poker vs. pool

W

wannaplaySOME?

stack it up!
Silver Member
I have a theory, that I am sure that other people have thought about..

I am torn because I love both sports, but my heart belongs to pool...

Is poker over running pool? or helping it in the long run... Poker is never going to go away anytime soon... so will it gradually just run our beloved sport out???
 
Is poker over running pool?

Always has............
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or helping it in the long run.

Keeps many players broke which slows action, now more than before.
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so will it gradually just run our beloved sport out???

No, it will just keep the ones with the "leaks" broke, as they always are anyway. The smart players with have their money in their pocket.
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BTW, been there, done that.
 
Poker is much easier to play. Is played online for cash and fun. Being at the WSOP this year, I have never seen so much money on the table in the cash games than any pool game at any tournament or pool room. Poker players play a cash ring game against 10 other players at the same time with hundreds even thousands being won on each hand played. Tournament poker produces at least 12-20 new millioniares each year here in the US. Pool players have to give up the 8 and the breaks and ball in hand after the break and their first born for most money games. It takes years to become a solid pool player and a few more to be a pro. And after watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2003 WSOP, everyone feels they can win. And there is room in poker for most players to win and make money. In pool, the best always win and its mostly a select few who do win, so how or why would an amature want to compete with professional pool players, when they really have no chance of winning (at least for many years to come)?. So getting back to the original question: Is poker running over Pool? No, Pool is no competition for Poker. There is really no need to compare the two games. Poker websites, forums, players, professionals have never even mentioned pool on any level as competition for poker.

Comparing pool to bowling is a better comparison. Both take physical skills and mental skills to win and only a select few win most of the major tournaments like major pool tournaments. I enjoy playing pool and I enjoy playing cards. But I never think of one game when I am playing the other. I will say this about the two, poker and pool: there is no difference between poker players and pool players, pool enthusiest and poker enthusiest. Attend a major poker tournament and attended a major pool tournament and the only difference between the two is the game being played. Everything else is the same.
 
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wannaplaySOME? said:
I am torn because I love both sports, but my heart belongs to pool...
Click to expand...

I don't mean to side track this thread, but I have to ask, when did poker become a "sport"? :confused:

Although some knowledge and skill will help you play better, poker requires more luck that skill and no eye to hand coordination.
Poker is a game of chance, not a sport. JMHO.
 
Poker is a game of skill with an element of luck, not the other way around.

I play about the same amount of pool as I do poker, maybe just a little more poker because it is available online. If I had a pool table in the house I would play more pool because I prefer it. Both games can be free or played for money, it's up to your preference. When poker is played in person there is some physical aspects to the game, you have to control your body movements so your opponent can't get a read on your hand. I think both games take a high level of concentration and both games use some form of mathematics to play well.

BK
 
Yes poker is outrunning pool because the money is too easy to get and there is way more. You can gamble 24/7 at various types of poker games and tournaments on the internet, while pool is very shady when it comes to action. I've always been big on action but sometimes I'll go up to my local pool hall sit around for a few days and get out of stroke because of no action.

If you grind in pool you may make a few hundred a night on the road on average. You can win that much in 32 seconds playing poker. Pool can't and will never be able to match pokers money. Personally I'm one of those people who are graduating from pool to poker lol! Why not...
 
Just about every poolroom you go into has a poker game in the back....and it has always been that way. Thats why poolrooms used to have the reputation of being "bad hang-outs". Ofcourse, its not like that now days. I think we have the Late-Great Steve Mizerak to thank for bringing pool to "higher standards" and seeing it on TV. Now poker comes along in popularity. The biggest differences between the 2 are that anyone can sit at a poker table (or computer) and play and feel they have a real chance of winning...afterall poker is just luck anyway...right ;) . Not to mention the money involved with poker. This years WSOP will probably pay about $10 million for first and one online poker site is going to pay the winner another $10 million if they happen to win it and were qualified through their website. Who knows, we may be seeing poker rooms with pool tables in the back rooms before too long. I hope that doesnt happen, but people are gonna go where they have a chance to become a millionare overnight.

Southpaw
 
wannaplaySOME? said:
...I am torn because I love both sports, but my heart belongs to pool...
Click to expand...

I understand why pool can be referred to as a sport, but how in the world can you refer to poker as a sport? IMO, nothing can be called a sport unless it involves some minimal athletic aspect; which pool does, but poker doesn't.
 
Rich R. said:
I don't mean to side track this thread, but I have to ask, when did poker become a "sport"? :confused:
Click to expand...

When they started televising it on ESPN. :mad:
 
Rich R. said:
I don't mean to side track this thread, but I have to ask, when did poker become a "sport"? :confused:
Click to expand...

The only reason that people consider poker to be a 'threat' to pool is because of the gambling. Pool is a beautiful game to play, and no card game will ever change that.

Dave
 
Gregg said:
When they started televising it on ESPN. :mad:
Click to expand...

Here's some similar evidence that it's not a sport. Of course we get poker on our Canadian sports channels, SportsNew and TSN, BUT, on the TV Listings channel where sports are shown in Green, poker is shown as Blue (Blue being a regular entertainment show like a sitcom). :p :p :p

Dave, who thinks poker is a card game and anyone who thinks it's a sport is playing with a deck of 51 !
 
Gregg said:
When they started televising it on ESPN. :mad:
Click to expand...

Well, ESPN does stand for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network! Entertainment and Sports. Poker is the Entertainment part...lol.
 
Poker isn't a sport. And yes, I like poker. Played it long before the boom. Pool will NEVER be the gambling game poker is. If it tries it will lose out. Others have posted about the reasons. Poker allows a wonderful self deception that lets people lose money for years and years. Pool does not allow nearly so much self deception which does not lend pool to being the outlet to the gambling addict as much. Yes, many pool players are gambling addicts, but look how many of them throw off money to other gambles and take it out of the pool economy. A top pool player might throw off thousands to a crap table, but might not be willing to lose the same amount to a pool player or will run for a backer. Why? Because pool is a sport upon which people sometimes bet, but it isn't a great gambling game because of its nature as a skill sport.

If you want pool to really succeed, promote it as a sport that requires great skill, a little stamina, and a lot of knowledge. If people occasionally wager, fine. But if the gambling aspect is promoted pool can never beat other games like poker. Sure, people like to hear road stories and such, but to think pool will thrive in today's world as a backroom hustling game is incorrect I think. There will always be that aspect to it, and that can be used to spice things up. But there has to be an underlying popularity to the sport that isn't based on gambling for there to be the kind of success many of us would like to see.

Pool is in a bit of a tough spot. It isn't the gambling game poker is. Nor is it the kind of sport many sportspeople really wish to play now. The couch potato would rather play a video game, the modern sportsperson would rather play golf, go kayaking, ride a mountain bike, etc... Pool can still do well, even in areas with a lot of other sports; reading this board it seems to be doing fine in places like Seattle and Denver. Anyway, I don't mean to run pool down because I play it and like it, but looking at things objectively is important. IMO pool halls need to emphasize the skill aspects to the game and allow it to flourish while letting people have fun in the way they enjoy the game. For some that may mean a wager, for others drinking a beer. But to try to build pool based on its gambling appeal alone is a mistake IMO.
 
relevancy...

JustPlay said:
Poker is much easier to play. Is played online for cash and fun. Being at the WSOP this year, I have never seen so much money on the table in the cash games than any pool game at any tournament or pool room. Poker players play a cash ring game against 10 other players at the same time with hundreds even thousands being won on each hand played. Tournament poker produces at least 12-20 new millioniares each year here in the US. Pool players have to give up the 8 and the breaks and ball in hand after the break and their first born for most money games. It takes years to become a solid pool player and a few more to be a pro. And after watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2003 WSOP, everyone feels they can win. And there is room in poker for most players to win and make money. In pool, the best always win and its mostly a select few who do win, so how or why would an amature want to compete with professional pool players, when they really have no chance of winning (at least for many years to come)?. So getting back to the original question: Is poker running over Pool? No, Pool is no competition for Poker. There is really no need to compare the two games. Poker websites, forums, players, professionals have never even mentioned pool on any level as competition for poker.

Comparing pool to bowling is a better comparison. Both take physical skills and mental skills to win and only a select few win most of the major tournaments like major pool tournaments. I enjoy playing pool and I enjoy playing cards. But I never think of one game when I am playing the other. I will say this about the two, poker and pool: there is no difference between poker players and pool players, pool enthusiest and poker enthusiest. Attend a major poker tournament and attended a major pool tournament and the only difference between the two is the game being played. Everything else is the same.
Click to expand...

These two sports certainly deserve to be paralleled since poker is consuming some of our players... John Hennigan... Nick Shulman...

And also since pool was the #1 gateway into poker, how many poker pro's learned poker in a back room at a pool room... ask phil ivey...

So i do believe they are relevant to each other, and not whether they are necessarily comparable, however poker is directly affecting pool, whether we chose to believe it or not..
 
sport?

well, while that is up for debate... and certain people in this forum seem to absolutely HATE whenever i strike up any form of "debate"... I can't take a stance either way except to be the devil's advocate so here I go...

"activities that are competitive, have formal rules, require physical effort and skills, and are organised within institutional structures
www.health.qld.gov.au/npag/glossary.asp"

1. please note that this profession website spelled ORGANIZED wrong.. that was the first thing I saw...

Now let's disect this definition
"activities that are competitive"
poker does this - you are competing for money, pride, whatever

"have formal rules"
poker has this -- but are not universal, but they are working on that

"require physical effort"
this is where it becomes debatable, however poker does require the same stamina that pool does to an extent... to sit a 36 hour session at 20/40 holdem requires some stamina--also playing a tournament that started at 10pm and finishing it off at 6am and still having work the next day also requires stamina--
It also requires physical effort to actually fold the cards and throw in chips in an optimal way whereas they do not roll off the table or hit people

"requires skills"
Poker requires a great deal of skills including having the knowledge of starting hands and reading your opponent

"organiSed within institutional structures"
whether the taj mahal or the bellagio are to be considered institutional structures is also up for debate, but I can garauntee that they would debate that they are...

thanks! enjoy work!
 
The spelling with the "s" is the english variant, I believe.

Poker requires no physical hand-to-eye coordination, which is what I believe should be the defining characteristic of a sport. If you are ascribing mental effort as the definition of a sport, then chess and even tic-tac-toe are sports as well.

I love both games. I love them each differently, though. If I do really well in a pool tournament, I can look back on it and think I really accomplished something. If I do really well in a poker tournament, I think of the money I've just won.

I'm much more proud of my good days in pool than my good days of poker.

That said, I look much more forward to a day devoted to playing multiple poker tournaments than a day devoted to playing pool. It's just a more exciting game to me.

- Steve
 
Is either game a sport? well maybe not. You play poker sitting down, you play pool bending over, are either of these postures sporting?

Sports has usually been associated with running, jumping, swimming and the like. Sitting and bending just don't fit the bill. I think poker and pool should be considered games and not sports.

Either way they are enjoyable to me.

BK
 
BillyKoda said:
Is either game a sport? well maybe not. You play poker sitting down, you play pool bending over, are either of these postures sporting?

Sports has usually been associated with running, jumping, swimming and the like. Sitting and bending just don't fit the bill. I think poker and pool should be considered games and not sports.

Either way they are enjoyable to me.

BK
Click to expand...
both require a table..poker played sitting while pool played bending over..combine both n using the same table, it can be a lil sweaty n exhausting sitting n bending over :p
 
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