Sen. McCain's poker face during hearing really was a poker face

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- That look Sen. John McCain had in a U.S. Senate hearing on President Obama's authorization request for a military response in Syria was really a poker face.

A Washington Post photographer caught the Arizona Republican playing poker on his iPhone during a hours-long Foreign Relations Committee hearing Tuesday when Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel explaining the rationale behind Obama's request for a limited military response to evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime used chemical weapons on his people.

Even McCain commented about his virtual card game, posting on his Twitter page: "Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing -- worst of all I lost!"

During an appearance on CNN, McCain said, "As much as I like always listening in rapt attention constantly [to the] remarks of my colleagues over a three-and-a-half-hour period, occasionally I get a little bored, but the worst thing is I lost thousands of dollars in this game ... thousands and thousands of fake dollars."