Cocky and Loaded

The woman had a fairly good evening playing poker.  But she fell short of the final table -- and she explained part of the reason was a friend playing next to her.

 

"He won that big pot," she told us, "and then he started playing cocky."  The betting of all those extra chips threw the woman off her game plan.

 

Of course, what's "cocky" to one person can be a simple change of strategy for another.  One way poker is like sports is that players have to adjust to changing circumstances during a game -- whether it be rising blinds or the capture of a big chip windfall.

 

Whatever changes you face and endure, it's important to keep some words of Jesus in mind....

 

I promise you that you cannot get into God's kingdom, unless you accept it the way a child does. - Mark 10:15 (CEV)

Accept it the way a child does?!  Your understanding of that phrase may depend on your own family and upbringing.  Some children can be grumpy, throwing temper tantrums if they don't get their way.  But that's not the kind of attitude Jesus means.

 

And he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3-4 (NIV; emphasis added)

 

In other words, it's all about humility.  If you win a big pot, you can brag to anyone within earshot about how much you deserve it or how well you embarrassed an opponent.  But the more humble approach takes it all in stride -- and Christian humility really is about giving glory to Someone besides yourself.

 

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. - Galatians 6:14

 

After all, poker is NOT 100 percent about skill and intelligence.  "One-out" river cards sometimes come.  But a mind of humility realizes that, accepting the fact that losses sometimes happen in this life.  That approach can lead to an ultimate victory later, with entry into God's eternal kingdom.