As you guys know, I'm part of both the poker pro and AP community, though I'm more closely aligned with the poker side.

However, in conversations about politics with both APs and poker pros, along with my observations of their social media, I've come to the following conclusion:

Most APs are conservative. Most poker pros are liberal.

I've been trying to figure out the reason for this. Both are individualistic, capitalistic pursuits. Both are using better knowledge and skill to take money from the ploppies -- whether directly or indirectly, many of whom can't afford it.

I think it's because of the nature of the game. APs are indirectly beating the ploppies (the ploppies lose to the casinos, the APs beat the casinos for some of that money), whereas poker pros are directly taking the money from the ploppies. Thus, APs walk away with zero feelings of guilt (they're beating heartless corporations which seek to extract money from addicted gamblers), whereas poker pros often feel bad that they are beating others who don't really have a shot.

This causes poker pros to skew liberal, because they (erroneously) feel that voting Democrat and supporting leftist causes will negate the societal harm they're doing by taking money from gambling-addicted ploppies.

APs, on the other hand, constantly see their careers as a battle between the individual (the AP) and the collective (the casino), and thus the individualistic nature of conservatism appeals to them.

I doubt that many think about it this deeply, but I believe these are the subconscious forces at play.