Marty Derbyshire
- This is why poker calls itself a sport rather than a game. Calling it a game conjures up images of relaxed fun, rolling the dice and leaving winning up to chance. Or in other words - that poker is a bit like gambling, and that's something the government wants to ban or tax.
- Another thing poker has going for it, sports-wise, is that ESPN and the Fox Sports Network both cover it regularly, and magazines like ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated both write about it.
- Poker is a mind sport. And that is quite self-explanatory, as the game involves thorough application of one’s mind to strategize and observe keenly. It is a thinker’s game, just like chess, scrabble, or any other game in that category.
In many parts of the world, poker is recognized as a sport with entities such as the World Poker Tour making various stops globally to crown poker champions. Poker is a sport. Gambling or sport.
When five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jason Mercierappeared on the the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on ESPN last month, he was introduced as a 'poker junkie' and asked point blank if he had gambling problem.
By the time the interview wrapped up, two things about the mainstream sports media were clear: Most knew very little about poker, and for hosts Dan Le Batard and Jon 'Stugotz' Weiner at least, the perception is that poker players are more akin to problem gamblers than professionals.
Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, says the problem may lie in the fact that the difference between the two isn't exactly clear.
'It's a fascinating question,' Whyte told PokerNews. 'On a standard psychological diagnostic test, I think most professionals would meet every criteria to be considered a problem gambler. It's just really hard to separate a heavy recreational gambler, or a pro, from someone who has a problem.
'I've given some standard tests to a few professional players, well-known pros, WSOP bracelet winners. I can't give you their names for privacy reasons, but I can say they all graded out as serious problem gamblers. My one take away, after talking with a lot of poker pros and poker companies over the years, is that the one difference, the thing that separates a professional from a problem gambler, is control.'
Whyte admits that diagnosing a gambling problem is not an exact science, but basically, a pro can set limits, stick to them and practice good bankroll management tactics, while a problem gambler can't seem to stop and has difficulty managing their time and money.
'Someone with a problem gets so caught up playing, they miss their daughter's field hockey game, or if they do show up, they're on the phone playing or thinking and talking about playing,' Whyte said. 'It's hard to quantify and distinguish between pro and a problem, but I think the pro who does not have a problem has outside interests and takes part in activities outside of the game. It may be their job, but they have some control over the amount of time they spend doing it; and they are able to maintain relationships outside of it, go to other activities and see the sun once in a while.
Online casino storten vanaf 5 euro. 'Some pro players could be playing 18 hours a day, and for them, it may not be a problem. On the psychological diagnostic test they'll meet most of the criteria for problem gambling, or honestly, all of it, but I still think someone can be a pro and not be a problem gambler. It really is an individual thing.'
With more than $13 million in online cashes and counting, Chris Moorman is online tournament poker's all-time leading money winner. In an interview with PokerNews last month discussing the origins of his career, he stopped short of calling his interest in the game an addiction because it's his job, but he did say he felt like he was hooked on the game immediately and it became an obsession for him.
With this kind of obsession often considered a precursor for success in so many aspects of life today, including poker, Whyte agreed it's another hard line to draw.
'It's like the kind of thing that makes a professional athlete the best at what they do,' he said. 'That focus and ability to forget losses or play through pain. A lot of people have a tough time understanding how a professional poker player can play through losing $10,000 or $50,000. That's the pain they are playing through. They push, and push, and push, and it's that work ethic that helps people succeed in all areas of life. In poker, the vast majority of successful players have that work ethic and some call it an obsession. Certainly the folks that fall into gambling addiction have it as well. The thing is, it's hard to tell a healthy obsession from an unhealthy obsession.
'I've talked to Daniel Negreanu about this before, and I know he often talks about the intersection between professional gambling and problem gambling, and the big thing here, and I hate to bastardize the lyrics of Kenny Rogers and The Gambler, but the that's the big thing: Knowing when to walk away.'
But walking away from the poker table on a downswing, setting time and money limits and sticking to them or exercising proper bankroll management, are only half the battle for a poker professional, with casino games, sports betting, prop bets and other forms of gambling surrounding the lifestyle.
'There are players that are stone cold at poker and they stick to their limits and practice the best bankroll management they can while playing poker,' Whyte explained. 'Then when it comes to craps, sports betting, side bets and prop bets, they have no bankroll management strategy at all. It all goes out the window and there are no limits. It's a fascinating phenomenon. They are great poker players, who are ice cold when it comes to poker, but with other games they don't have the same discipline and that's where they have a problem. Then there are people that are just the opposite. They may be stone cold sports bettors and they suddenly go crazy on poker.'
When he looks around poker's tournament and cash game circuit, Whyte says the classic signs of problem gambling are everywhere.
'There are a lot of problem gamblers that will tell you how great they are at the game with a straight face, even though they are living out of their car on the circuit in California going from card club to card club,' he said. 'They are a great pro; they just have a temporary cash flow problem because they're not willing to admit what the real problem is. They just took a bad beat and they'll beg, borrow or steal to get back in the game because they know they're just one win away from everything turning around. In poker, overestimation of one's skill can lead them down the path to addiction. Sure, they're one bet away from winning everything back. 'Yeah, I had to sell my house, but that just means I'm more liquid.' If someone starts talking like that, that's probably someone with a problem.'
In a game that's amoral at best, where taking advantage of the weak is a road to profitability, Whyte is under no illusion that most poker players are going to suddenly point out problem gamblers in their midst, and offer a helping hand, rather than use the edge they have against them to fleece them out of their funds. However, he still suggests players who see a friend showing the classic signs of a gambling problem do what a real friend should.
'You do the same thing you would do if you thought that friend had a bad disease like cancer,' he said. 'You let them know you care and that help is available. If they're still talking to you after that, you can refer them to an organization like ours.'
The National Council on Problem Gambling actually offers a 24-hour confidential and toll-free helpline, with voice, text and chat options. It can be accessed through the website at ncpgambling.org or by phone at 1-800-522-4700.
Whyte said help can be found on their website. Once there, players can take a self-test to see if they qualify for having a problem. It's not a perfect screen for heavy recreational gamblers or professional players, but it's a start.
'If you have a friend or know someone who might have a problem, you have to let them know you care and that help is available,' he said. 'It's important to understand you can lead them in the right direction, but you can't force them to seek help. Ultimately, seeking help, or treatment, for something like gambling addiction, has to be a decision they make themselves. You can't force somebody to help themselves.'
Even though you can't force people to seek help, Whyte said the good news is that those who do, substantially reduce the amount they gamble.
'Something like 70 to 75 percent of people seeking help for a severe gambling problem significantly reduce the amount they gamble, getting back to a more recreational level or abstaining altogether,' Whyte said. 'The thing is, it's not all black and white. It's not about either going 100 miles an hour or never playing poker again. There's a decent amount of people who can live comfortably in the middle somewhere.'
There are biological and genetic dispositions to gambling, but it's not like alcohol or drug addictions, Whyte said.
'With gambling, treatment should be truly individualized and not completely abstaining is not always problematic,' he said. 'It's not like you can never gamble again. Gamblers Anonymous might say that for an addict completely abstaining is the only road to take, but we think, for some people, that just isn't true.'
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Page 2
Is poker a sport?
Before I attempt to answer that question, here's another one: What difference does it make?
A couple of times in the past few weeks, Tony Kornheiser of 'Pardon The Interruption' has questioned whether the current poker boom will have legs. Kornheiser obviously believes it will not, based on the notion that people who watch poker on TV cannot expect to see any spectacular physical feats and so will necessarily become bored and stop watching.
In other words, in Kornheiser's opinion, poker is not a sport.
(In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that Kornheiser knows absolutely nothing about poker, doesn't have the slightest interest in whether or not the poker boom will continue, and is 'concerned' about the future of poker only to the extent that it provides a chance to tweak Norman Chad, ESPN's poker color man and a former colleague of Kornheiser at the Washington Post.)
(In the interests of full full disclosure, I should also mention that Kornheiser and I not only worked together at the Washington Post but went to the same school -- Harpur College in bucolic Binghamton, N.Y. -- and that Kornheiser is largely responsible for my journalistic career, such as it is, because he introduced me to the man who gave me my first real editing job. Therefore, under the Fairness In Commentary Act of '99, I am obligated to publicly insult and demean Kornheiser whenever I have the opportunity.)
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Poker requires agility, strength and stamina -- well, of the mental variety. It's on ESPN. But is it a sport? Click here to vote on poker and nine other activities. |
OK, let's see if, just this once, Kornheiser might be right about something.
Why Is Poker Considered A Sport
When it comes to proving a dubious point, dictionary definitions are often the last refuge of a scoundrel. So, according to 'The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,' here are the first two definitions for 'sport':
1.) An active pastime; diversion; recreation.
2.) A specific diversion, usually involving physical exercise and having a set form and body of rules; a game.
So far, so good .. except for a teensy bit of a problem with the phrase 'physical exercise.' Now, if one defines 'physical exercise' as something involving:
1.) Strength; or
2.) Speed; or
3.) Coordination; or
4.) Reflexes; or
5.) Physical endurance; or
6.) Ability to play through pain; or ..
Okay, poker doesn't require any of those, unless you consider the strength needed to push large piles of chips into the middle of a pot, or maybe the manual dexterity necessary to see your hole cards without letting anybody else at the table get a clean look.
Got a poker problem or want more details about Jay's Vegas adventure? Send in your questions and comments. |
Plus, let's be fair: How much more 'physical exercise' is required to play, say, bowling or golf or pool than poker? And nobody would question whether bowling or golf or pool are sports.
Another thing poker has going for it, sports-wise, is that ESPN and the Fox Sports Network both cover it regularly, and magazines like ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated both write about it. (Of course, SI once regularly covered bridge and yachting, too, but it seems unkind to make too much of that.)
In any case, is it really true, as Kornheiser contends, that most people watch sports on TV to see incredible physical feats? Free slots no download com.
While incredible physical feats are a regular feature of some popular sports -- notably basketball -- there are many popular sports in which incredible physical feats are quite rare, and even those seldom determine the outcome of an event. Just two of many in this category would be baseball and auto racing.
While it is true that baseball has its share of web gems, for example, most of the key moments in a game are noticeable only because of the results. The difference between a swing by Barry Bonds and a swing by, say, Rey Ordonez is perceivable primarily because of the results of those swings -- in Bonds' case, often a home run; in Ordonez's case, almost always, at best, a weak ground ball.
Similarly, what's the difference between a slow curve from Mets' lefty Tom Glavine and a similar pitch from the Yankees' Gabe White? One winds up in the catcher's glove, and the other in outer space; but until those fateful moments, to the naked eye, they look pretty much the same.
In auto racing, everybody goes round and round and round and round, and the only thing that differentiates one guy who goes round and round from another who goes round and round is which one arrives at the finish line first. True, an occasional driver will show an occasional flash of other-worldly reflexes in avoiding a multi-car pileup, but I doubt whether that's why people tune in to watch. In fact, you can make a better case that they tune in to watch, hoping to see multi-car wrecks. In other words, if the vast majority of race-watchers appreciate anything that has to do with incredible physical feats, it is most likely the absence of them.
No, people watch sports for one reason: to see who won, to see who can exhibit the most grace under the most intense pressure, and then to celebrate the winners, often by cashing a bet. (Yes, football fans, I'm talking 'bout you. Be honest now -- would you rather see a week's worth of incredible physical feats, or collect on one meaningful wager from your local bookie?) And the reality is that big-time poker provides just about the most intense pressure the fertile mind of man can create -- not to mention an endless stream of meaningful wagers.
Coaches have to make lots of intense decisions -- poker players do, too.
First of all, the money is huge. Greg Raymer, the winner of this year's World Series of Poker, took home $5 million; and to do so, he had to play thousands of hands that took 60-plus hours over six days -- without making a single major mistake.
(In that sense, I suppose, great poker players resemble great coaches more than great athletes -- they have to make constant choices, any one of which could cause the entire enterprise to collapse. Consider, for example, Larry Brown's options at the end of the second game of the NBA Finals: Guard the inbounds pass? Foul Shaq? Foul Looooo-ke Walton? Foul Kobe? Double-team Kobe? Play Kobe straight up? Poker players have to make decisions like that hundreds of times in a tournament -- and there's no third and fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh game if they are wrong.)
Second of all, in poker, if you don't win, not only do you not get paid -- unlike baseball and football and basketball players -- but they take money out of your pocket. (The entry fee for playing in the WSOP, for example, was $10,000, so you can sit there for four or five days and go home with only a huge hole in your bank account to show for it.)
Third of all, in major tournaments, there can be 2,500-plus players trying to be the last man standing -- or sitting -- and they all will do almost anything, including lie viciously and repeatedly (in poker, we call it 'bluffing'), to send you home a broken husk of a man (or woman).
In other words, win and be a champion toting a life-changing roll of bills big enough to choke Shrek, or lose and go home a chump with a giant hole blown through your life savings. As the Clint Eastwood character -- a lone gunfighter, the ur-American sports figure -- tells the Scofield Kid in 'Unforgiven': 'It's a helluva thing, killing a man. You take away everything he's got in life, and everything he'll ever have.'
Now what can be more pressure-filled, more sporting than all that? And does anybody believe the American public will ever tire of watching?
I say, 'No way.' What do you think?
Jay Lovinger, a former managing editor of Life and a founding editor of Page 2, is writing on his poker adventures for ESPN.com and also writing a book for HarperCollins. You can watch the 2004 World Series of Poker starting July 6 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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