Bluffing Beyond Bounds

The river card was a heart. It put four hearts on the board. Two players remained in the hand, and they checked.

"Have you got a pair?" one player asked. "If you've got a pair, you win."

"I do," the opponent answered, and slowly showed his cards.

Then the first player flipped over an Ace of hearts. No, he won the pot -- holding the nut flush.

"That's not fair," the losing player said firmly but not loudly. "It's not sportsmanlike."

This actually happened recently at a live poker table we watched. The loser didn't directly say it, but the man with the flush lied at the showdown -- claiming the man with a pair could win the hand, when he really couldn't. Perhaps the winner wanted to avoid showing a piece of his strategy, by deflating his opponent into mucking his cards.

Bluffing is part of the game in poker. Even misleading comments happen during hands. But this man with a flush took it farther than we've ever seen, with a flat-out lie after the betting was finished.

"Kings take pleasure in honest lips," says Proverbs 16:13; "they value a man who speaks the truth."

Compare that with the last part of Revelation 21:8. "All liars -- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

There's a time and a place in poker for bluffing. But we personally never make a lying statement. We know from the Bible what the potential punishment could be, and we take that seriously.

The man with the nut flush apologized to the man he beat, and even threw him a chip worth 1,000 to make up for it. Did he learn a lesson in sportsmanship? Only time will tell with him. Hopefully you have now.