Is it Time for Drug Testing on the Professional Poker Circuit?

Integrity and fair play in sport is a fundamental requirement for fans and sponsors to trust that the games are far. Stereotypically, poker is not seen as a natural conformist to these high standards when in fact the opposite is true. Players often loan one another money having unwritten staking arrangements that are, more often than not, honored in full. Any infringement of a “poker agreement” is widely reported and criticized, particularly when a player gets scammed or taken advantage of by another. It is not good poker etiquette.

Where there is money there are those who are seeking to bypass the rules in order to obtain it. There are few larger cash prizes on offer than in the largest poker tournaments where a single tournament win can literally change your life. There is no longer the easy sponsorships on offer from the former poker rooms like Full Tilt Poker or Ultimate Betso poker needs to generate interest from the wider corporate markets. Players obtaining advantages by taking illegal drugs is not the way to persuade image conscious commercial partners to invest in the game.

We cannot hide the fact that poker is gambling and gambling is a vice. Other vices include drink and drugs and with poker players having more than a liberal dose of rebellion in their blood some of them indulge themselves in a way the law would not approve of. Some players play for many hours on a cash game table and use drugs to maintain high levels of concentration. There are different types of drugs to maintain a mellow demeanor if tilt is a problem. Other players simply have their vices and addictions. This is their choice and we do not judge them, but it is undeniable that this type of overall behavior has a negative impact on the view of the general public and the corporate world towards poker.

Sports like athletics and cycling have been ruined by scandals when some of their top athletes were caught using illegal substances to enhance their performance. The scandals caused such damage to the sports it is questionable whether they will ever fully recover their respective reputations. If drugs were outlawed poker would probably not be destroyed if a player was found to be using them. There is, however, a number of benefits to poker trying to promote their games as regulated and fair.

There has never been an outcry about drug-taking in poker because it is generally accepted that it is part of the game. Poker players accept the choices of their opponents and providing their behaviour remains acceptable at the tables they receive no objections. If a campaigner began appearing at poker tables trying to “save” poker players from their demons they would be seen as bizarre evangelists and met with bemusement and probably even hostility. However, if we limited poker to the wholesome and sensible characters out there we would lose many of the characters in our game and many of its participants.

With such big money on the line in poker tournaments it is not surprising that there have been some calls for poker players to undergo mandatory drug tests. Poker’s traditional image is not seen as wholesome nor is it seen as the best choice for a young person's career. It is certainly far more acceptable than it used to be but if you were the owner of a global brand seeking to maintain a reputation you had spent a lifetime and much treasure in building you might be reticent towards associating yourself with the unpredictable characters that play poker for a living.

It is the emergence of the Global Poker League that has shone a spotlight on the issue of drugs in poker. I am not a big fan of the GPL but their attempts to infiltrate the eSports market, adding a team element to poker has given rise to the importance of having appeal to the large corporate sponsors.

Implementing compulsory blood tests into poker would be a clear way of demonstrating to big business exactly how serious the tournament organizers were in acting to clean up the less desirable realities of the poker world. Drugs are a challenge for all other sports and whether we like it or not, poker has so far not shedded the stigma often associated with card games. To be take seriously, poker as a sport must be proactive in proving they set themselves the same high standards as other sports.

It is also not clear whether players would be open to the idea of these drugs tests but if it was an industry led initiative they would have little choice but to comply. They could choose to concentrate on playing online poker if they wish where drugs testing can never be practically monitored.

It is also unclear how players would be punished for infractions. Poker players are not known for conforming to generally accepted behavior, so the gap between a well-intended hope for drug-free poker to actually dealing a “clean” poker tournament with few issues has some distance to travel in my opinion. There is also a debate to be had on whether poker needs this type of conformity at all and whether poker players should be left to live their lives and play their hands without interference.

Random testing would certainly add a touch of the bizarre to our poker viewing. The devil in us would enjoy the moments when blinged up poker players would be asked to submit urine samples and we would enjoy the drama of inebriated poker players feeling the brunt of the rule book when playing poker under the influence. Here at PokerTube we would certainly not complain about the slew of brilliant videos that would appear.