Sunday Rewind: Cool Like That

In our review of Thursday's poker night, we asked which Biblical fruit the man to our left was lacking when he slammed the deck of cards on the table in disgust.

First let's point out where the "fruit of the spirit" can be found. They're in Galatians 5:22-23.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

If our dealer had stayed in the hand with his 10 and hit quad 10's on the turn, he definitely would have needed self-control. Blurting out what he had at that moment would have made the entire table fold, and minimized his gains through betting.

Keeping self-control at the poker table can be challenging for newcomers. Trained players with sharp eyes somehow know how to spot bluffers who bet big when they have little. We don't claim that skill at this point. But thanks to a few drama classes we took in college, we know how to "stay in character" during challenging hands. (No, we don't hide behind sunglasses to do it.)

The opposite of self-control is what poker players call "being on tilt." You're ready to bet anything, and you don't care about the outcome. More often than not, that's dangerously wrong. Enough speeders drive by us on the highway to know that.

So self-control matters, and keeping cool at the poker table matters -- sometimes even you're merely dealing.