Athens: Poker aficionados claim their sport is getting a raw deal from the Olympics and are campaigning for a place at the table at the Athens Games.

A group calling itself "Poker in Athens" has said it will not take the exclusion sitting down and has upped the stakes with an online petition calling the bluff of the sporting world.

The group says it is "passionately dedicated to bringing poker to the 2004 Games", and demands poker be given the respect shown to games like chess and bridge.

advertisement
Party Poker
The biggest online poker room with thousands of players.
Choose one of the following games:
Texas Holdem Poker, Omaha Poker, Omaha Hi,
Seven Card Stud, Stud 8 or Better.
Receive a 20% bonus of your first deposit up to a $100!!!
Party Poker

In an open letter, the group says poker demands "the focus of the archer, the endurance of the decathlete and the skill of the gymnast".

"After all, the ribbon-waving rhythmic gymnasts are in. The shuttlecock-chasing badminton players are in. Even the ice-sweeping curlers are in. And poker's out?" they lament.

"That's like throwing a party for mankind's greatest inventions and forgetting to invite indoor plumbing".

The International Olympic Committee, the body which decides what is Olympic and what is not, was not available for comment.

The website features spoof releases to illustrate the group's efforts, under titles such as "Poker Players Submit to Drug Testing" and "Poker Players Agree to Wear Unitards (skin-tight one-piece garments)".

Another section shows rhythmic gymnastics and synchronised swimming clips with the caption: "If this qualifies, why not poker?".

The owners of the site, playing their cards close to their chest, were also unavailable for comment. - Reuters