A King on the River

Today is a holiday in the U.S., marking the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Do a search for his name and "poker," and you might find "bonus points" offers at casinos or special holiday tournaments.

If you really want to "honor King" by playing poker, you can order a King Memorial deck of playing cards online. For only ten dollars, he can stare at the other players for you. And if you really wanted to have a holiday theme, we suppose you could have a poker game where Kings are wild.

People old enough to remember Dr. King's causes and campaigns probably would find these things tacky at best, and insulting at worst. But some people invoke Dr. King's name in support of poker cash games and similar gambling. One casino website put it this way several years ago:

The Reverend spoke of equality, and the freedom of every American to have choices. Gambling is a choice that Americans should have the right to decide whether they want to take part or not.

If Dr. King made a direct statement on gambling in a speech or sermon, we could not find it. (If you know of one, please let us know in a comment.) But that website strikes us as turning words out of context. In fact, Dr. King's semi-rival of the time Malcolm X gave up gambling because he thought white people had "forced" it on black people to keep them economic slaves.

Yet the website has a valid point about choices. As a minister by trade, Dr. King might have said God gives humans choices. For instance....

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.... - Deuteronomy 30:19

God does more than offer a choice. He tells humans the right answer. For instance, "choose life" - a phrase we're sure would get the late George Michael in some trouble, if he wore it on a T-shirt in a music video today.  But back to our point....

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable for you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:15

You can serve "the Lord" - the God of the Bible - or some other god that is fake and false. Joshua chose to follow the Lord which led Israel into a land of promise. We face that same choice today. If you make poker your "god", as in the thing you worship and idolize more than anything else, consider this...

Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold.... - Proverbs  8:10

Will you pay attention to what God instructs, or your desire for money and riches? In reality, living God's way could lead you to all these things. We'll develop that concept in an upcoming post.

Thoughts About One King

It's better to have a pair of Kings at the poker table, of course. But the "one King" we're thinking about is Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior -- whose birthday is a U.S. national holiday Monday.

King labored for racial equality. And in the world of poker, that seems to be a reality. Think about the diversity of names and faces in major tournaments -- from Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson to Scotty Nguyen and Humberto Brenes. If you have the buy-in money, you can play. The only "color" that matters is the value of your chips.

Free poker games in our area work the same way. Although we've noted a recent incident where a bystander upset a player with racial slurs, we've never heard any racist language at the tables we play. The people around the table want to play poker, not start barroom brawls. And with no entry fee, anyone can join in.

The Bible indicates Jesus Christ will come back -- and when He does, the color of someone's skin or the place of someone's birth won't matter. Here's what will....

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. -- Galatians 3:26-27

It won't come down to who you are, but Whom you believe. Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and being baptized into His Church (Acts 2:38) makes you one of His sons. And although many churches today may not look this way, you'll be on the way to an equal opportunity destiny:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. -- Galatians 3:28-29

Black and Red, Not Black and White

It's a one-of-a-kind weekend in the U.S. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, then Barack Obama is inaugurated as President on Tuesday.

So what does this have to do with poker? Simply this -- poker is a game of equality. (Or should be.)

Anyone can become a big winner at the table, regardless of their nationality (see Humberto Brenes), gender (see Annie Duke) or skin color (see Phil Ivey). But admittedly, it takes a big bankroll to do the buy-ins necessary to win at top-dollar events in Las Vegas and on the WPT.

At local tournaments which are free to enter, the equality should be on display even more. We sat down last Thursday night at a table which was mostly African-American. We're Euro-American, and everyone got along well. The cards can't tell any difference, you know. Every hand can cause equal opportunity success -- or failure.

"There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female...." -- at the poker table? No, this is somewhere else. "For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28)

Paul indicates the Church and its members should have no racial or gender barriers. Hopefully you don't have any mental blocks in your poker game, either.