A Little or a Lot

One of our posts this week examined the success rate of online gamblers.  We found it interesting that the people who wager the least wind up winning most often, in terms of percentage.

If you think about it, that concept is true with many things in life.  Working during the week is a good, profitable thing -- but working non-stop in extra-long shifts can lead to burnout, disconnected family relations and other problems.  Here's another example, which comes from a surprising source....

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. - I Timothy 5:23

Yes, you read that correctly - a Bible verse actually recommends drinking wine.  And this was recommended to an evangelist (II Timothy 4:5)!  But note the wording: "a little wine."  Not a lot.  The Bible indeed warns against that:

Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. - Proverbs 23:20-21

Go too far with alcohol, and you risk big trouble.  Have a little, and there can be benefits -- something in fact medical research has shown with wine on a "Mediterranean diet."  The research with online gamblers indicates the same kind of thinking applies there as well.

There's a church-sounding word for all this....

Let your moderation be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand. - Philippians 4:5 (KJV)

Other Bible translations use "gentle" instead of "moderation."  Yet it's along the lines of the same principle - not going to extremes in the things we do or say.

We know from personal experience that if you sit too long at a cash game poker table, you're asking for trouble.  The odds can turn against you, and big losses can come -- or you can become so tired that you make bad decisions.  So moderation matters in poker as well.  As a beer company put it well years ago: know when to say when.