A survey of online poker players in the USA reveals they favor Barack Obama over John McCain for President of the United States.

And they favor Obama big–by a whopping 2-to-1 margin.

The survey was conducted from September 2, 2008, to September 4, 2008, by Duplicate Poker (www.duplicatepoker.com), a so-called “legal” online poker room that operates from the USA. The room claims legality because it has removed the element of luck from poker–its patrons compete against patrons with exact same hands of cards, as in duplicate bridge.

In announcing the results of the survey, Duplicate Poker said 1,639 participants were surveyed and 1,043 preferred Obama for President while 596 favored McCain.

Asked which two-person ticket, Obama and running mate Joe Biden or McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, was stronger, 1,167 said Obama-Biden and 499 said McCain-Palin.

Asked if they think race is a factor in the election–Obama is black while McCain, Biden and Palin are white–915 said no and 737 said yes.

Asked what is the most important issue of the election, the top three answers were: 602 said the economy, 379 said the parties’ visions for America’s future and 348 said the Iraq War.

According to Duplicate Poker, the survey respondents are all online poker players and U.S. residents and come from 32 U.S. states, with 87% of the respondents identifying themselves as men aged 18-54.

In addition, the average survey respondent is a college graduate with an annual income of $77,000 who plays online poker twice a week.

Both Obama and McCain have freely admitted they enjoy playing poker, but neither has expressed support for reversing U.S. anti-online gambling laws that make it hard for online poker players to transfer funds to and from online poker sites.

“Poker players are astute observers who take calculated risks under time pressure,” said Duplicate Poker chief marketing officer Daniel Flamberg, in the press release announcing the survey results.

“The best poker players size up their opponents quickly and calculate the best way to press their advantage,” Flamberg said. “These results are a good indicator of how Americans are processing and reacting to two weeks of orchestrated political theater.

“These results are interesting for three reasons. First, they are a gut check for the new presidential slates as we begin the home stretch run. Next, the middle-class male voters are going to play an important role in every swing state. And finally, poker players are particularly good at quickly zeroing in on a winner.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)