It is no secret that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama plays poker. The subject was first brought to light in a September 2007 CNN article in which players in Senator Obama’s Illinois Legislature poker game were interviewed.

“By his poker buddies’ accounts, Obama is careful and focused. He’s not easily distracted and doesn’t give away his intentions unless it’s to his advantage. He’s not prone to taking risky chances, preferring to play it safe. But he’s also serious and competitive: when he plays, he plays to win.”

As Obama’s campaign led him to the nomination of his party, poker references popped up here and there, for geeks like me those who were paying attention. In June of 2008, Obama revealed a number of good luck trinkets given to him by supporters that he carried in his pocket, one of which was a poker chip. In July of 2008, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey took a break from the WSOP to attend an L.A. fundraiser for Obama, and Obama recognized the poker pros, as Negreanu discussed in this RawVegas.tv video:

Watch Daniel Negreanu Finds Himself in the 50K HORSE Event After a Meeting with Barack Obama on RawVegas.tv

Most recently, Obama made a little poker reference in his September 26th debate with Senator John McCain when addressing the economy, war, and dealing with the country’s problems, approximately 1:35 into the debate:

“So we have to put all chips in, right there, and nobody is talking about losing this war. What we’re talking about is recognizing the next president has to have a broader strategic vision about all the challenges that we face.”

And in a speech just last week, Obama brought up his own penchant for poker as compared to McCain’s love of craps:

“I read the other day that Senator McCain likes to gamble. He likes to roll those dice. And that’s OK. I enjoy a little friendly game of poker myself every now and then. But one thing I know is this – we can’t afford to gamble on four more years of the same disastrous economic policies we’ve had for the last eight.”