Should Poker be considered as a Sports Game?

Various ongoing debates are trying to determine whether poker is a sports game or just a kind of gambling. According to the arguments from many poker enthusiasts, they argue that poker is a sports game since it has several sports characteristics. In this article, we shall discuss some of the aspects of both sport and gambling to allow us to make a satisfactory conclusion if the poker is a sports game or not. The only way to help us make a reasonable conclusion is through going by logic and not sentiment. Below are some of the essential things to help you determine if poker is a sports game. They include;
How can we define sports?
From our research, we can define sport as any activity that involves two competing parties and requires some skills to play and win. Therefore, from that definition, we can point out that sport requires two competing teams, needs some rules to play the game, and requires skills.
- Gambling definition
Gambling is a game of chance played for money. That means the involved parties stake money intending to get profit. Since some people gamble for fun, we cannot say that poker is an entirely gambling game. That is because many plays for fun and take time to get playing skills. Therefore, it would be appropriate to classify poker as a kind of gambling.
According to the two definitions stated earlier, poker games have more features of sports than gambling. Thus, before we conclude, it would be better to discuss sports games’ characteristics vs. gambling. Without further ado, let begin our discussion
Characteristics of sports games
Various features can help us to classify a particular game, whether it is a sports game or not. Below are some of the characteristics of sports. They include;
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