Doing Your Time

We mentioned in our last post how we were penalized one "blind turn" in a poker tournament for calling a bet out of turn.  It was about a ten-minute penalty, which left us with mixed emotions.

Yes, we deserved the penalty.  We broke a rule, even though it wasn't completely spelled out before the tournament began.  We were inattentive to the other players, and we paid for that mistake.  In fact, the Bible would call it a mistake:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. - Philippians 2:3-4

Poker normally doesn't have "tag teams."  And even when several pros are under the same sponsor's umbrella, they're on their own at the table.  So it's easy to start thinking about yourself during a hand - what I need to do, how I should respond, and countless other I's.

But to borrow from a song, poker isn't "Population: Me."  Unless you're playing heads-up against a computer, other players are around you.  It's only polite and proper to be courteous toward them.  And had we been paying close attention, our plans might have changed based on how the player before us acted.

There wasn't much to do while we waited for permission to finish the penalty and return to the poker table.  We filled a cup with soda, watched Australian rugby on TV and chatted a little at the poker room desk.  We should have brought something with us -- perhaps something good to read:

So he started out, and on is way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.... The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth." - Acts 8:27, 32

This "eunuch" was heading home from a road trip - worshiping God in Jerusalem (verse 28).  He had a scroll of the Old Testament with him (the quote is from Isaiah 53).  So while riding in a chariot, he was filling his thoughts with the things of God - and as a result, he wound up encountering one of the top ministers in the early church..

There are many ways to do that during "down time" in a poker tournament - or even during the tournament, if the officials allow it.  You could play Christian music, messages or Scripture on an mp3 device or a "smartphone."  We think that's far better than playing other kinds of music - probably much more inspiring and encouraging.

So our first penalty in a big-money poker tournament taught us several lessons.  We'd ask you: have penalties in poker taught you anything of value - and if so, what?