Stay Classy, You Loser

"Worst. Bad Beat. Ever." That's what we wrote in an online chat Tuesday, describing what happened in our last post -- our quad Queens getting cracked by a royal flush.

"Ohhhhh! Ohhhhh!" That's what the Tournament Director said in disbelief when he saw the hand, seated across the table from us.

So what did we do in response? And what would YOU do? Would you do what a man did last Thursday night, when we topped his all-in bet with pocket Kings -- throwing them across the table in disgust and uttering an expletive?

Instead, we simply dropped our jaw wide open. We may have said "Amazing" a couple of times (not really sure) -- and we knuckle-bumped the woman who topped us.

We kept our cool because we think that's what God would have us do. Remember the discussion with that woman about being a "light of the world" (Mt. 5:14)? Part of that involves reacting as Jesus would react.

"Do not give the devil a foothold," Paul advises in Ephesians 4:27. He goes on to explain: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice" (4:29, 31).

The woman with the royal flush didn't sin against us. She simply beat us in a poker hand -- and to her credit, she did not rub it in after that. (In fact, she didn't even go all-in on the river to take us out of the game!)

"We also rejoice in our sufferings," Paul wrote elsewhere, "because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:4).

We've heard ministers say a main goal for Christians in this life is to develop godly character. That's what we tried to display with that bad beat. We believe that comes from having God's Spirit at work inside us. Without it, things admittedly might have been very different -- especially if that happened at a cash game or big-money tournament.