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The Bryant Park Project, July 7, 2008 · Running for president is already a crapshoot, but it turns out that many U.S. leaders have also been pretty serious gambling men. Andrew Jackson, Ulysses Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Warren Harding, and Lyndon Johnson all played poker. When he was in the Navy, Richard Nixon won enough at the game to finance his first congressional race.

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Stetson-wearing Las Vegas pros who like his belief in the freedom to gamble are putting their chips on Mr Obama, who is himself a skilled player of Texas Hold’Em and Seven Card Stud.

Doyle Brunson, America’s greatest living player and formerly a life-long Republican, has come out for Obama.

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The casino craps player is a social animal, a thrill seeker who wants not just to win but to win with a crowd. Unlike cards or a roulette wheel, well-thrown dice reward most everyone on the rail, yielding a collective yawp that drowns out the slots. It is a game for showmen, Hollywood stars and basketball legends with girls on their arms. It is also a favorite pastime of the presumptive Republican nominee for President, John McCain.

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I asked McCain about sports betting and Internet gaming, and whether any Nevada Republicans or gaming industry representatives had approached him about those issues.

“The issue of college betting is not going anywhere. … The sports betting thing, that was over years ago,” he added. “I’ve faced reality. It’s just like with immigration reform. Americans want a secure border.”

On Internet gaming, McCain was just off his game. First he tried to back away from his position because he hasn’t been involved in it lately. Then he said it was really fellow Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl’s deal.

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