Play your cards right

With the current furore around the success of the GB Olympics Team, I was interested to hear a debate on the radio last night started by an online petition to get Poker to be introduced as an Olympic sport in London 2012.

The idea of sport generally conjures a mental picture of being out of breath, sweaty and a lovely shade of beetroot (or is that just me?) But these guys argued that Poker players need similar attributes to other sports men and women such as stamina, strategy and the strength of mind to out wit your opponent.


It does seem a bit unfair that the other athletes have to put in so much effort for their sports. One of the reasons our Olympic cycling team is so good is because they can withstand immense amounts of pain to push themselves to train even harder . Compare that with a poker player who can prepare by eating a junk food and drinking a beer...not exactly challenging yourself too much.

But, as poker's now the number one participation game in the world, attracting more and more players every day, particularly online, even sponsors are moving away from traditional sports like snooker and putting their money into poker. So, maybe it could happen.


It would be pretty amazing to win a gold medal in the Olympics, so even though I'm not entirely convinced it can be classed as a sport, I think given my poor record in all the others I've tried, poker could be be my best option if I ever want to win one... and I i don't even have to give up pizza!