The International Mind Sports Association will be added the International Federation of Poker as a member in April. This means that the International Olympic Committee will be adding the game of poker to their list of skill games including Chess and Go.

The game will not be added to the list of Olympic events but the change will help the argument in the US that poker is not a game of luck. Anthony Holden, poker author and IFP head, commented: “poker is not like other casino games. It’s a social game where people are playing against each other, not the house, and a game where skill plays a bigger role than luck. There are 120 to 150 million poker players in the world and we deserve this recognition.”

This decision should really help the cause that many people are behind. It’s time the US wake up and make the decision to claim poker as a game of skill and allow it to be played online.






- 2010-02-26