An Apology from "Jesus"

The online poker crackdown happened seven years ago. An explanation about it from a poker legend took less than 45 seconds - and may raise more questions than it answers.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson posted a very short video this week about the "Black Friday" federal intervention. Ferguson reportedly was Chairman of the Board of Full Tilt Poker when it happened. He may have paid millions to the government to settle a civil case while repaying people with frozen bankrolls.

The transcript of Ferguson's video, posted by CardPlayer.com, includes this:

I deeply regret not being able to prevent Black Friday from happening. After Black Friday, I worked relentlessly to ensure that all players got paid back. And, I sincerely apologize that it took as long as it did.

That's not enough for some poker players, including Daniel Negreanu who mockingly called it "so heartfelt." Others are left wondering why Ferguson brought out the apology now - whether it has anything to do with the renewed hopes for state-run poker websites.

We're not going to judge Ferguson's motives. Instead, we're thinking about the real Jesus - the One who was sinless, and never had to apologize to anyone for anything....

So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. - Luke 17:3

There are three parts to Jesus's instruction in this verse. We need to watch ourselves and our conduct, especially as events move toward Jesus's return:

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. - Luke 21:36

Second: rebuke a "brother" who sins. We were challenged by a preacher last weekend to dare to say the word "sin" again, as many think it's improper now. But we should start with close friends (in church or outside) who may be wandering from a godly way:

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. - Galatians 6:1

Third: forgive the brother who repents - even if you have to do it over and over:

If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, "I repent," forgive him. - Luke 17:4

We'd note Ferguson did not use the word "repent" - a word that implies admitting doing something wrong, and turning in the opposite direction from it. Time will tell if he actually does that; he'd probably have to return to poker site management to have that opportunity.

Follow the poker "Jesus," and you may run into some regrets. Follow the Jesus of the Bible, and you never will.

Poker Night 200: Speak of the Devil

To mark our 200th live tournament, we returned tonight to where we began. Lil Kim's Cove is walking distance from home, as opposed to a short drive for Hookahmeup -- and since the prize money now is the same at both places, we prefer to keep the car parked. Now how much gas would you put on this hand?

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: A-5 offsuit

We split a pot early, but feeler bets since then have led to nothing. Holding about 3,700 chips, we give the Ace a try. We wind up heads-up with the big blind, and we're dealing....

ON THE FLOP: 6-6-6

"Devil of a flop," we declare. "Really a mark of the beast flop."

"Lord, have mercy," a woman out of the hand says. "And you dealt that?!" She knows about our Christian faith. Meanwhile, the player to our left checks.

"That Revelation just came to you!" we say with a pun as we review our cards (more for show than anything) and check. The section of the Bible which mentions 666 and the mysterious mark is Revelation 13.

ON THE TURN: 3

Our opponent checks. We're tempted to bet our Ace, but suspect our opponent might be hiding a full house. So we check again.

ON THE RIVER: 7

The big blind checks again. We still play it safe. "I only have Ace high," we admit. But that's good enough; our opponent throws away his cards without showing them and we win a modest pot.

The loser in that hand gained revenge on us after the one-hour break. We went all-in with A-5 when an Ace came on the flop. But a Queen was there as well, and another Queen with an 8 followed. That gave our opponent a full house, and sent us away in about 28th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Take a look at this," a man said during the one-hour break. He'd called up a video on his cell phone -- and without going into detail, it looked possibly pornographic.

"No, thank you," we said turning away.

"It's not what you think," the man kept telling us -- but we still didn't want to look. "It was a man rubbing his eyeball," he finally explained. But the video started with such an extreme close-up, it was designed to be misleading.

"For someone who's a Christian, you have a dirty mind," the man then told us. Do we? Really? We're open to your comments on this; we'll explain our actions and response in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 83 final tables in 200 nights (41.5%) - 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 80 point wins in 446 games (17.9%), 34 final tables, 2 cashes. (Back to two, after our appeal was denied.)

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $20,944, up $650.