Fair enough but after a 12 hour session I think you might decide otherwise. Played under the same circumstances, I would even consider Chess a sport. I dont know. I think that Doyle Brunson is best equipped to answer this question having been a star basketball player in his day as well. "I think there are so many things that are the same in sports and poker that you've got to link them together some way," said Brunson, a spokesperson for DoylesRoom.com. "You have to be a mental athlete to play. You have to have physical endurance. ... The last tournament I won (the No-Limit Six-Person Hold 'Em at last year's World Series of Poker), I played 18 hours one day, 16 hours the next day and 16 hours that last day. That's pretty tough. ... "You have to practice like we did in athletics. If I go several weeks without playing and I go back and play, I'm so rusty I make a lot of errors," said Brunson, a high-school state champion in the mile run and a basketball standout at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, who was ticketed for the NBA before his injury. "The best poker players have the sort of mental toughness and discipline that you see in top athletes" , he added. "OK, so some of the guys are out of shape," he added. "Let some of those guys that are in such good shape come and try to sit with us at a poker table. ... I'll bet you the pro athlete folds before the poker player does." Who knows - I dont really play much any longer cause my family life doesnt allow it. That said - this is a fun debate - kind of like the nascar debate and I am interested in hearnig your final verdict.