What do extreme sports, golf, and poker have in common? A great deal, if my thoughts on the topic are to be believed. I develop this theory in this week’s column in the LVBP:
The emergence of poker as a lifestyle means that the game has become more than a game — it is a way of life, or at least a way of living.
In this way, poker might be best compared to golf or extreme sports, two “sports lifestyles” that, though they are usually lined to radically different demographics, aren’t that antithetical.
Both are relatively expensive recreational sports — neither a set of clubs nor a snowboard is exactly cheap. There are professionals in both: The PGA and LPGA and the athletes of ESPN’s X Games. And there are many fans of each — those who watch on television but never play.
But the vast number of those interested in both golfing and extreme sports (e.g. skateboard, motocross, surfing) straddle the line between fan and athlete, playing regularly (or not so regularly) and wearing clothes associated with the sport. They might put on a golf shirt for casual Friday or wear board shorts to the pool Saturday, but they are living the golf or surfing lifestyle as best they can.
I think that because poker has broken through and become more a lifestyle than a mere game, the poker boom is here to stay. I’m probably going to be fleshing this out a great deal more for an extended piece somewhere, and I’ll keep you posted.
Of course, it would be really great if the arbiters of the new poker lifestyle decided that a 600-page book about the history of gambling was essential for leading the poker life.