From time immemorial, poker has been seen as a “seedy” back-room game, frequented by gangsters with their hard liquor, cigarettes and cigars, in an atmosphere of pure venom, violence and testosterone coupled with the smoke filled air. Well no longer! Times are a changing for the better, thank goodness.

As a poker player for many years, it has always amazed me that poker has always been seen as a sport/game that was not played by anyone decent and that it was for all intents and purposes a dreadful pastime played only by those who were beneath contempt. I can assure you that I have never been a gangster and have always played my poker with other decent human beings but until now I have been fighting against the stereotypical views of people at large. I don’t know how it came around, maybe it was those cowboy films and their “dead man’s hands, or it inevitable tie in with gambling as a whole, but in my opinion it has been “mis-classified” and it deserves a break.

It has been reported recently that The International Federation of Poker, an international body set up only about a year ago, has been in negotiations with The International Mind Sports Association for entry and that their acceptance is a mere month or so away. For those who may not be aware, The International Mind Sports Association was formed from The World Bridge Federation, World Chess Federation, World Draughts Federation, and International Go Federation. So as you can see, this is a very respectable membership of which poker can only benefit.

The International Federation of Poker was formed on 29th April, at a grand ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland where Anthony Holden was elected as President. It was formed by seven founding countries:

* Danish Poker Federation (Denmark)

* Federation Francaise des Joueurs de Poker (France)

* Stichting Nederlandse PokerBond (Holland)

* Russian Sport Poker Federation (Russia)

* Ukrainian Poker Federation (Ukraine)

* UK Poker Federation (UK)

* Associacao Brazileira de Poker (Brazil)

I now believe that there are at least 20 countries associations involved with it which means it can only lead to bigger and better things. My real genuine hope with this is that it will lead to a change of attitude of the game and stop the what I deem to be insulting insinuations about the game, and the “knowing glances” from people when you say you are a poker player.

One of my major gripes has always been the way that it is lumped in with other “adult” themes. In my recent article about Google AdSense I was incensed by the way that poker was directly linked to things like pornography, violence, child molesting and the likes. It makes me mad to think a “sport” like horse racing, one that has suffered far more underhand tactics and scandals than poker ever has, is seen as a gentleman’s past time and poker is seen as the exact opposite. For goodness sake, the Queen goes to the racing and it is allegedly one of the most corrupt spots there is. Go figure!!!

I just hope now that we will be associated with the “finer” games such as Bridge and Chess, poker will finally shake off the unfair image and become the game it is supposed to be with the standing it deserves. I believe sincerely that this is a new dawn for the game and that it takes the game forward to the heights it deserves.

By: Steve Dickson

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