Goodbye to a great guy and sometime a obnoxious one but he had a heart of Gold..RIP Buddha
He went by "Buddha," (center) but we never were sure of his real name. (As we recall, he hid that for legal reasons.) He was a true larger-than-life poker character - so large that he somewhat resembled a Buddha statue, and sat almost sideways at makeshift poker tables in the Columbus, Georgia area.
He also had another nickname - one we ironically remembered a few weeks ago when we quoted his mic-drop line, "I flopped it" during a poker tournament. After winning some big pots (and he eliminated us more than once), he would announce in a loud voice: "That's why they call me BIG DADDY!!!"
(By the way, that last link includes an example of why the Facebook announcement called him "sometime... obnoxious".)
We interviewed "Big Daddy" for an unusual Father's Day post on our old news-and-humor blog (the blog which led to this one). He talked there about competing in the U.S. Sumo Wrestling Championships. But we don't know if he ever did. Someone with a pro wrestling troupe might have made an interesting discovery.
If Buddha had played in Las Vegas, he could have become a regular on TV poker nights. His size and personality would have made him, well, a "character" - not unlike some pro wrestlers. And let's face it: interesting characters always make TV more interesting. It's true in poker; think about Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson's personalities, which have made them famous.
But after a lengthy illness, Buddha died at approximately age 38. If he was really Buddhist, he never said so. But we shared our faith with him a few times at poker tables, and concluded he was simply not a religious person. If that describes you, consider a verse we mentioned here recently....
And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.... - Hebrews 9:27 (NLT)
No matter what you believe - or even if you don't - death is inevitable. The big question is what happens after that. Buddhists believe they'll enter "nirvana" or be reincarnated. But the Christian Bible says there will be judgment. How will that happen?
...When the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. - II Thessalonians 1:7-8 (NLT)
The judgment won't happen until Jesus returns - and it won't be immediate. Buddha will rest for quite a while....
The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.... I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne... And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. - Revelation 20:5, 12 (NLT)
Jesus is coming to judge - a judgment that includes a "lake of fire" (verse 15). But as we say in poker, you have an "out"....
...People escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.... - II Peter 2:20 (NLT)
We quoted the "good news" part of that verse; there's a warning in the rest of it for people who don't really make the effort to escape.
So our sympathies go to Buddha's family and poker friends. May they turn to Christ, not that better-known Buddha - and be able to sing what another "Big Daddy" recorded several years ago.
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