IMSA Recognizes Poker

It's official - poker is a game of skill.

Game of chance, game of skill - it seems that no official body can ever agree with another over exactly how to categorize poker. But those arguments may be on the way to becoming moot now that the game has hit a major milestone with recognition from the International Mind Sports Association. At the IMSA general meeting in Dubai today it was announced that the organization was officially recognizing poker as a mind sport, putting it on the same level as other widely recognized skill games. 

“I am delighted to welcome the International Federation of Poker into membership of IMSA," said IMSA chairman Jose Damiani. "Poker’s participation alongside bridge, chess and other mind sports in the annual IMSA events will demonstrate to the world that poker is indeed a mind-sport of strategic skill.”

IFP chairman Anthony Holden hailed the decision as “a major milestone in our campaign to have poker accepted throughout the world as a game of strategic skill.” He added, “Over time, this should help to free poker from much governmental interference and other such unnecessary restrictions all over the globe. Equally exciting, poker will now form part of IMSA’s World Mind Sports Games, due to be held in the UK in 2012 alongside the London Olympics.”

The announcement comes one year to the day after the IFP was founded in Lausanne, Switzerland. The next step is to submit a formal application for membership in SportAccord, a global organization of 150 sports federations. Holden plans to attend the SportAccord Congress today and submit the IFP’s application at that time. The application will be considered at the 2011 SportAccord annual meeting and accepted if the IFP has organized at least 40 national federations by that point.

“We have already achieved more than 50 per cent of that target and, boosted by today’s decision, we anticipate little difficulty in meeting this and the other requirements over the coming 12 months," said Holden. “I know the whole poker world will now come behind our efforts, not least because it means that poker will be played in the World Mind Sports Games due to take place in the UK alongside the 2012 London Olympics.”

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