In an interview with insidethegames, President of the International Federation of Poker Anthony Holden outlined IFP’s plans to formally seek membership of SportAccord. Holden was speaking at the SportAccord Convention in Québec City earlier this month, where the chiefs of world sport were gathered.
As the article details there was some cause for optimism. Holden found those he was speaking to in Quebec were themselves poker players, part of the 300 million players worldwide that make poker the world’s second most popular sport behind football.
Thanks to the efforts of the IFP, poker is already a provisional member of the International Mind Sport Association (IMSA), a ground breaking step for poker which has for years struggled with the outdated image of smoke-filled back rooms and gambling.
“We adhere to our view that it is a mind sport of strategic skill,” said Holden. “No IFP event will have anything to do with money; it is just for the love of the game. Tens of millions of people out there love playing poker just for poker. There are plenty of people who love playing it for money as well but our demographic is people in it for the love of the game.”
While discussion with SportAccord will come in 2013, the next highlight on the IFP calendar will be the second IFP World Championships in London, with details of the event to take place to be released soon.
Read the full article on the insidethegames website.