If you accept the argument that bridge isn't a sport because it's purely mental, then is poker a sport?
It can be played on the internet which is all about the decision of what to do rather than the actual doing of it, but when played round a table, muscle use (or lack thereof) could be said to be part of the skill.
No. All games require muscle control, even if all you're doing is using muscles to talk to play Botticelli or I-spy. (I'm a big fan of abstract I-spy. I spy with my little eye something beginning with S - Saturday! You can only do that on Saturdays though). And even if you're playing cards on the internet, you have to use muscles to place the cards via mouse or trackpad or eye-gaze controller.
You always require muscle use, yes, but the muscle use isn't always part of the skill.
For instance, in (normal) chess, moving the piece deftly and swiftly doesn't gain you any advantage over moving it clumsily. As long as you get it to the square you've decided to move it to, that's all that matters.
But in poker, the
manner in which you place your bets contributes to your chances of winning as well as
what you bet does. i.e. betting excitedly gives away information to your opponent, who is betting against not how strong your hand actually is, but how strong
you think your hand is.
I watched IM Andrew Martin, former British blitz chess champion (blitz is a time control of all moves in 5 minutes or less) playing on the internet - he borrowed my computer. There is definitely a lot of hand-eye co-ordination going on there as, in order to save time, he anticipates his opponent's move and has the piece he is intending to move already "picked up" by the mouse and hovering over the square on which he intends to drop it. Reaction time is also critical at such fast time controls. If the opponent makes a move he doesn't expect and he has to change his mind, he has to ensure that the piece is returned to its original square.
What if the software doesn't allow him to pick his piece up until after his opponent's moved, or does he always stipulate that they use software that allows him to do that?