Who's Afraid of the Big Banned Bluff?

It's one thing for towns, states or countries to ban poker games. It's another for a specific ad promoting poker to be banned.... and not because it's X-rated.

Courtesy Casino.org

Yet that's happened in Britain to a TV commercial for PokerStars (where we've played for years for free). It shows a man going all-in and winning a pot with 8-3. Britain has a government branch which monitors advertising, and it ruled the ad "could lead to financial harm."

The Advertising Authority explained some viewers (apparently poker newbies) might conclude all you have to do to win in poker is outbluff everybody else. A statement from PokerStars contended bluffing is a regular part of poker, and "not a reckless act in itself."

After thinking it over, we've concluded an absurd example (this ad) is being taken to an absurd extreme (this ban). What should PokerStars show instead? Pocket Aces? They get cracked online on a regular basis. A big winner wheeling around town in a Ferrari? That's equally as unlikely to happen as an 8-3 push.

 Of course, people should use wisdom when they play poker - especially if they dare to risk losing money in it. That's true away from the poker table as well....

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. - Matthew 10:16 (NKJV)

The people at a poker table may seem as friendly as can be. But in a cash game, make no mistake - they're hungry wolves seeking a profit. And in a tournament, it's safe to assume most of them are playing to win. So whether you bet, bluff or fold, careful play matters. And away from the table....

So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. - Ephesians 5:15 (NLT)

That means not taking absurd poker commercials too literally. But it also can mean not being played as a fool by others who might go bluffing all-in themselves, hoping to scare you out of a good hand. Learning the balance takes time and experience - in poker and in life.

Let's open this up for your comments. If this PokerStars ad is out of bounds, have you seen other poker commercials that were even more misleading?

Mediums Well?

Advertising is how many "free poker" sites generate income, to offer prizes to players.  But an ad we saw while playing at National League of Poker last week made us want to laugh out loud:

We couldn't resist commenting on it in the chat box:

Me: 　So NLOP is showing me
Me: 　a banner ad with a medium's
Me: 　predictions for 2012
Me: 　Really
Me: 　LOL
Dealer: 　moron wins Main Pot ($2,450) with Two pair, queens and deuces
JerMan: 　wonder if they predicted their going bankrupt?***...lol
Yes, you read that correctly -- the banner ad is offering free predictions for 2012, during a game in February 2013.  That's absurd, of course.  But then we added this:

Me: 　I don't believe in mediums
Me: 　I'm simply mild :-)
Have you ever been tempted to consult a "medium" -- or perhaps something similar, like a fortune-teller or psychic?  Perhaps you wanted to know in advance if you should enter a poker tournament, or whether you'd wind up wasting your money.

The Bible's answer is that consulting such people is a waste of time and money in itself.  Read what happened to two early apostles:

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.  She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.  The girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." - Acts 16:16-17

Was the girl shouting lies?  To be honest, no -- she was "preaching" the truth about the apostles' message of salvation through Jesus Christ.  But it still displeased the servants of God....

She kept this up for many days.  Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!"  At that moment the spirit left her. - Acts 16:18

That action started a chain of events which led to Paul and Silas being thrown in prison (verse 23) -- and that brought a jailhouse miracle, which resulted in a jailer becoming saved (verses 29-33).

But shouldn't the apostles have shown some tolerance to a girl promoting their evangelistic campaign?  They clearly didn't, and the passage gives a clue why:

When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas.... - Acts 16:19

We're led to conclude the slave girl was talking about more than the apostles.  She was telling fortunes on the side to earn a small fortune for her owners -- and God's apostles wanted nothing to do with that.  It's a "spirit" Scripture warns against:

Let no one be found among you who.... practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. - Deuteronomy 18:10-11

"Divination" is defined by our dictionary as "the act of foretelling future events."  It also defines a "medium" as someone thought to have powers to communicate with dead people.

Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord....You must be blameless before the Lord your God. - Deuteronomy 18:12-13

God is Spirit (John 4:24) -- a Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 3:17-18).  The Bible shows all other spirits are unholy.  We're led to think they're rooted in Satan, the devil.

The Bible is filled with predictions about the future, of course -- and several mentioned by Old Testament prophets already have come true.  Can you name some of them?  Offer a comment with your thoughts, and we'll return to this topic in a future post.

May Studs Championship: Fatal Heart Attack

National League of Poker screens show ads around the table.  That's one way "free poker" sites raise money for championship jackpots.  Yet tonight we saw an ad for "women like you" at the May "Poker Studs Championship" - as in men only.  No, we did not take offense to that.  We simply tried to win....

:00 IN: We open the evening with J-7 of clubs.  The flop is 8-2-9, with the 9 a club.  The table checks.  The turn is Kc, and we call a bet of 30 with a flush draw.  The river is a disappointing 4s, and we fold to a bet of 50.

:10 IN: We have Q-K in the Small Blind.  The flop is 3-J-3.  Everyone checks.  The turn is 6.  Someone bets the minimum 40, and we call with "overcards."  The river is a rewarding Q.  We bet 100, get a caller -- and top his 10-6 to win $480.

:20 IN: We have 10-J of diamonds "under the gun."  The flop is A-9-8 (no diamonds), giving us a two-way straight draw.  But someone bets 715, and we fold.  Too bad for us; the river is 7 and would have won.

:25 IN: We have 6-A of spades with the dealer button.  The flop is 2-A-9, so we bet 200 with top pair.  Someone calls.  The turn is K, and for some reason we fear trouble.  We bet only 100, and get called.  The river is 7.  Everyone checks -- but our opponent only has J-2.  We win $950.

:28 IN: We have 10-10, and call when a player behind us doubles the blind to 200.  The flop is 8-8-7.  We bet 100, and call when that same player doubles.  The turn is 5.  We bet 100, and that man seems to get the message; he simply calls.  The river is K.  We check, as does the table.  But to our right, a third player has been calling all along -- and he has J-J!  Laying low wins him a big pot.

That put us at the half-hour break with $920.  We're tied for 273rd place, with 384 players left.

:38 IN: We have 3-4 of diamonds.  The flop is 10-J-9, with the Jack a diamond.  The table checks.  The turn is 5s.  We're ready to fold, but the table checks.  The river is 3s -- and now that we have a pair, we bet the minimum 150 in hope.  Two players call.  But one of them has 10-K, to beat our pair.

:54 IN: We've dropped to 370 chips after a miss or two, with the blinds at 150/300 -- so seeing K-Q, we go all-in. Two players call.  The flop is a hopeful 2-Q-5 -- except they're all hearts.  So is the turn: 4h.  One player bets enough to chase everyone else away -- and sure enough, he shows Kh for a flush.  The river is 8h, but his King makes a better flush.

Our night ends for the worse, at 208th place out of 1,065 players.  That's actually up about 160 places from our last "Stud of the Month" night in February -- but it's nowhere near the money.

Good Sign? Bad Sign?

As the November Nine drama unfolds, we learned tonight from the World Series of Poker website that DearFoams is the "official footwear provider" of WSOP.

Huh?!?!

Really now - when was the last time you walked into a poker room and noticed people's shoes?  (Unless perhaps someone flings a bet off the table, and chips land on the floor.)  Aren't you far more likely to notice a player's hat?  Or a shirt?

Open question: is this sponsorship a sign of growing popularity for poker?  Or is it a sign of desperation, in terms of looking for endorsement deals?