There has been much talk as of late that poker should be considered a sport instead of a game. There are two sides to the coin, with both sides making equally compelling arguments. Those that are the die hard poker fans say that it is most definitely a sport – but those that are in the sporting world disagree vehemently.

Those on the side of gaming say that any kind of sport has to involve real work. The definition alone says that a sport is “an activity pursued for exercise or pleasure, usually requiring some form of physical skill.” They say that swimming is a sport, not poker.

But poker fans say that the game is a sport because of the skill and patience that is needed during a poker tournament. They say that sitting at a table for hours on end hoping to be the last one standing is absolutely a test of one’s physical fitness. They say that if you aren’t in some sort of good health, you won’t have the stamina to maintain your presence at the poker table and thus will lose the tournament.

They say that poker is more skill than chance, which can be evidenced by those that consistently win. They say that if poker was more chance than skill anyone could win the game. Their argument is that it takes both physical and mental acuity to be able to fend for yourself for upwards of 20 hours spent sitting at a poker table.

Some think that the new thrust behind trying to make poker a sport instead of the game that they believe it to be, is that they want to see it legalized online. They think that if poker is considered a sport then they won’t be able to keep online poker from being illegal because then it is just sports betting, not online gambling.