Poker as an Olympic Sport?

So poker has now been recognized by the International Federation of Poker as a game of skill, according to Bluff magazine.

This means it will be accepted into the International Mind Sports Association in April. The International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which in turn means that poker could get considered as an official game of skill for the Olympics. The recognition also bodes well for the legalization of online poker in the US. The IMSA is a non-profit association that has over 400 national entities and close to 100 million players within its jurisdiction. Poker and bridge are the only card games to be recognized by them.

The IOC obviously has its own guidelines for what is accepted at the Olympics and while poker isn’t a traditional sport that requires physical skill and stamina the fact that the IMSA is recognized by the IOC means that there could be room for games of skill at the Olympics. Here’s a look at what Team USA might look like: Chris Moneymaker, Joe Cada, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Gavin Griffin, Dennis Phillips, Tom McEvoy, Hevad Khan, Victor Ramdin, Jason Mercier, Randy “nanonoko” Lew, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow and Allen Cunningham