Out of Bounds

As the weekly championship of National League of Poker unfolded Sunday night, an opening came for an uplifting discussion. From the online chat:

Lollipop: lets get wiskey bent n hell bound
Me: One of those is a country band.
Lollipop: lol
yaketty_yak: woohoo now thats an idea lol
Me: The other.... I'd rather see Jesus someday....
yaketty_yak: good answer flopb
Lollipop: lol
yaketty_yak: i just want a starter lol
Me: Thank you. Hopefully it's everyone's answer. :-)

This may sound strange, but the King James Bible indicates everyone is "hell bound." That "H-word" does not refer to Dante's Inferno, though....

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh shall also rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in hell; neither will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption. -- Psalm 16:9-10

What is King David talking about here? The Hebrew word for "hell" here actually can be translated "the world of the dead" or "grave" (translated that way in Psalm 88:3 and Ecclesiastes 9:10, among other places). So David is expressing hope of a resurrection from the dead. And that's when believers will see Jesus -- one way or another:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. -- John 14:3

Come to think of it, these words of Christ remind us of poker. He'll "see us" when He returns -- and "raise us" from the dead!

In fact, John 5:28-30 indicates everyone will be resurrected -- some to eternal life, and some to a judgment of condemnation. We'd rather see Jesus under happier circumstances. Now that's really a "good answer."

Bent or Bowed?

Our last post mentioned the appearance at an online tournament by a player with the handle "Hellbent." We told that player we'd rather bow toward heaven.

The "H word" (not heaven) doesn't seem to be a shocking expletive today, compared to when we were growing up. We've actually heard a minister or two bring up that player's name during sermons, saying some people are "hell-bent" to do all sorts of bad things.

While that word isn't in the Bible, Hosea 11:7 in the King James Version says this: "My people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him."

"Backsliding" in the NIV is translated, "to turn from me." Turning away from God to your own way of doing things (such as drunken sprees playing poker at bars or casinos) simply asks for trouble -- because Isaiah 55:9 says God's ways are higher than ours.

When the trouble comes (note we didn't say if), it's time to turn back to God -- confessing your sins and mistakes before Him. Isaiah wrote about that, too. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" (Isa. 55:7).

This process is known by the Christian term repentance -- accepting God's rule over your life. Isaiah writes again, in behalf of God: "Before me every knee shall bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength'" (Isa. 45:23-24).

Don't be "hellbent" -- seek Heaven and repent. Such turning to God is time well spent.

Poker Night 167: Show Me the Love

"This is an anniversary for me," we told several people at The Red Barn tonight. "Three years ago tonight, I played my first live poker tournament." On that night in 2007, we were pleased simply to avoid being eliminated first at our table. On this night, there were several reasons to smile -- beginning right off the bat:

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: A-4 of hearts

It's the first hand of the night. Why not? We get in. Lots of players do. No raising happens.

ON THE FLOP: 3h-6h-9h

It's tempting to raise now, though -- as a "nut flush" falls right in front of us! The play checks to us. And hoping to maximize our profits, we slow-play and bet 100. Two players call.

ON THE TURN: 9d

A pair is on the board, which might open the door for some concern about a full house. But we bet before, and we raise the stakes now to 400. One player folds; the other calls.

ON THE RIVER: 2c

To be honest, a possible full house isn't even on our minds now. We bet 2,000.

"I'm down," our remaining opponent says -- and we take the early lead.

Several hands later, we made a second flush with hearts. Then at a key moment with about ten players left, our A-Q of diamonds turned into a third flush -- which admittedly annoyed a couple of opponents!

It all helped us reach the final table. But then we tried a couple of risky chases which didn't work, and we wound up fittingly being eliminated by another player with a flush. We finished eighth -- much better than three years ago, but still a bit disappointing in our new drive for top-five scores. (We actually dropped one spot from last Monday night.)

MINISTRY MOMENT: We cracked the top five earlier in the day, at an online tournament -- #5 out of 160 players. One of our opponents had a most unusual name, as this chat sample from the final tables will show:

Dealer: Hell-Bent wins Main Pot ($2090) with Two pair, queens and tens
Me: Tulsa topped by, uh, that other place
Me: (personally, I'd rather bend my ear toward heaven)...

Dealer: Hell-Bent wins Main Pot ($13302) with Three of a kind, sixes
Me: 666 for Hell - figures
Dealer: Djole25 wins Main Pot ($11740)
JAKNIFE92: clever
Dealer: Hell-Bent wins Main Pot ($42304) with One pair, kings
Me: Kinda Biblical

The player with the "H word" in his name never commented on what we wrote -- but you can. What do you say about our chat comments? Our explanation of them will come in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 68 final tables in 167 nights (40.7%) - 11 cashes.