Poker players say they’d like to face the president

Is President Bush an easy mark? It seems many poker players would gladly welcome him to join a game at their table.

BetCRIS.com, an online sports wagering firm, has received 14,000 answers to its decidedly unscientific survey asking visitors to its poker Web site to answer the question, “Which world leader would you play poker against?” Bush was first, the choice of 27 percent of those voting. Bush supporters may note that this is another case of the president being misunderestimated.

In a news release, Mickey Richardson, chief executive of BetCRIS.com, speculated, “My guess is people want to play against Bush because he looks like someone that’s easy to bluff.”

For his part, Richardson said he’d be afraid to play against Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who was running second: “If he catches you putting a move on him, you’re done for.”