The Real Deal: McCain or Obama

Poker pros make their endorsements known

I attended the grand opening/premiere/LV poker mixer for The Real Deal at the Venetian on Tuesday. I\’m still processing what I witnessed — but I am pretty sure it was the official jumping of the shark for poker, as some 500 poker fans (including Tim Conway, Robert Wagner, Bob Newhart, multiple poker agents, WSOP officials, and the owner of the Venetian and president of the Sands, who walked out after 25 minutes) witnessed painfully how getting lots of airtime on ESPN, GSN, and Fox Sports comes nowhere close to making you a Vegas entertainer worthy of a $100 ticket twice a night, let alone twice a lifetime.*

*Exceptions: Lacey Jones and Vinnie Favorito were great.

Wicked Chops and RawVegas were there, too. And they took advantage of the red carpet to poll a few well known poker players on who they\’re backing in the presidential election.

The breakdown:

Daniel Negreanu — Obama
Scotty Nguyen — McCain
Doyle Brunson — Diplomatic: likes McCain but \”Obama is better for poker\” (?)
Todd Brunson — McCain
Lacey Jones — Undecided: Worked in previous McCain campaigns, but \”on the fence\”
Eli Elezra — Filibuster: Obama \”right guy for poker … but I\’m a businessman also\”
Gavin Smith — Obama
Dennis Phillips — Diplomatic Filibuster: House and Senate elections matter more