New poll
A new poll has found poker players are more likely
to have a drinking problem than any other form of gambler
Do poker players drink too much?
According to a recent poll conducted by the UK gambling affiliate jackpot.co.uk, the answer is a resounding yes.
It started out as a poll to determine if there was a correlation between Britain’s obesity problem and the pastime of gambling, but the results have given the professional poker world something to think about.
Jackpot.co.uk polled 2,131 active British gamblers on questions covering lifestyle, physical fitness and gambling game preferences. When it came to poker players four things in particular stood out.
Poker players were tied for the second-lowest BMI (Body Mass Index) alongside Baccarat. The BMI rating was 25, below the UK average of 27
[*]23 per cent of poker players polled admitted to drinking more than the recommended weekly limits for alcohol consumption.
[*] Male poker players were the most likely to exceed the recommended weekly limits for alcohol consumption.
[*]Poker players were the most physically active of the group with 58% of those polled undertaking more physical exercise than the weekly recommended levels.
Changing lifestyles in poker
In a nutshell, the results indicate that the average British poker player is using physical exercise as a way to keep down BMI, while at the same time partaking in a few too many glasses of the not-so-good stuff
These findings are in keeping with the shift in lifestyle choices occurring at the higher levels of professional poker as well.
24-year-old poker pro Dan Colman has won over $22 million playing live tournaments in 2014 alone, including the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Colman takes fitness seriously and reportedly largely abstains from alcohol
At the recent World Poker Tour (WPT) Alpha8 event in London, he was overheard speaking to fellow poker pro Sorel Mizzi about alcohol consumption.
“I don’t understand why people drink alcohol? It does nothing for you. An acquired taste? Why would you want to acquire a taste for something like alcohol?” said Colman.
[size=35]Poker has a history of drugs and alcohol[/size]
Poker players have not always been fit and healthy.
The most recent high-profile case of alcohol abuse during a poker event was in 2008, when former world champion Scotty Nguyen went on a drunken, abusive rant directed towards his heads-up opponent Michael DeMichele.
Incredibly, despite drawing criticism from commentators and the watching poker public, Nguyen went on to win the event and pocket the $2m in prize money.
But these days the man dubbed ‘The Prince of Poker’ is one of the few pros seen drinking regularly at the tables.
[size=35]But it has success stories too...[/size]
Earlier this year, the World Series of Poker, took the unprecedented step of appointing a poker player to act as an ambassador for their brand. They chose 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event winner and Player of the Year Greg Merson.
His performance in the 2012 WSOP is one of the most talked about in the history of the game, but what few people outside of the poker industry know is how Merson had overcome a serious drug addiction just six months earlier.
So despite the recent poll putting poker players at the top of the list when it comes to drinking, most signs point towards poker players taking health and fitness more seriously.
