Politics and Poker
Poker poll rates Martin most believable bluffer

Thu January 19, 2006 - But as the last hands are dealt in this election, Stephen Harper says the PM has a few aces up his sleeve.

And Jack Layton says both of the big bettors are showing poker faces while hiding their inside straights.

In case you forgot Parti Quebecois boss Gilles Duceppe, he wanted separate cards, so he isn't really in the game.

Suggesting elections are all about bluff and bluster, the PokerRoom.com website commissioned a poll asking which leader has the best poker face.

"You'd do well to be wary of Paul Martin," the Vancouver branch of the Synovate international marketing research firm said of their findings, based on 1,027 randomly selected adults polled from Jan. 5 to Jan. 9.

"The majority of Canadians believe the prime minister would be the best at bluffing his opponents, more than all the other federal leaders combined," it said.

They reported "54% of voters believe that Paul Martin could con his way to victory in a game of poker."

Harper ranked a distant second, with 22% of those polled believing he "would be the next bluffer," while only 13% said Layton's straight face works. Duceppe came last, with 11% saying he "has the worst poker face."

Politicians and professional poker players "are actually pretty similar: They have to be sharp, convincing and cunning," said Fredrik Mollersten, Canadian manager for PokerRoom.com, which bills itself as the world's third-largest online poker site.

"When the country's most powerful person is seen as someone who has what it takes to pull off a convincing bluff, it's not surprising," he said in a statement.

Finally, when asked to bet on a winner in a faceoff game of Texas Hold'em poker, 53% of participants said ex-PM Jean Chretien "would beat out Justice John Gomery," whose inquiry revealed scandalous Liberal spending.

And sports commentator Don Cherry got 60% backing in a game against former Tory-turned-Grit Belinda Stronach, the incumbent candidate in Newmarket-Aurora.