Eli's Coming

It's not easy winning a bracelet at the World Series of Poker. But this week, a man won a bracelet for the fourth time.

Courtesy Cardplayer.com

Eli Elezra won a seven-card stud tournament, defeating nearly 300 opponents to claim nearly $94,000. Four bracelets in 13 years could put him in the hall of fame, as fewer than 50 people have won four WSOP bracelets.

Elezra is a native of Israel - and his first name Eli has a history dating back to ancient Israel:

...Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple. - I Samuel 1:9

Eli Elezra no doubt is good at reading his opponents. But Eli the priest made a mis-read, when he saw a young woman appealing to God....

Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." - I Samuel 1:13-14

He wasn't the first male to misunderstand what a woman was doing. Hannah explained, and Eli calmed down to bless her (verses 15-17). But chapter 2 shows Eli was flawed in other ways that were even worse. That led to this statement from God, to one of Hannah's children....

And the Lord said to Samuel.... "For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them." - I Samuel 3:11, 13

You can sit at a final table and look sharp. You can even sit outside the house of God and look sharp. But if you don't keep your family in order, God reserves the right to judge you for it. That's why a famous proverb advises:

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. - Proverbs 22:6

Eli Elezra calls himself on Twitter a "family man" - and his autobiography is called in Hebrew Poker Legend. May you put those titles in the proper order, and not do what made another Eli legendary in a Biblical way.