Memories of "Buddha"

We saw this on Facebook Saturday night, from the place where our poker-playing began....

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.

Poker Night 547: Hit the Road, Jacks

"You're a very good writer," the man two seats to our left at Jack Casino said tonight. That man did something we don't recall anyone ever doing before - looking up this blog during a tournament on his smart-phone.

"You might learn all my secrets," we warned him. After all, we hadn't told any other players in our new area about this blog. This hand won't be a secret to him, either. It was all on display, and symbolic of our night....

BLINDS: 150/300

IN THE POCKET: A-Q offsuit

Things have been quiet for us so far, with few strong cards to play. But this hand potentially is different. Sitting two seats off the Big Blind, we limp in and wait for raisers. But even though this table is on the aggressive side, no one raises. About six players are in, at a table of eight.

ON THE FLOP: Jx-10x-7d (Don't recall suits of first two cards)

No pair for us, but a lot of hope - two overcards, with a draw for the top straight. The Small Blind checks, but the Big Blind offers 400. That's not too much; we'll call. Five players remain.

ON THE TURN: Qd

Now we have top pair, and a chance to make a move. Both blinds check, so we bet 1,000 - silently hoping that will run off other players who might be chasing flushes or straights. But only one man folds; three other players stick around.

ON THE RIVER: 9d

That's the last card we wanted to see! Our main concern is the three diamonds showing for a potential flush - but anyone hiding an 8 has made a straight. The Big Blind checks, and we decide we have to be firm instead of cautious.

"Thousand again," we say as we set out an orange chip. A man to our left folds. Good. A man across the table folds. Better! But Mr. Big Blind calls.

"Queens with an Ace," we say and show. The Big Blind turns over.... Jack-10! He made two pair on the flop, and refused to take our hints to run away. His firmness won him a big pot.

That's the kind of night it was for us. We won only one pot, never got above our starting stack of 15,000, and watched marginal hands we folded make it big on the flop.

We finally were forced to go all-in for 2,500 with 9-8 of diamonds. That Big Blind man from before had A-J for a big lead - but the flop was 7-8-9! The turn was a Queen, leaving us one card from a comeback. But, of course, the river was a Jack. His two pair were better, and we walked out in 19th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Inspired by a weekend sermon, we brought a small connected packet of salt and pepper for our card protector.

"I brought this to remind me," we told a man to our left, "that Jesus said I'm supposed to be the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13).

The man liked that idea - and when we asked, he told us Jesus was his Savior. "I'm a Catholic," he noted.

"What's Jesus done for you lately?" we asked.

"Nothing right now," he answered. But then he entered a hand we folded, and won a big pot.

"Things went right for you there," we pointed out.

He didn't answer that. But come to think of it, maybe it's not all about God doing the right thing for you - even though He can....

Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. - Proverbs 10:6

To borrow from U.S. President John Kennedy and a Spike Lee movie, maybe it's really more about you doing the right thing for God. But we have to be careful in how we do that....

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. - Proverbs 16:25

....Such as some of the hands we tried to play tonight. But if you know what you're doing is the right thing (for instance, if the Bible verifies it), you should go forward with it.

And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. - II Thessalonians 3:13

Perhaps you're stumped by exactly what it means to "do right." We posted an article several years ago with our thoughts about that, based on Bible study and our own church experience. Perhaps what we discovered can help you.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 201 final tables in 547 games (36.7%) - 41 cashes.

Plug Here, Unplug There

Some people hope Scott Blumstein's win of the World Series of Poker Main Event will lead to more legal online gambling on poker in the U.S. But in other places, the exact opposite is occurring.

Australia's Senate voted this week for what some news sources call a "ban" on playing "online poker legally." But one article quoted an email from PokerStars in April, that explains what's really going on:

It’s with great sadness that we have to say that if this bill is passed it means we will have to halt real money poker play for you and all other Australian players,” the email read.

We think this is about "real money" poker play - as in online cash games. That's because there are plenty of sites in the U.S. where you can play poker, and even win prizes. But they're free to enter.

Australian officials made it clear their concern is about stopping "problem gambling" - as in addictive behavior. Our dictionary defines "addict" as "to have or give (oneself) habitually or compulsively." Based on that, religious anti-gambling groups can sound like they're encouraging a swap of one "addiction" for another:

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. - Psalm 119:97

All day?!?! Does that mean a believer in God should lock himself in a room and only read the Bible (especially the first five books) from sunrise to sunset? Well....

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing.... - I Thessalonians 5:16-17 (NASB)

So are we supposed to only speak to God all day as well?!

Those seem like very extreme views to us. And the Bible tries to balance out that thinking....

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." - II Thessalonians 3:10

Time by ourselves with God is good. He established a Sabbath day for that (among other reasons). But people who cloister themselves non-stop and don't do anything else might be surprised when "manna from heaven" stops.

People can become addicted to all sorts of things, from poker games to religious cults. We think the key is to have a balanced approach in life - and add God to that balance, if He is missing. That's where we think many people go astray:

"For in him we live and move and have our being." As some of your own poets have said, "We are his offspring." - Acts 17:28

Without God, you wouldn't have life - much less a brain to make decisions at a poker table. Plug Him in to your life agenda, even if it means tossing a few things away.