To read this sermon from a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor in southern California, we're in the wrong business. He's against Christians playing poker at all -- which means he'd probably be against a poker ministry as well.
We plan to use this message for Bible study in the coming days, and prepare a response to it. In the meantime, what do you think of it?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Poker Night 135: Room at the Top
Sometimes the biggest isn't always the best -- whether you're at the used car lot or the poker table. So when a moderately big hand comes our way, we tend to be skeptical. Take this one, from tonight's game at Club Eighty-Five....
BLINDS: 100/200
IN THE POCKET: A-Q offsuit
We've just sat down at a table where several players are betting big, and talking about as large. Sitting in the middle of the order, we decide to limp and simply call. Several others join in.
ON THE FLOP: Q-J-8
A woman across from us bets 200. With top pair and top kicker, we raise to 400. She calls, and two other players remain with us.
ON THE TURN: 10
Oops -- now the door is wide-open for a straight. Everyone checks, including us. But is someone hiding a 9?
ON THE RIVER: K
If that 9 was hiding, it doesn't matter now. The play checks to us again -- and holding the "Broadway" straight, we bet 1,200 in the hope that will tempt some people with lesser hands to call. Two people do, and they're left disappointed.
We only gained one or two small pots after that -- yet we hung on to make the final table for the fifth Monday night in a row! But we arrived there with a short stack, and our last-gasp all-in try with 8-8 was topped by a man making Q's and 4's. We finished eighth, but continued quite a Monday run.
MINISTRY MOMENT: "The poker gods are not with me," a young woman to our left complained as she folded a hand. She seemed to be a newcomer to poker, yet she lasted until the semifinal tables.
"I believe there's one God," we told her. The young woman looked over our "Jesus as your Savior" coin which we use for a card protector.
"Do you agree with that message?" we asked after she gave it back.
"Yes," she answered -- then made perhaps the most literate comment we've ever heard at a poker table. "My god is Dionysius."
The woman pointed to her mixed drink -- and indeed, she knew what she was talking about. That name is a form of Dionysus, the god of wine in ancient Greece. She was joking, of course. But the reference was absolutely unexpected. (Yes, we had to double-check it in a dictionary.)
But here's a Bible verse to think about, as you consider what this woman said. Exodus 23:13 says, "Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips." So did this woman sin by bringing up Dionysius? We'll address that in an upcoming post -- and be warned, it'll be both deep and thought-provoking.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 55 final tables in 135 nights (40.7%) - 10 cashes.
BLINDS: 100/200
IN THE POCKET: A-Q offsuit
We've just sat down at a table where several players are betting big, and talking about as large. Sitting in the middle of the order, we decide to limp and simply call. Several others join in.
ON THE FLOP: Q-J-8
A woman across from us bets 200. With top pair and top kicker, we raise to 400. She calls, and two other players remain with us.
ON THE TURN: 10
Oops -- now the door is wide-open for a straight. Everyone checks, including us. But is someone hiding a 9?
ON THE RIVER: K
If that 9 was hiding, it doesn't matter now. The play checks to us again -- and holding the "Broadway" straight, we bet 1,200 in the hope that will tempt some people with lesser hands to call. Two people do, and they're left disappointed.
We only gained one or two small pots after that -- yet we hung on to make the final table for the fifth Monday night in a row! But we arrived there with a short stack, and our last-gasp all-in try with 8-8 was topped by a man making Q's and 4's. We finished eighth, but continued quite a Monday run.
MINISTRY MOMENT: "The poker gods are not with me," a young woman to our left complained as she folded a hand. She seemed to be a newcomer to poker, yet she lasted until the semifinal tables.
"I believe there's one God," we told her. The young woman looked over our "Jesus as your Savior" coin which we use for a card protector.
"Do you agree with that message?" we asked after she gave it back.
"Yes," she answered -- then made perhaps the most literate comment we've ever heard at a poker table. "My god is Dionysius."
The woman pointed to her mixed drink -- and indeed, she knew what she was talking about. That name is a form of Dionysus, the god of wine in ancient Greece. She was joking, of course. But the reference was absolutely unexpected. (Yes, we had to double-check it in a dictionary.)
But here's a Bible verse to think about, as you consider what this woman said. Exodus 23:13 says, "Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips." So did this woman sin by bringing up Dionysius? We'll address that in an upcoming post -- and be warned, it'll be both deep and thought-provoking.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 55 final tables in 135 nights (40.7%) - 10 cashes.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
All-In with Sin
We admittedly miss the NBC poker challenge, which used to appear on the Sunday of the Super Bowl. Sometimes that was more interesting for us than the football game.
If you miss it as well, maybe this can make it up for you a little. Recently we played online against a man with the name "floodofsins." This obviously inspired us to start a conversation, after he won a nice pot:
beaker0021: your sins are paying off
Me: I try to keep clean of sins....
floodofsins: more sins the better
beaker0021: sorryhad nothing
Me: At the end of it all, I want none.
Me: Thankfully I have help with that.
We don't know if this player was joking about wanting "more sins." But in the long run, people who keep their sin record clean are going to be better off.
"The wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23 warns. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23 adds. So the Bible says we're doomed to die. But the good news is that all hope is not lost.
"While we were still sinners," Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Why would the Son of God do this? Galatians 1:4 answers, "....to rescue us from the present evil age...."
Where will believers land when the final rescue comes? Read the rest of Romans 6:23: "....the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." A resurrection is promised for believers, so they "will be with the Lord forever." (I Thes. 4:17)
Would you like to be rescued from a "flood of sins," to be with a loving God for all eternity? That's admittedly a huge promise to grasp at first reading. If you'd like help in understanding the finer points of it, leave a comment -- we'll be glad to help you.
If you miss it as well, maybe this can make it up for you a little. Recently we played online against a man with the name "floodofsins." This obviously inspired us to start a conversation, after he won a nice pot:
beaker0021: your sins are paying off
Me: I try to keep clean of sins....
floodofsins: more sins the better
beaker0021: sorryhad nothing
Me: At the end of it all, I want none.
Me: Thankfully I have help with that.
We don't know if this player was joking about wanting "more sins." But in the long run, people who keep their sin record clean are going to be better off.
"The wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23 warns. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23 adds. So the Bible says we're doomed to die. But the good news is that all hope is not lost.
"While we were still sinners," Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Why would the Son of God do this? Galatians 1:4 answers, "....to rescue us from the present evil age...."
Where will believers land when the final rescue comes? Read the rest of Romans 6:23: "....the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." A resurrection is promised for believers, so they "will be with the Lord forever." (I Thes. 4:17)
Would you like to be rescued from a "flood of sins," to be with a loving God for all eternity? That's admittedly a huge promise to grasp at first reading. If you'd like help in understanding the finer points of it, leave a comment -- we'll be glad to help you.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thanks for linking
For the first time, we've found a blog linking to this one! Thank you (we think) to the blog titled "Nothing to See Here!"
If you've found us through a link somewhere else in cyberspace, please let us know where that link is. We'd consider it a compliment.
If you've found us through a link somewhere else in cyberspace, please let us know where that link is. We'd consider it a compliment.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Poker night 134: Moments of Truth
We don't watch Poker After Dark very often these days, but the opening used to have these words of wisdom from Doyle Brunson: "When luck shuts the door, you've got to come in through the window." Examples of this came our way on back-to-back hands tonight at Lil Kim's Cove.
Early losses and bad cards had us playing tight, so with about 4,400 chips we took a chance on Q-8 of diamonds. A Queen on the flop allowed to bet, and chase all but one other player away. An Ace on the turn led us to check, and our opponent did as well. A third Queen hit the river, and our opponent cursed loudly when we went all in.
"I knew I should have gone all in on that Ace!" he said showing a second Ace. Would we have folded? Hmmmm -- hard to say. But he folded to our big bet, to help us recover about 2,000 chips. Then came the next challenge:
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: King of spades - 9 of hearts
We're in the small blind, and no one raises around us. We call to give it a try.
ON THE FLOP: Kh-8c-2c
Top pair looks good, so we lead off with a bet of 600. About three other players call.
ON THE TURN: 9c
Now we have two pair, so turn up the heat and bet 1,200. A man across from us calls.
"I'm all-in," another player across from us then announces. Uh-oh. Only at that moment do we realize three clubs are showing. This man has a huge stack of chips, so he could take us out. We stop and ponder this for a moment.
"I can't go there," we say -- folding in fear of a flush. The man who called our earlier bet calls again.
"Good call," the big pusher says. Oh no -- have we been duped?
ON THE RIVER: Qh.
"I have two pair," the pusher announces. He has 9-8 -- but no clubs.
"Owwwww!" we say out loud. No one had a club flush. The all-in bet merely represented a flush. We folded a higher two-pair.
Yet that big bettor wound up pushing one time too many, and left the tournament well before we did. Waiting for timely hands paid off for us again, as we reached the final table and finished fourth! We walked home disappointed with how our night ended: a 4-9 in the big blind, then an all-in push with a 10-9-6 flop. A woman simply holding a 10 had us topped -- and we felt like we gave up too soon.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Early in the evening, a woman holding a 6 took a pot with three of a kind. You know: 6-6-6.
"You had a beast," we said jokingly to the woman -- borrowing a line our regular tournament director likes to use.
The woman's husband next to her responded: "Those are just numbers. They don't mean anything." He explained some people consider them superstitious -- for instance, refusing to accept $6.66 in change.
"Someday they're going to mean something," we said. Why did we say that? Because the numbers come right out of the Bible.
"Here is wisdom," Revelation 13:18 says in the New American Standard Bible. "Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six."
A lot of people claim they have the wisdom to explain what that number means. A simple web search for 666 will prove that. If you'd like to offer your theory about it, leave a comment and we'll consider it.
But we agree with the man in a way -- that some people are superstitious about the number 666. We contend that number by itself can't hurt you. And that's not what you should ultimately fear.
"Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." Jesus issued that warning in Luke 12:5 (NIV) -- and John 5:22 shows God the Father has given the power of "all judgment" to Jesus the Son. So what do you fear most? A flush on the turn? A set of numbers? Or the coming King of Kings?
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 54 final tables in 134 nights (40.3%) - 10 cashes. It's nice to climb back above the 40-percent mark again! Five top-ten finishes in the last six nights have done it.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 9 final tables in 139 games (6.5%), no cashes. We came close earlier in the day, coming in 12th out 239 players.
POKERSTARS.NET TOTAL: One-table sit-n-goes: 1-1-0-1-1-4-0-0-1. (We finally won one Sunday!) Cash games: $10,362, down $330. (The sit-n-go win is included in the total, the loss was actually in cash games.)
Early losses and bad cards had us playing tight, so with about 4,400 chips we took a chance on Q-8 of diamonds. A Queen on the flop allowed to bet, and chase all but one other player away. An Ace on the turn led us to check, and our opponent did as well. A third Queen hit the river, and our opponent cursed loudly when we went all in.
"I knew I should have gone all in on that Ace!" he said showing a second Ace. Would we have folded? Hmmmm -- hard to say. But he folded to our big bet, to help us recover about 2,000 chips. Then came the next challenge:
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: King of spades - 9 of hearts
We're in the small blind, and no one raises around us. We call to give it a try.
ON THE FLOP: Kh-8c-2c
Top pair looks good, so we lead off with a bet of 600. About three other players call.
ON THE TURN: 9c
Now we have two pair, so turn up the heat and bet 1,200. A man across from us calls.
"I'm all-in," another player across from us then announces. Uh-oh. Only at that moment do we realize three clubs are showing. This man has a huge stack of chips, so he could take us out. We stop and ponder this for a moment.
"I can't go there," we say -- folding in fear of a flush. The man who called our earlier bet calls again.
"Good call," the big pusher says. Oh no -- have we been duped?
ON THE RIVER: Qh.
"I have two pair," the pusher announces. He has 9-8 -- but no clubs.
"Owwwww!" we say out loud. No one had a club flush. The all-in bet merely represented a flush. We folded a higher two-pair.
Yet that big bettor wound up pushing one time too many, and left the tournament well before we did. Waiting for timely hands paid off for us again, as we reached the final table and finished fourth! We walked home disappointed with how our night ended: a 4-9 in the big blind, then an all-in push with a 10-9-6 flop. A woman simply holding a 10 had us topped -- and we felt like we gave up too soon.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Early in the evening, a woman holding a 6 took a pot with three of a kind. You know: 6-6-6.
"You had a beast," we said jokingly to the woman -- borrowing a line our regular tournament director likes to use.
The woman's husband next to her responded: "Those are just numbers. They don't mean anything." He explained some people consider them superstitious -- for instance, refusing to accept $6.66 in change.
"Someday they're going to mean something," we said. Why did we say that? Because the numbers come right out of the Bible.
"Here is wisdom," Revelation 13:18 says in the New American Standard Bible. "Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six."
A lot of people claim they have the wisdom to explain what that number means. A simple web search for 666 will prove that. If you'd like to offer your theory about it, leave a comment and we'll consider it.
But we agree with the man in a way -- that some people are superstitious about the number 666. We contend that number by itself can't hurt you. And that's not what you should ultimately fear.
"Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." Jesus issued that warning in Luke 12:5 (NIV) -- and John 5:22 shows God the Father has given the power of "all judgment" to Jesus the Son. So what do you fear most? A flush on the turn? A set of numbers? Or the coming King of Kings?
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 54 final tables in 134 nights (40.3%) - 10 cashes. It's nice to climb back above the 40-percent mark again! Five top-ten finishes in the last six nights have done it.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 9 final tables in 139 games (6.5%), no cashes. We came close earlier in the day, coming in 12th out 239 players.
POKERSTARS.NET TOTAL: One-table sit-n-goes: 1-1-0-1-1-4-0-0-1. (We finally won one Sunday!) Cash games: $10,362, down $330. (The sit-n-go win is included in the total, the loss was actually in cash games.)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What Do You Have to Do?
Have you ever asked that question when you're dealt hand after hand of unplayable cards? Or maybe after you go all-in with a flush, only to find another player "has the nuts?"
We're actually asking this question in the context of our last post -- the man who had to do certain things to be allowed back in a Catholic church. We don't know what those things were, but he hadn't done them yet.
Some religious groups make up all sorts of rules -- whether to be baptized, confirmed, ordained or simply get inside the door. But the Bible shows to be part of God's family, it's really not that complicated.
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," Paul writes in Galatians 3:26. But the next verse there's more to it than simply saying that in a sentence, while your head is bowed: "....for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
So baptism matters -- and so does something else. "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
Repentance means more than confessing sin and wrong. Consider the words of Paul again: "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." (Acts 26:20)
Galatians 5:22-23 will give you a good start toward understanding what sort of mind and heart those deeds involve. Look them over, examine yourself -- and ask that question at the top of this post. Maybe you need to do something. If not to be part of a congregation, then to be a child of God.
We're actually asking this question in the context of our last post -- the man who had to do certain things to be allowed back in a Catholic church. We don't know what those things were, but he hadn't done them yet.
Some religious groups make up all sorts of rules -- whether to be baptized, confirmed, ordained or simply get inside the door. But the Bible shows to be part of God's family, it's really not that complicated.
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," Paul writes in Galatians 3:26. But the next verse there's more to it than simply saying that in a sentence, while your head is bowed: "....for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
So baptism matters -- and so does something else. "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
Repentance means more than confessing sin and wrong. Consider the words of Paul again: "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." (Acts 26:20)
Galatians 5:22-23 will give you a good start toward understanding what sort of mind and heart those deeds involve. Look them over, examine yourself -- and ask that question at the top of this post. Maybe you need to do something. If not to be part of a congregation, then to be a child of God.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Poker Night 133: Mr. Big Threat
"I consider you a threat," said the man sitting to our left tonight at Club Eighty-Five. He meant that as a compliment. The man has determined we play "ultra-conservative" poker, being careful with our cards while others show up simply to bet at anything. Was he right, and would it work?
BLINDS: 50/100
IN THE POCKET: A-Q
We're in the small blind, looking at a big hand. Other players call to us, and we raise 200. But then Mr. Big Blind (the man who called us a threat) raises 500 more. We call, as do a couple of others.
ON THE FLOP: K-J-J
All around our cards, but not quite there. "Check to the raiser," we say going first. The raiser surprises us a bit by checking. Everyone else checks as well.
ON THE TURN: Q
There's the connection! We bet 700, and the raiser expresses frustration -- in part because the dealer is a bit sloppy with the deck in his hands.
"I saw the bottom card," he says, "and lost one of my outs." We hadn't seen it, but the raiser admits it was a 9. Then he shows us 9-9 and folds. Others fold as well, giving us the pot.
Were we conservative there? Well, we made a measured bet on purpose. Our opponent might have been hiding a Jack or a King. Thankfully, he wasn't.
Several nice pots came our way after that -- and we made it to the final table for the fourth Monday night in a row! Entering with 23,500 chips, we went all-in with 20,000 remaining on A-Q. But a man who had been hitting several big hands turned over A-K, and wound up eliminating us. We finished tied for fifth, with another all-in player.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We changed card protectors tonight to a small bottle of Liquid Paper. A man to our right asked about it right away.
"That's to remind me," we answered, "that Jesus can wash me whiter than snow." (Isaiah 1:18-20)
"Good." The man didn't want to discuss it further -- except to explain why. "I'm a Catholic. I believe in God. But I keep it to myself."
We asked which church the man attended, and unwittingly went deeper into a spiritual sore. This man may have been told to leave the congregation (we didn't quite hear him clearly), but he had to do certain things to be invited back -- things he hadn't done yet. We're not sure if that included the cigarettes he was smoking and the beer he drank (a rarity for him, he said).
What do you think of this man's situation? We'll offer our thoughts in an upcoming post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 53 final tables in 133 nights (39.8%) - 10 cashes.
BLINDS: 50/100
IN THE POCKET: A-Q
We're in the small blind, looking at a big hand. Other players call to us, and we raise 200. But then Mr. Big Blind (the man who called us a threat) raises 500 more. We call, as do a couple of others.
ON THE FLOP: K-J-J
All around our cards, but not quite there. "Check to the raiser," we say going first. The raiser surprises us a bit by checking. Everyone else checks as well.
ON THE TURN: Q
There's the connection! We bet 700, and the raiser expresses frustration -- in part because the dealer is a bit sloppy with the deck in his hands.
"I saw the bottom card," he says, "and lost one of my outs." We hadn't seen it, but the raiser admits it was a 9. Then he shows us 9-9 and folds. Others fold as well, giving us the pot.
Were we conservative there? Well, we made a measured bet on purpose. Our opponent might have been hiding a Jack or a King. Thankfully, he wasn't.
Several nice pots came our way after that -- and we made it to the final table for the fourth Monday night in a row! Entering with 23,500 chips, we went all-in with 20,000 remaining on A-Q. But a man who had been hitting several big hands turned over A-K, and wound up eliminating us. We finished tied for fifth, with another all-in player.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We changed card protectors tonight to a small bottle of Liquid Paper. A man to our right asked about it right away.
"That's to remind me," we answered, "that Jesus can wash me whiter than snow." (Isaiah 1:18-20)
"Good." The man didn't want to discuss it further -- except to explain why. "I'm a Catholic. I believe in God. But I keep it to myself."
We asked which church the man attended, and unwittingly went deeper into a spiritual sore. This man may have been told to leave the congregation (we didn't quite hear him clearly), but he had to do certain things to be invited back -- things he hadn't done yet. We're not sure if that included the cigarettes he was smoking and the beer he drank (a rarity for him, he said).
What do you think of this man's situation? We'll offer our thoughts in an upcoming post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 53 final tables in 133 nights (39.8%) - 10 cashes.
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