Who Is the Better Poker Player: McCain Or Obama?

The country is a mess. There is enough blame to go around. The President, the Congress, business leaders, financial institutions, etc.

Greed was a major cause of the financial problems we are experiencing
today. The entire residential mortgage mess is at the center of the
credit crunch. People who don't have a clue about gambling were
playing no limit poker with our chips. Time for a change.

Our next President must be a great poker player. A trillion dollar
economy requires a leader who knows when he has been dealt a winning
hand and when he has trash. He must know when to bluff and when to
fold. And he must be able to identify the "tells" of the people he
meets, so he can determine when someone is telling the truth or lying.

We have a choice: John McCain or Barack Obama. Who is the better poker player?

We need some criteria to judge this crucial question:

1. Knows what to do with 7-2 offsuit?

Advantage: John McCain.

Why? McCain almost lost his life in the Vietnam War. He was later shot
down over North Vietnam and with serious injuries was held captive
from 1967-1973. He was tortured in prison and has lived with physical
injuries from this service. No one can fully understand what this man
lived through in those prisons. He got dealt the worst hand, and came
out a winner. Impressive.

2. Knows what to do with pocket Aces?

Advantage: Barack Obama

Why? This guy has been on a poker rush. A rush in poker terms is
when you are getting winning hands over and over again. That is
certainly the case for Obama. He is smart, ambitious and must have
been dealt incredible cards to be running for President after only
five years in the Senate. Getting pocket Aces is important. Knowing
what to do with them is even more important. Obama knows what to do
with pocket Aces.

3. Knows when to bluff?

Advantage: John McCain

Why? McCain positions himself as a maverick in the Republican party,
but he has a solid history of voting for conservative positions. is
he going to seek "change" or does he just realize that everyone wants
change given the recession or near recession our country is
experiencing. It looks like a bluff. Will he pull it off?

4. Knows when to fold?

Advantage: Barack Obama

Why? He admits to be being a long time poker player. While in the
Illinois legislature, he regularly competed in a low stakes poker game
with colleagues. He was known as a poker player who would play it
safe and not take chances. He knew when to fold'em.

5. Can identify tells in those around him?

Advantage: Undetermined.

In the movie "Rounders" there was a great tell using Oreo cookies.
When faced with a big decision, Teddy KGB, played by John Malkovich,
would reach for his tray of Oreos and lift one. When he held a weak
hand, he'd twist the Oreo in front of his face, push the halves back
together and place the Oreo back on the tray. When Teddy KGB's hand
was a good one, he'd place the Oreo cookie by his ear, open it and eat
the halves one at a time.

Reading tells is critical in poker. It is more critical in being President.

Since so many Americans are undecided in whom to vote for, perhaps
it's time to break out the Oreo cookies and place them in front of
McCain and Obama at the next debate. Let's see who eats the halves
one at a time.