Deal 'em -- Obama's Got Game

BE ELECTED
by Christine Bowman

Some folks still say they don't know Barack Obama. When some say that, the insinuation is that he is "different" or hiding his true self from inquisitive voters.

Many have gotten to know Barack Obama by reading his books, watching him campaign, listening to his speeches on TV or YouTube, assessing his work in Springfield, Washington and Chicago.

But there is a quicker way to get to know Obama for those who care to. It's the games he plays.

As camera crews have shown us on primary election days, Barack Obama plays basketball to unwind. That game requires and rewards stamina, strategic teamwork, knowing and using the rules of the game. Obama has spent long years developing those qualities. Basketball develops a person's capacity for anticipation, for reading the opponent's defense, for seeing the whole court at once and all the players, and recognizing that even a Michael Jordan doesn't win the game alone.*

^{From Sports Illustrated}

Obama also plays another more individual game: Poker.

^{From The New Yorker}

How does Obama play his cards? Earlier in the campaign several journalists looked into that.

Christopher Wills filed a report for the AP in September about Obama's poker playing as a state legislator in Springfield, Illinois:

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.

"It's a fun way for people to relax and share stories and give each other a hard time over friendly competition," Obama said by e-mail. "In Springfield, it was a way to get to know other senators -- including Republicans." ...

Obama studied the odds carefully, friends say. If he had strong cards, he'd play. If he didn't, he would fold rather than bet good money on the chance the right card would show up when he needed it.

That reputation meant that he often succeeded when he decided to bluff. ...

Obama once called poker a hidden talent and judged himself a "pretty good" player.

He began playing in high school, sometimes with his grandfather and sometimes with classmates. After leaving Springfield, he didn't join a Washington version of his weekly poker game and he doesn't play on the campaign trail.

Gambling buddies: Obama flush with poker prowess (9/24/07, AP/CNN)

James McManus, a poker player himself, sized up Barack Obama's card game for The New Yorker:

Obama was greeted coolly by some of his fellow-legislators when, in 1997, he arrived in Springfield to take a seat in the Illinois senate. Perhaps realizing that both the Chicago machine pols and the downstate soybean farmers viewed him as an overeducated bleeding heart and a greenhorn, he decided to woo them with poker.

Along with another freshman senator, Terry Link, Obama started up a regular game in Link’s Springfield living room.

... Link describes Obama as a “calculating” cardplayer, avoiding long-shot draws and patiently waiting for strong starting hands. “When Barack stayed in, you pretty much figured he’s got a good hand,” former Senator Larry Walsh once told a reporter, neglecting to note that maintaining that sort of rock-solid image made it easier for Obama to bluff. ...

On the campaign trail, Obama has been known to play Uno with his daughters, but no card games involving chips.

Aces (2/2/08, The New Yorker)

An international report on Obama's poker game notes:

When he was a young state politician in Illinois, Barack Obama played his cards right. "He had the stone face," said Senator Terry Links ...

"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."

Obama's poker face comes into play (telegraph.co.uk)

Finally, this synopsis from a website for serious card players:

Barack Obama was a founding member of a poker game played by Republicans and Democrats alike. The other legislators and senators playing the game describe Obama as a careful player who manages risk and hides tells, what poker players might describe as a "Rock". Republican players often teased him about his fiscal conservation only applying to a deck of poker cards and the money in his bankroll.

Obama's Poker Skills Highlighted (9/25/07, launchpoker.com)

Do you feel you know Obama a little better now? Comment below.

* * *

* For more on Obama's basketball game, see: One-on-One With Obama By S.L. Price (12/26/07, SI.com)

** John McCain's website reports that his hobby is barbecueing. Patrick Healy reported on Hillary Clinton's pastimes in The NY Times (6/10/07): "Her favorite fitness activity, according to her MySpace page, is speed walking. Her hobbies include crossword puzzles, Scrabble and gardening."

BE ELECTED

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