Sarah Palin a good poker player?

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gives her resignation speech
during a ceremony in Fairbanks, Alaska, Sunday, July
26, 2009, where Palin turned over power to Lt. Gov.
Sean Parnell. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)

Last week, right before Sarah Palin stepped down as governor of Alaska, her father Heath told Politco’s Jonathan Martin that the 2008 Vice Presidential Nominee would “be a good poker player. She never divulged what she’s going to do next."

But would Palin actually be a good poker player? Here are five reasons Palin would make an excellent poker player.

(Disagree? Then read Part II of the series, which details five reasons Palin would be a terrible poker player.)

5) Opponents may have low expectations
When Palin faced now Vice President Joe Biden in the only Vice Presidential debate of 2008, expectations were so low that Palin just had to have a pulse to be considered a success. 

In poker, you can take advantage of your opponents if you know they have low expectations. If they think you’re a loose, passive player, you can set them up with a big check raise. Palin is perceptive enough to know what people think of her to take advantage of those low expectations.

4) She lives in Alaska
Despite a relatively small population, Alaska has produced some real hum-dingers in the poker world. Like Palin, Eli Elezra was a transplant in Alaska, but that is where he earned his chops and built a bankroll before moving to Las Vegas. And Alaska native Perry Green, while not well known in today’s game, won three World Series of Poker bracelets in the 1970s and made the final table of the WSOP’s Main Event twice, including a runner-up finish to Stu Ungar in 1981.

3) She’s attractive
Palin’s appearance has been a big factor (you can decide whether it was a positive or a negative) in her coverage in the media and in conversations across the country over the last 11 months. Palin was the runner-up for Miss Alaska in 1984, and as Steve Badger argues, attractive women can use their appearance to make men play poorly at the poker table.

2) She’s a runner
Palin has run multiple marathons, and she detailed how important running is in her life in an interview with Runner’s World.

While running itself isn’t necessarily linked with playing poker well, it takes a great deal of discipline and endurance to train for a marathon. It also takes a great deal of discipline and endurance to patiently fold bad hands when you’ve been hit by a cold deck. Palin has proven herself as a runner, and that would bode well for her chances at the poker table.

1) She’s a Maverick
You know the original Maverick's chops as a poker player. Of course it would follow that someone with Palin's Maverick credentials would clean up. 

Part II of this series details five reasons Palin would be a terrible poker player.