Slot, Pop and Play

Casinos are filled with them. We tend to walk right by them. But this evening, we were challenged to be successful at them - for two minutes.

Jack Casino invited us to its August "Birthday Bash". (Now you know our birthday month.) The main event was a free-entry slot tournament, with $2,500 in free play at stake. All we had to do was post one of the five highest scores in a two-hour span.

Our game time was 6:20 p.m. We stood behind the early leader, who racked up more than 100,000 points at 6:05. Doris's strategy was simple: pound the "play" button on the slot machine as quickly as you could, and watch the screen to touch balloons that occasionally appeared for thousands of bonus points.

"May the best button-pusher win," we said to a man next to us when our turn came.

Our tongue was only partly in-cheek. This tournament reminded us of why we avoid slots and prefer playing poker. Slot machines tend to be mindless, with no real skill involved. If you think religion is that way as well.... well, it really shouldn't be. Consider what Jesus told one man:

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'....." "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." - Luke 10:27-28

Jesus was talking about how to obtain eternal life (verse 25). It's an "all-in" process - and that includes loving God with "all your mind." Does that mean turning your brain off at the church door? We believe it's exactly the opposite....

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

For instance, it means thinking over whether poker players are telling "true stories" in the way they play their hands. It also means thinking carefully about what God really expects of your life....

...But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. - I Thessalonians 5:21 (NLT)

Sometimes the "gospel truth" well-intentioned people bring you is really "fake news." You can prove fact from fiction by comparing those comments with the Bible. If you're not a Bible reader, we recommend doing it daily to understand God properly.

But we digress....

The countdown went to zero, and our "two-minute drill" was on! We pressed the slot machine's "play" button with our right hand about six times a second, while saving our left hand for balloons to pop. We saw "second place" on our screen at one point early, and noticed we were above 60,000 points at the one-minute mark (everyone starts with 10,000).

"We want balloons!" we said to the machine several times, changing hands for the "play" button to avoid slowing down. To our knowledge, we didn't miss any balloons. But were we strong enough to win?

"You beat me!" we said to the man on our right after the clock reached zero. Our final score: 82,035 points. He was above 88,000. Based on the early results, 100,000 or more probably would be required to "make the money" - and we were only sixth in our group.

With our daily exercise (as we called it) completed, we walked over to the birthday party area. Jack's email promised cupcakes, but Jack topped that (for a change) with a full two-flavor cake, cookies and punch.

"If I had eaten the cake before the game, I might have done better," we joked to people around us. Perhaps a "sugar rush" would have made us press buttons faster. Instead, we settled for a consolation prize of a small win at a blackjack table.

In contrast to this, Hollywood Casino Indiana awarded us $15 in "birthday comps" on our card - good for a couple of free meals at one of the restaurants. Which deal do you think was better? Use your mind to comment - and even to worship the God who makes these moments possible.