Correction or Insurrection

Let's return to the "Forgotten Face-Card Foul-Up" from Thursday night's poker tournament.  We overlooked a K-Q on the board, and let another player's A-10 take a pot over our A-9 even though both of us had three Aces.

We didn't spot the mistake until minutes later.  And when we did, we realized it was too late to reset the matter and make things right.  The time to object was at that moment -- before the cards were swept up from the table for the next hand.  There's a lesson here, which could apply to many aspects of our lives.

Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court.  Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. - Matthew 5:25

Jesus is using an example of legal matters to say disagreements should be settled quickly -- on the spot, if you can.  If they fester and grow, the damage could spread.  And the final outcome could be worse than the original act.

Admittedly, in our case a trained poker room dealer would have settled the issue in only a moment.  But in a free tournament, other players at the table should notice what happened and speak up....

If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.  But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that "every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." - Matthew 18:15-16

At the poker table, the players might haggle in front of everyone else around.  Away from the table, disputes should be addressed peacefully and privately.  People have done that with us on poker nights over the years; in fact, we've mentioned a couple of those cases.

But the true test of someone's character shows in how he or she responds, when a decision doesn't go their way....

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

Paul is writing in relation to legal action as well.  But there's a good principle in what he explains here: take the loss and move on -- and as you move on, don't do anything illegal to get even.


(Going "on tilt" at a poker table is not illegal.  It can annoy other players to pieces and make you look selfish -- which is also questionable from a Biblical standpoint -- but it's not illegal.)

In the case of Thursday night, we accepted the mistake -- and our role in allowing it to happen.  Hopefully we'll remember the lessons of it all.  And in future poker games, we'll try to avoid forgetting any faces.