What a Card

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I just don’t see Barack Obama as a card player but I guess he is (or was)...

SPRINGFIELD -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s decision to consider a run for president isn’t surprising to his old poker buddies. The Democratic senator from Illinois was described Monday as a “conservative” card player who kept his hand close to his vest.

“He wasn’t going to declare his hand until he had his cards and had a chance of winning,” said Denny Jacobs of East Moline, who served with Obama when the two were members of the Illinois State Senate. “He usually kicked my butt.”

Jacobs, a Democrat, speculated that Obama arrived at his presidential decision — announced Sunday — after assessing that he had the right combination of cards to win the jackpot.

“If he played his hand, he usually had a winner,” Jacobs said. “That’s what I learned about the other side of Barack Obama.”

Obama, who served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 until he left for Washington D.C. in 2004, said Sunday he was abandoning his earlier vow to serve out his six-year
term.

[snip]

State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican, said a group of senators from both sides of the partisan aisle would often meet on Wednesday nights after a day of doing business in Springfield.

Seated around a card table at a lobbyist’s office in downtown Springfield, the lawmakers would lay bets that would allow a winner to walk away with $100 in winnings on a good night.

Brady said Obama’s card-playing style didn’t match his more liberal voting record.

“He was very conservative at the card table,” agreed Brady.

He may be a superstar on the national stage now, but this story reminds us B.O. (ew, that's not good) used to be a mere mortal who did ordinary things.

And by the way...Obama spent a lot of time in Springfield (I assume) while in the Illinois Senate. Did he have a favorite place to eat here? Where did he stay? Does anyone remember seeing him around town? Anyone deliver a pizza to him? Or was he so fucking bored here all he did was play cards and count the days until he could leave again? Now that Obamarama is in full swing nationwide, I just wonder what his Springfield experience was like.