Obama=Poker Player

[jpoker11]

Obama's poker face comes into play
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...xml&page=1

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."

"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."
"But after folks got to work with him, they saw that he had a regular family, an interesting childhood, drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and played basketball and poker," said Mr Dillard. "We learned he was a real guy."

Denny Jacobs, a blunt-speaking former state senator who was also part of the poker group, said: "Anybody right now that can offer as much hope to a people as Baracks does, that's a phenomenon we should not waste.
But Mr Obama was a hard-headed operator rather than a mere wordsmith or academic. "You find out a lot of things about a guy from the way he plays cards," said Mr Jacobs. "Number one, Barack's conservative with his money, which is always good.

"It's hard to tell when he's bluffing. In fact, I never could - that's why he usually beat me. Also, he never threw good money after bad.

"I'm one of those players that they say chases flies. He was more disciplined. He had to have something going in and he was in control of what he was looking to do. And as president I'd rather have somebody who's in control than flying by the seat of their pants."
Mr Jacobs believes his poker opponent, who would often win up to $150 at his expense while simultaneously borrowing cigarettes from him, has the necessary acumen and guile.

"When you're very open, it's easy to conceal things," he said. "And you know that Barack is such a good, open person, he wouldn't bluff you in a game of cards. Or would he? Yes, he would."

So would Mr Obama beat Mrs Clinton in a game of poker? "Yeah, he'd kick her ass."