Tour, the world's best poker players are now household names. Phil Hellmuth, the youngest winner of the main event is an ESPN favorite. If you haven't heard of him, perhaps you've heard of some of the people he plays with. In early October, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodrigues was spotted in an illegal poker parlor in lower Manhattan playing Hold'em with Hellmuth.
Regardless of whom A-Rod is playing with, more and more people are playing poker at home, at casinos, and online. If you were to classify poker as a sport, it would be the most popular sport in the U.S. with some estimates approaching 100 million participants. With all of this growth and attention, the debate about poker has intensified. Is it really a sport?
Poker is a sport. It might just be the perfect sport.
Look at the actual playing of the game. Poker might be the easiest game in the world to learn. How many times have you heard a novice say, "I'll play with you, all I need is a list of what hands beat what." And even if it only takes a minute to learn, it takes a lifetime to master the rules and strategies of all the different versions of poker. Some people argue that there is too much luck involved because people can experience tremendous success after only playing the game for a short period of time. Chris Moneymaker (yes, that's his real name) won the 2003 Main Event after playing the game online for three years. Keep in mind that online players often play multiple games at the same time to see as many hands as possible and much more action than they could ever see at one table in person.
Mostly because of ESPN and the Travel Channel's coverage of the World Poker Tour, the world's best poker players are now household names. Phil Hellmuth, the youngest winner of the main event is an ESPN favorite. If you haven't heard of him, perhaps you've heard of some of the people he plays with. In early October, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodrigues was spotted in an illegal poker parlor in lower Manhattan playing Hold'em with Hellmuth.
Regardless of whom A-Rod is playing with, more and more people are playing poker at home, at casinos, and online. If you were to classify poker as a sport, it would be the most popular sport in the U.S. with some estimates approaching 100 million participants. With all of this growth and attention, the debate about poker has intensified. Is it really a sport?
Poker is a sport. It might just be the perfect sport.
Look at the actual playing of the game. Poker might be the easiest game in the world to learn. How many times have you heard a novice say, "I'll play with you, all I need is a list of what hands beat what." And even if it only takes a minute to learn, it takes a lifetime to master the rules and strategies of all the different versions of poker. Some people argue that there is too much luck involved because people can experience tremendous success after only playing the game for a short period of time. Chris Moneymaker (yes, that's his real name) won the 2003 Main Event after playing the game online for three years. Keep in mind that online players often play multiple games at the same time to see as many hands as possible and much more action than they could ever see at one table in person.
