Are you going to vote for Obama?

I have been seeing a lot of posts lately discussing whether or not the Poker industry should vote for Obama. Based on the articles i have read, Obama used to be a Poker enthusiasts but eventually gave up on playing Poker when he became a politician. Here is what a Poker Review or rather an article says about him. Let me quote it for your convenience.

Toby Harnden writes:

"When he was a young state politician in Illinois, Barack Obama played his cards right. "He had the stone face," said Senator Terry Links, who hosted weekly Poker games at his home. 'He didn't stay in hands if he didn't think he had a chance of winning.'

Links told Harnden:

"Barack wasn't one of those foolish gamblers who just thought all of a sudden that card in the middle was going to show up mysteriously. He's as competitive in politics as he is in Poker. It's not like he's going to go into something without a course of action mapped out."


I have also read that Doyle Brunson will actually vote for him for a lack of better option. But does Poker really have a good future with Obama as president? Hmmmm. According to Newyorker, Many Presidents have been known to use Poker lingo when they talk policy. Lincoln used a Poker analogy to explain his decision not to apologize to Queen Victoria during the Trent Affair. Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal sprang from a Poker sensibility. “When I say I believe in a square deal, I do not mean . . . to give every man the best hand,” Roosevelt explained. “If the cards do not come to any man, or if they do come, and he has not got the power to play them, that is his affair. All I mean is that there shall not be any crookedness in the dealing.”

Even though politicians used the Poker lingo, it does not mean that they will support Poker industry all the way, no not all the way. It does not mean that they will support the Poker industry at all because Poker, may it be the table Poker or Online Poker is still all about gambling. Another article from Newyorker states that Obama just played Poker for the sake of building alliances for his candidacies.

"Before his recent loss in the Nevada caucus, Barack Obama took heat (from the Clinton camp and from casino executives) for his history of opposing the expansion of legal gambling. His campaign people never pointed out, in his defense, that their man considers himself to be “a pretty good Poker player.” (That’s what he told an Associated Press reporter who asked him to name a hidden talent.) This puts him in the company of Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren Harding, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon. And, like Teddy Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, Senator Obama seems to have played the game at least partly because it enabled him to form political alliances that he might not otherwise have formed."

Let's face it, being a politician- or a president of any country- means having control over certain political dynamics. I do not think that a president will risk his position and support the gambling industry. Though i very much like that they support the Poker industry, i do not think it will happen. I hope i am wrong though. Let Obama prove otherwise.