Majority of players at the Las Vegas’ World Series of Poker are supportive of Barack Obama and his campaign for the White House.

A season poker player himself, Obama has expressed a desire to regulate and control online casinos, rather than outlaw online gambling. This move gained Obama the support of former WSOP champion Doyle Brunson.

“Poker players have to support Obama,” the former life-long Republican commented on his change in stance. “God help the internet gambling business if McCain does happen to win.”

“In poker you have to put yourself in the shoes of your opponents, get inside their heads and figure out what they’re thinking; what their actions mean; what they would think your actions mean; and reading people’s bluffs.”

Obama’s credentials as a poker player is a good indicator of his leadership skills.  Obama was a regular at the low-stakes games — sometimes stud poker, sometimes draw — designed to break up the tedium of long legislative sessions. Poker, beer and cigars were staples; Democrats and Republicans, lawmakers and even the lobbyists who Obama sometimes rails against dealt the cards and placed their bets.

The traits Obama displayed around the card table those many nights are ones he brings to his presidential bid and are certain to be evident — and analyzed — if he wins the White House.

By his poker buddies’ accounts, Obama is careful and focused. He’s not easily distracted and doesn’t give away his intentions unless it’s to his advantage. He’s not prone to taking risky chances, preferring to play it safe. But he’s also serious and competitive: When he plays, he plays to win.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Land-Based Casino Poker, Online Poker, Poker Industry News, Poker Players, Poker Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.