Poker: should it be included in the Olympic Games?

For years now, many people have considered poker to be more of a sport or mind game than a game of luck like most casino games. 

Based on the in depth strategy involved in the game and the psychology involved, many feel that it should be considered on the same level as other sports and should even be included in the Olympic Games.

There is a basic flaw in trying to claim poker as a sport like chess, pool, and others.

Poker, while a highly skillful game, still involves at least some element of luck.  

Regardless of how skillful a poker player is at the tables, once all their money is in the middle, they are at the mercy of the cards and how they fall.  

In no other supposed “sport” do you have this potential level of uncertainty. In baseball, the outcome is determined on how well players are performing on any given day.  

In chess, the player that executes the best strategy or makes the fewest mistakes will come out on top. In swimming, the fastest will win. A sport does not involve a complete unknown as it does in poker.

The question of whether or not poker is a game of luck or skill has been debated for years and whether players are playing live or at an online casino, the fact remains that the outcome of a hand is not known.  

Also, it is not known which cards will fall. In other sports, the outcome of a game is based on the action of the other players. In poker, the outcome can be influenced by the cards.

For example, let’s say you are dealt pocket aces and your opponent moves all-in pre-flop. You have the best starting hand in poker and make the call.  

If poker was based on how someone plays their hole cards, the aces would be the victor. However, five cards will now come that neither player has control of and these cards can change the outcome.  

If the person that moved all-in has a pair of tens and catches a ten on the turn, they will win the hand despite the fact that they started with the inferior hand. They did nothing to win the hand. Their win was based on pure luck.

This type of example is why poker is not truly a sport like other sports in the Olympics and why that it likely will never become an Olympic sport.

While it is a skillful game and does have many mind sport elements, as long as luck can play a deciding factor in the outcome on more than a rare occasion, it cannot be truly considered a sport.

Whatever is ultimately decided, poker and other casino games will still be available to everyone on websites like this one.

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