Texas Hold'em Poker

[Kajun]

this game rocks! and is becoming a big sport...love to sit down and drink beer and play some cards no matter if its nickle,dime,quarter....i'm no professional, i mainly just play home games with a core group of about 6 buddys..we play no limit texas hold'em.. cash game most of the time..tournament style every now and then...cash games are $20 buy in to start and you can buy back in at anytime and cash out at anytime.

i usually go with $60 and if i lose it all i'll either watch tv or borrow $20 from someone lol we usally play 3 to 4 times a month...last couple weeks we have been going to this guys house that holds tournament style games....10-15 people $30 buy in...2 tables......the guy pete gets a free buy in cuz he cooks a big supper to feed everyone and supplys the house and some beer...works out great...very well ran game for a house game.

anyone play online? i play on yahoo and aol sometimes....maybe we need to get a group of SBG's and get our own room/table and play some cards one night....kinda like a virtual SBG meeting!

[schro]

I used to play on-line, and my brother does often. I prefer to play in person.
I would agree, hold 'em is cool.

[Tyler]

I play online with my PSP and WSOP.  It's a good time, but the problem with online is that people play very loose and you end up getting beat by too many lame hands.

[iBald]

I play often and been trying to get friends to play other holdem games... Omaha, pot limit, 7 card stud. Going by money, I'm a better Omaha player although I'm up for the year a decent bit.
 The gang always plays 20 dollar buy ins. Winner takes all Texas with an occasional Omaha but we always stick to one game. I've only played 2 cash games this year and brought home 45 and 60 something.
 
I'm about to do a weekly tournament with a 25 buy in and around 25 people playing. Blinds raise throughout the night and top 3 cash. Every person gets points for placement... the points go for 9 weeks and at week 10 they have a 75 dollar buy in game but the 3 highest point earners play for free.
 
Online is not my thing. When I saw 3 boats in a row followed by a flush, I was threw with online. Online play does help with  betting and learning patience though.
 

[PBurke]

i know i am about to offend someone but here goes anyway.


i like playing cards with the guys. we get together and play boo-ray (sp.) and we have a good time. but my question is this: How the hell is poker, or playing any kind of cards, a SPORT. fun pastime. good hobby. nice income for some, but a sport, come on. it just makes no sense to me how that is called a sport. sorry if i offend someone but i just want to know the answer.

[PigPen]

I love playing Hold 'Em, great game. It doesn't take long for the tide to turn in that game either.

[schro]

i know i am about to offend someone but here goes anyway.


i like playing cards with the guys. we get together and play boo-ray (sp.) and we have a good time. but my question is this: How the hell is poker, or playing any kind of cards, a SPORT. fun pastime. good hobby. nice income for some, but a sport, come on. it just makes no sense to me how that is called a sport. sorry if i offend someone but i just want to know the answer.

I'm offended that you'd find your potentially offensive comment offending. To me it's not a "sport", it's a "skill" that appeals to many Ordinary Americans.

[schro]

I play online with my PSP and WSOP.  It's a good time, but the problem with online is that people play very loose and you end up getting beat by too many lame hands.

Yup, you hit it right on the head!! Being successful in poker has more to do with minimizing your losses than winning huge pots, and loose players make it extremely difficult. It does suck when someone goes in with 5,9 offsuit and you have the best hand BY FAR thru the turn until he fills an inside straight draw on the river. Live play tends to minimize the craziness.

[PBurke]

i'll give you that one. but that means drinkng is a sport too.

[Kajun]

 doh was going to delete and edit my post but you replied too quick lol..here it is...


no offence taken paulie...and i will try to answer your question...

hold'em is just a card game to me but the last few years it has become so popular that its being elevated to the status of a "sport"..ESPN covers it just like any other sport and now there is a "world series of poker".......but it all comes down to an individual's definition of "sport" ...is fishing a sport? is chess a sport? does a sport have to be physical to be considered a sport or can a sport be mental? is sitting in a deer stand and pulling a hair trigger a sport?..theres alot of games and activities out there that have been made into a "sport" ...but again it all comes down to what a person considers to be a "sport".

[Kajun]

hell drinking has always been a sport in my book lol

[schro]

hell drinking has always been a sport in my book lol

A sport that requires no skill

[BaldRob]

hell drinking has always been a sport in my book lol

A sport that requires no skill

Just a mouth and a liver...

Poker is definitely not a sport...

Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
A particular form of this activity.
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.

Even though ESPN has it, ESPN also carries the National Spelling Bee ...

[iBald]

Hmm.... Playing for 16 hours + can be exhausting.


And looking at this.

Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

You forgot the second half

Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.

 

[BaldRob]

Hmm.... Playing for 16 hours + can be exhausting.


And looking at this.

Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

You forgot the second half

Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.

 

I do beg to agree to disagree Mr. iBald... but in no sense of the word is poker a sport.  It is a game of cards that does require mental acuity and luck, but no physical exertion.  While playing poker for 16 hours may be exhausting, it would be a mental tiredness and physical tiredness from sitting in one spot for that many hours...

Motor sports, however, would fall into the realm of a sport... because in addition to the mental aspect, place yourself in a vehicle for 3+ hours driving at speeds that could be in excess of 190 mph, there is a great deal of physical exertion... even the local short trackers are in a continous battle with the vehicles to maintain control.