One Down

The big poker crackdown in our city may be over. But there's still an aftershock, as one of the more familiar poker rooms in town indicated this past week it's closing for good.

"As i lock the door , all i can think is how the city of wichita has failed me and my family," reads the latest Facebook post from Nikki's Poker Room (copied as written). "We gave you 13 years of are life and you couldn't give us a fair shake ?" 

The question of fairness surrounds the owner's decision. A Facebook post one day earlier added: "We gave it our best , but feel was set up for failure by the law not being enforced all at once on every place at the same time by the city."

This seems to be aimed at Nilla's Poker Room - which seems to be conducting business as usual, and is even adding midday games. How can they do it, while others receive tough scrutiny?

We haven't been to either Nikki's or Nilla's in several weeks, so we're left to guess what the reason might be. But we know what the city and local prosecutors should do - and that's be fair to all:

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." - Acts 10:34-35

You might pay tithes and offerings to God. But if you don't live in a righteous way, that will not "buy Him off" when it comes to judging you.

Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!... Your heart is not right before God." - Acts 8:20-21

Some may have wondered over the last several weeks if the operators of local poker rooms had their hearts right. But the going-away complaint from Nikki's leaves us asking: Do local law officers and prosecutors have their hearts right? Are they enforcing the rules in an evenhanded way?  Especially considering some of the things we've posted here about the crackdown?

The Advantage Law

The other night we noticed something about the poker player sitting to our immediate left.  So between hands, we whispered an advisory to that woman.

"I can see what you have, when you lift your cards."  In other words, we could tell what kind of hand the woman had.

We don't recall her saying anything in response -- but her facial reaction was one of surprise.  Perhaps it was because another player actually told her he could take advantage of her actions.

"What are you doing?" may be your first response to this.  "Don't you want to win the tournament, and get the money??"  Yes -- but the Christian in us puts fairness and ethics ahead of winning money:

It is God's will that you should be sanctified.... no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.  The Lord will punish men for all such sins.... - I Thessalonians 4:3, 6

The context of this passage refers to sexual sins, but we think the standard should apply in all walks of life.  In fact, Paul does that elsewhere in his writings.

Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.  Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? - I Corinthians 6:7-9

We live in a world where professional athletes, and even corporate executives, look for every edge they can to gain an advantage over their competition.  If it's done legally and within the rules, that's one thing.  But if someone cheats to get ahead, that's another.  Instead, our motive should be....

The commandments.... "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore  love is the fulfillment of the law. - Romans 13:9-10

Huh?!  We're supposed to practice love -- at a poker tournament??  Yes.  In fact, we should practice it everywhere.  That's what the God who is defined as love does (I John 4:8).

Dear children, let us not love with words of tongue but with actions and in truth. - I John 3:18

A word of quiet advice can be an act of love, of course.  What sort of loving example do you set - in the poker room, and outside it?

Nothing Up Your Sleeve?

When we're in the dealer position at a live poker table, we like to think we're in control of the action.  But the other night, we missed something other players did not.

 

With a 2-3-4 showing on the board, one player turned over two pair at showdown.  As we recall, another man still in the hand declared he'd won the pot.  Then as the next dealer started collecting the cards, that other man turned over A-5 of hearts.

 

"That's a straight," someone else pointed out.  We frankly didn't notice it -- but it suddenly occurred to player #2 that yes, he hit a winning straight.

 

"It's too late.  He started shuffling the cards," a player to our left said.

 

But maybe not; the player with two pair counted out 6,000 chips, and tossed them to the straight-holder.

 

What's this?  A display of good sportsmanship in a poker room?!?!  Yes - and it happens more often than you might think.  In a free tournament like the ones we usually play, the prizes aren't that pricey.  So fair play and a good time tend to prevail.  In fact, it should be that way all the time....

It is God's will that you should be sanctified.... and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.  The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. - I Thessalonians 4:3-7

The context here involves sexual conduct, but shouldn't it apply in everything else we do?

Do not steal.  Do not lie.  Do not deceive one another. - Leviticus 19:11

These concepts come straight out of God's Ten Commandments.  And if they've been "done away," as some believers claim, why are there laws against such actions in most countries on Earth today?

We should note the player who had the straight seemed prepared to accept his loss.  That might be an even harder thing to do at a poker table, especially when big money is involved -- but it's the godly approach as well.

Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. - I Corinthians 6:7-8

There's an element of "getting even" built into all sorts of human activities -- from poker to competitive sports.  But we need to be willing to accept losses, even if they hurt.  After all, everyone "loses" in the game of human life -- because we're all eventually doomed to die.  May our focus be toward God, because....

The sting of death is sin.... But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - I Corinthians 15:56-57

Poker Night 204: Minor 49'er

Our poker day began with a very nice result -- eighth place out of 604 players in an online tournament. (If only the payouts hadn't stopped at fifth!) And tonight began well at Lil Kim's Cove, as we dealt ourselves A-A to start the tournament and won two early pots. Then this test came....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: 4-9 of diamonds

The early gains have us overflowing with more than 13,000 chips. So for a measly 50, suited cards are worth a whirl. We join several players in the hand.

ON THE FLOP: 8d-3d-9c

There's plenty of promise here -- top pair, plus a flush draw. So sitting in early position, we bet 350. But a man to our left doubles the bet to 700. We're not sure what he has, but we call.

ON THE TURN: 2s (unsure about suit, but not a diamond)

This doesn't change a thing for us, but now we "check to the raiser." He bets 700 again. But we have a big stack, and decide it's time to use it for a little serious warfare.

"Raise -- 2,000." The scare tactic doesn't work; he calls.

ON THE RIVER: 9h

Now we have three of a kind -- and if our opponent was betting big with the same flush draw we had, he missed. That's what we think happened, so we check in the hope of inducing a bluff we can call.

"Two-thousand again," he says. We feel confident and quickly make the call. "Three nines."

"I've got a boat," our opponent says. Huh?!?! Yes, he does -- showing 3-3. He led us in the hand from start to finish, and took us for close to 5,000 chips. (Not to mention a lot of our confidence.)

That loss cost us a lot of momentum, and only a split pot followed for us after that. We lasted into the second hour, then went for it all holding A-8 when an Ace came on the flop. But a man across from us made a full house on the river, and what started well ended meagerly in 18th place. We've now missed the final table at nine live tournaments in a row.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We defer tonight to a woman sitting at our right, who described how she finished first and won $50 at a tournament earlier in the week. She says she offered to "chop the pot" with her final opponent, but he declined.

"Then three hands in a row, I got Ace-Queen," she said. She went all-in three times -- finally persuading her opponent to call and lose. She hopes he learned a lesson about not being greedy. "If you make it that far at the final table, it's only right to chop it."

Then the champion thought of a Bible verse. "The Bible says it's harder for a rich man to...." She couldn't remember the rest, so we helped her finish the thought -- which comes from Jesus:

"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." -- Matthew 19:23-24

But then the woman said something which topped it all. "I didn't even break even on the night, because I'd spent more than 50 dollars on alcohol...." It was the principle of fair play she had in mind.

What are your thoughts about this story? We'll share ours in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 83 final tables in 204 nights (40.7%) - 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments -- 85 point wins in 470 games (18.1%), 36 final tables, two cashes.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $22,424, up $10. The next "Million-Dollar Challenge" freeroll tournament is this coming Sunday.

Less than or equal to?

At a live tournament last week, we mentioned a player's comment about Philippians 2:3. He said he doesn't like to consider someone "better than yourself" because we're all equal.

In a perfect world, we'd all be equal. But this world isn't perfect -- so while it's nice and noble to consider the people around you as equals, we're really not. Some have more money than others. Some have health problems, while others don't. You can cite your own examples from there.

In most poker tournaments, the players all sit down as equals. There's no handicapping, as in golf. As an online poker TV ad says, we all start with the same number of chips (unless you play where we play, and buying drinks can gain you 1,000 bonus chips at a time.)-- but the difference lies in what you do with them.

All that being said, what's wrong with "esteeming others better than yourself?" It comes from a part of Philippians 2:3 we admittedly didn't quote at the table. The King James Version puts it this way: "in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

The NIV Study Bible notes about this verse: "This is the mind-set of the person who is not conceited but who has a right attitude about himself."

To say I'm equal with you is an even-handed approach -- and it's something the Bible confirms. We've all sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). To treat you better than me takes a change of mind and spirit -- especially at a poker table, where some people can play "psych-out" mind games to gain an edge.

Jesus didn't play such games when the critical moment came. "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter," Isaiah 53:7 says. Verse 13 goes on to note, "He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

While Jesus had equality with God the Father (Phil. 2:6), He gave that up to bear our sins at Calvary -- so that we might have salvation. We don't deserve it. Jesus opened the door for it. His crucifixion put us before Him. That's what Philippians 2:3 is all about -- and it's available equally to all who accept it. Will you?

Be Fair, But Firm

So what would you have done with David Williams's flopped full house?

We think he smooth-played it too much. Instead of checking, we would have put out at least a small bet right away. That would have allowed him to feel out the opponent's hand a bit -- and maybe scared him away. A bigger "I'm serious" bet would have come on the turn, after a little 3 showed up. (But we admittedly doubt that would have chased Sammy Farha off the pot.)

Ecclesiastes 3:8 declares there's "a time for war and a time for peace." With a big hand, it's time to go to battle -- but carefully, lest everyone else declare a time of peace and run their chips into hiding.

NBC's Ali Nejad is right when he talks about poker sometimes being unfair. Life is the same way, as President Jimmy Carter once said to a reporter. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't care about fairness.

Solomon wrote most of Proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes. It was written in part "for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair." (Prv. 1:3)

Be fair to others, and they might actually be fair in response to you. It's an offshoot of that famous "golden rule."