This has little to do with poker, but kinda fun to see one of “our guys” — Al D’Amato standing up to his grand old party, which as we know, hasn’t exactly flocked in support of online gambling legislation, despite its compatibility with Tea Party principles on personal freedom, sensible government, and fiscal responsibility.

Check out former Senator Al D’Amato (R-NY) on Fox News … sitting around a table that would actually make a pretty cool set for a poker show … with Republican strategist Jack Burkman the online qualifier, joining the live action via the internet and Full Tilt Poker. It doesn’t take long for Burkman to become BurkVillain when he gets tied up in a hand with our hero, D’Amato …

With host Eric Bolling is in the little blind, Burkman opens the betting with a 3x rant about federal waste at the post office, placed in the pot with curiously racist undertones in the chat box about Ethiopian and Nigerian immigrants being “bottom of the barrel” in unskilled labor and therefore better suited for driving cabs than holding government employ …

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I’ve been a fan of John Stossel, and his willingness to call bullshit on conventional wisdom, since the days I started noticing the difference between good journalism and bad. He has since moved from ABC News to Fox, where his libertarian shtick is a tea-party-friendly line of fiscal conservatism that challenges the moral contingent who want to impose on personal freedoms. Thus, the newest cause he’s taken up (at least for a week) is gambling … specifically online gambling.

Stossel outs himself as a recreational poker player in an episode of his namesake show on Fox Business that aired Thursday: Bans on Betting.

The show re-aired throughout the weekend, and will be on one more time tonight, Sunday, at 10 PM ET.

His efforts to bring the online gambling issue to the fore last week extended far beyond his own show. Here he is on The O’Reilly Factor:

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When the mainstream media attempts to interview poker players, it’s more likely than not there will be a moment where the poker enthusiast cringes. This interview with Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto and Tiffany Michelle is nearly 5 minutes of those moments:

Greg Raymer has always been an avid supporter of the Poker Players Alliance for years, and he has never been afraid to travel/speak/promote when needed. Within the last few weeks, he attended a reception hosted by Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist at the scene of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) conference in D.C.

Subsequently, Raymer was invited to appear on Fox Business News. His message seemed to be well-received, despite the female news correspondent calling him Greg “Rainer” at the end of the interview.

Was just watching a little early Fox News, and the weekend hosts got visibly excited about the World Series of Poker. Their hedline: “Average Joes Taking Over.” Wha? Apparently the Fox reporters/interns aren’t reading Wicked Chops. Idiots But regardless, dead money is dead money, right?

“That’s why we like it so much, because the underdog can win!” cooed Ainsley Earhardt. Coming up is one of those Average Joes, Dennis Phillips. From there the Fox-branded morning sunshine went on to a story about cadaver dogs being called in to search for a two-year-old girl, and then the weather. My personal chills subsided.

Go delayed final table!

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Interview starts with “This is wonderful stuff, the World Series of Poker”

Dennis appears, wearing STL ballcap and Pokerstars.net logo on his shirt. (Boo, St. Louis!)

He refused sponsor money for his cap.

“I’m a 53-year-old truck salesman, I’m not going to go around wearing a hat backwards. It’s just not going to happen.”

Headline under random, low-quality footage from the WSOP (as if the lighting situation in the Amazon room were new to them or something) — Poker-Palooza: Average Poker Guy Takes Vegas

The key to his success at the WSOP was having fun the whole way.

Dennis is not married and has no kids.

The Fox News staff is rooting for him.

After a break, the extended crew comes back and has a discussion about how amazing his poker face is. They all give impressions, then asks who plays — I’m shocked that the two dudes who are so excited about poker say they don’t — and then they turn to Courtney Friel. She says that while he was hostess of the World Poker Tour, she herself wasn’t very good because she gave away her excitement over big hands.

They end the show with: “Go All-in with Fox & Friends!”