Full disclosure: Andy Bloch, one of the poker pros cited in this post, is a friend of mine. He's also one of the most intelligent people I've had the pleasure to meet. Not only did he attend MIT (where he was a member of the famous MIT blackjack team) but he also is a Harvard Law grad. He's won millions playing poker, and so far this year he's won $715,000 in the World Series of Poker.

Andy has also been a strong Obama supporter since the beginning, and like Barack Obama, he's opposed the war in Iraq since the get go.

Anyway, that being said...on the heels of Time's report about Barack's preference for poker and John McCain's preference for craps, the British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph interviewed Andy along with Anthony Holden, a British journalist and poker player, to get their perspectives on each presidential candidate's preferred game of chance.

As you might expect, they were impressed by Obama's choice -- poker:

Andy Bloch: "There are a lot of skills playing poker that would help the chief executive. In poker you have to put yourself in the shoes of your opponents, get inside their heads and figure out what they're thinking; what their actions mean; what they would think your actions mean; and reading people's bluffs. One thing that got us into the Iraq War was that George Bush didn't realise that Saddam Hussein was basically bluffing, trying to look like a big man, when he really had no weapons of mass destruction."

Anthony Holden: "Barack Obama, like Lyndon Johnson, used poker to make political connections. He seems not to be much of a bluffer. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a giant bluff by JFK, which was not called by Khruschev. I don't think we'll get those kind of geopolitical gambles from Obama."

On the other hand, they were troubled by McCain's preference for dice:

Both men are concerned by the details of Mr McCain's Craps habit. "You're always at a disadvantage at craps," said Mr Bloch. "It's a problem, if you have a leader who believes they can beat the odds. You don't want him shooting dice with the economy." Mr Holden added: "We poker players don't call poker gambling. It is a game of skill. Craps is an absurd game of luck. You may have thrilling short term wins but only madmen play craps."

The article also has interesting observation from a poker blogger about McCain's and Obama's tells. When McCain lies the blogger says his "his left eye starts twitching   more than his normal excessive blinking. McCain then looks down, in a rather   sheepish fashion, and looks away from the interviewer breaking eye contact." As for Obama: "he touches his face on occasion, when a statement or   comment disturbs him." I'm not sure I buy it, but I'll be on the lookout.

Finally, the article notes that poker superstar Doyle Brunson -- the greatest living poker player and perhaps the greatest who has ever lived -- is supporting Obama, despite being a lifelong Republican. The issue? McCain's support for criminalizing online poker. Brunson says "poker players have to support Obama."

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You might also be interested in John McCain's lobbyist gambling buddy who used to play 14-hour craps sessions with McCain and recently got McCain to intervene on a clients behalf to enable the largest federal land swap in Arizona history.

Here's a little bonus for you: John McCain playing craps at Bellagio in 2006.