McCain Likes to Play Craps! Obama Has Poker Community Backing

Is Senator John McCain the President for legalized online gambling or is Senator Barack Obama the man? The answer may be either as a recent report shows that both men like to gamble. In fact, this year's presidential election features seasoned gamblers for the first time since the days of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.

While McCain's camp attempts to retool the 70 plus year old US Republican Presidential candidate's campaign in order that he appeals more to a younger crowd, without really trying - McCain has scored some important points with gamblers in recent days.

Just how important is the vote of said gamblers - in particular the poker playing community?

Presently, the World Series of Poker is considered among the hottest "sports" going this summer. You read that right - sports. Just look under "Other" on the ESPN.com website to confirm. And even more importantly to the McCain Presidential campaign, the powerful Poker Players Alliance consists of some million plus diehard poker players.

In October 2006, a law was passed that essentially made online poker illegal in the United States. The loophole was that poker players themselves were immune from the law. Nonetheless, banking institutions were not and many a player has found it difficult using their credit cards at poker rooms that accept US customers such as Bodog and Wass. There are literally millions of online poker players who blame the Bush administration for interfering with their beloved sport.

McCain perked up some ears within the poker community last week when he stated - among other things - "The economy is what's hurting the gaming industry in Las Vegas today. It isn't sports betting or Internet gaming." McCain also alluded to the fact that he "hadn't thought much about the issue" of Internet gambling prohibition.

Some would argue that President George W. Bush himself hasn't thought much about the issue either yet his administration has seemingly made it Issue Number Two after Terrorism.

Proponents of McCain within the sector itself suggest that he will shift the Justice Department's attention away from going after online gaming operators. A number of Republicans have been vocal about legalizing Internet gambling - among them Congressmen Ron Paul and Jim Kasper.