Poker News

New president 'first poker player in the White House in 40 years'

2008-11-07 18:27:35

President elect Barack Obama will become the first poker player to take up residence in the White House since 1968, Gambling911.com reported.

Obama was known as an avid poker player during his time as an Illinois state senator, meeting with legislators for weekly games on a regular basis.

He was reported to be a cautious, but above-average poker player who only played the top hands.

At the beginning of the year, James McManus wrote a piece in the New Yorker about Obama's poker-playing side, revealing that typical wins and losses during one of Obama's poker games totalled around $25.

Washington lobby group Poker Players Alliance is hoping that the newly-elected president's hobby could lead to less restrictive American laws about online poker.

Richard Nixon, who became president in 1968, is the last known US leader to enjoy a game of poker. Nixon is famed for beginning is political career by funding his run for US congress with $3,000 he had won in a Navy poker game.

Harry Truman is another former president known to enjoy a game of poker. He was rumoured to play the game regularly with cabinet secretaries and other political personalities at his vacation home in the Florida Keys.