Poker Day 569: Ace is Enough?

On this Presidents' Day, we hoped to set a personal precedent. We've never made the money in a tournament on this holiday - although we did on a Sunday of the holiday weekend in 2014. With an extra-high buy-in of $90, we drove to Hollywood Casino Indiana and gave it a try....

BLINDS: 75/150

IN THE POCKET: A-6 offsuit

We won a couple of small early pots, and still stand around the starting line of 15,000 chips. No one at the full table raises, so we call. About six players are involved.

ON THE FLOP: 8-A-8

Two pair looks good - and perhaps looks obvious, if we bet. But when the play checks to us, we offer 300. That chases all but one man away; he calls to put us heads-up. We're admittedly a bit concerned about our 6 kicker.

ON THE TURN: Q

Now we're not - because that Queen becomes the kicker. Our opponent checks, and we bet 300 again. He calls again. Hmmm - is he hiding a third 8?

ON THE RIVER: Q.

Now it gets interesting. Two pair are on the board, with the best possible kicker as well. But a full house is very possible. Our opponent checks, and we carefully do the same.

"Three pair," we declare as we show. Our opponent.... discards without showing! We win a healthy pot, and guess he might have had a different pocket pair (maybe 10-10?!).

We hit a high of 15,175 chips with that win. But it all dissolved away in the next 20 minutes. A-K came our way three times, and it never worked for us. The last straw came with a flop of Ks-Jc-9c. Our King was a club, but a 1,200 bet was greeted with a raise to 4,200. A third club on the turn led the raiser to bet 7,000 - nearly everything we had.

After thinking it over, we called with conceivably a lot of outs for a flush. But our opponent turned over A-A - including the Ace of clubs, which topped ours. Our only hope was a King on the river, and it didn't come. We headed home early, out first at our table with a stinging loss.

MINISTRY MOMENT: The table talk turned at one point to Sunday's Daytona 500 stock car race.

"Joe Gibbs Racing finished 1-2-3," a man across the table pointed out.

"And that website on the car probably crashed minutes later," we said humorously. A sticker on the car referred to a tribute to the son of team owner Joe Gibbs, who died in January.

"He obviously was a person of faith, based on the cross on the logo," we added. "And we all should be people of faith."

J.D. Gibbs made a commitment of faith as a teenager, through a ministry called Young Life. If you're a youth or young adult reading this, we recommend giving your "young life" to God.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them." - Ecclesiastes 12:1

You may think matters of faith and religion are simply for old, retired people. But they're not. In fact, Jesus started His ministry as a young adult....

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years of age when he began his ministry.... - Luke 3:23

The Lord died about three years later - crucified before turning 35. Given that Biblical truth, why should you wait for gray hair to appear before committing yourself to a relationship with Him? That day might never come.

But perhaps you're on the opposite side - old and filled with gray hair. It's not too late for you to become a "person of faith."

Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? - Job 12:12

You may have seen enough of this life to know how ugly and sinful it can be. The wise course is to turn to a better way - a godly way.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.... - Acts 3:19

As long as you have life, you can turn to God. Is there really a better place to put your faith?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 216 final tables in 569 games (38.0%) - 46 cashes.

Poker Day 567: On the Outs

"You can move over to make yourselves comfortable," a dealer suggested during today's final table at Hollywood Casino Indiana.

"At the final table, you're never comfortable," we responded. Indeed, even reaching that point had some stressful moments....

BLINDS: 2,000/4,000

IN THE POCKET: 5-6 of spades

The blinds are this big because we're in the third hour of play. It's had highs and lows, but gone well for us so far. After about 45 minutes of action with 11 players out of 24, we finally and patiently reached the last ten with 30,800 chips.

Now we're in the Big Blind with low suited connectors. A lot of players are pushing to force the action, but no one does here. We can check, and we're heads-up with the Small Blind.

ON THE FLOP: 7c-8s-Qs

Three cards with a lot of potential for us - an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. The Small Blind to our right offers 6,000. We start this hand with about 28,900, so any bet is steep. Yet we call in hope.

ON THE TURN: 10d (perhaps not precise)

We missed - and our opponent raises the stakes to 8,000. Now it's time for some quick math:

• Nine missing spades would make a flush.
• The other three 4's or 9's (other than spades) would give us a straight.
• TOTAL OUTS: 15, out of 46 unknown cards. The odds are almost one in three.

Would you take a risk like this? We'll be in serious trouble if we miss. But we've made the final table, so we decide to call.

ON THE RIVER: 2s

Victory! Or is it? The Small Blind ponders for a moment, then bets 8,000 more.

"I'm all-in," we say - with 8,900 left. The Small Blind calls.

"Did you hit the flush?" we ask. "Because I did."

We show it to prove it. The Small Blind turns over.... K-K! He fought for his big pocket pair, but our stubbornness gains us a double-up to more than 52,000 chips!

"Big risk," a man to our left says. Indeed, it was - but this time it worked.

Yet on the very next hand, we lost with our own big pocket pair - as Q-Q fell to A-Q when an Ace came on the turn. We survived to the three-hour break at 21,500. But with seven players remaining, we called an all-in bet with A-7 and 12,900 chips left. Our opponent's 6-6 held up, and we left in seventh place. (Only three were paid money.)

MINISTRY MOMENT: "You gave those chips right back," the man to our left said after we lost that Q-Q hand.

"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord," we told him.

That man didn't seem to acknowledge that famous quote. Do you know who said it? It's a Biblical quote, of course. From a modern translation...

He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" - Job 1:21 (NLT)

Read the first chapter of this Old Testament book, and you'll see Job lost a lot. Due to a challenge from Satan to God, Job lost his farm animals, farmhands, shepherds, camels, servants.... and all ten of his children.

If you lost even one-tenth of this, could you say what Job said? For many people, it might seem impossible. Yet in that moment, Job worshiped God (verse 20). How did he do that?

There once was a man named Job who.... was blameless - a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. - Job 1:1 (NLT)

Job worshiped God through it all, because he "feared God." Note his words above about nakedness. He realized God was the source of all he had, and God would be his hope through it all.

If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed life will I wait, till my change come. - Job 14:14 (KJV)

While the entire book of Job reveals he was not a perfect man, he truly was strong in faith. And we can understand the "change" that's coming is a change from human flesh to eternal life for believers in God.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 24:13 (NLT)

Jesus said those words. Then He did them. He's now the resurrected Son of God in heaven, and the Bible indicates He'll soon come back to resurrect faithful believers as well. Is that the source of your faith? If not, what is - and do you really think it's any better?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 215 final tables in 567 games (37.9%) - 46 cashes. That's five final tables in our last six live tournaments.

First, Second or Chop?

Some people show up at poker tournaments with other issues on their minds. We mentioned one recent game where a player was in the area for a funeral - and we tried to remind him of the Bible's promise of a resurrection.

Believers in God have held onto that hope for thousands of years - even in Old Testament times:

If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. - Job 14:14 (KJV)

Job is not talking here about setting out a 1,000 chip and betting 250. The "change" he wants is described in the NIV as a "renewal" - a body being renewed to new life. Jesus Christ confirmed that....

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…." - John 11:25

But our prior post may have surprised you, by mentioning multiple resurrections. It's explained in the Bible's final chapters....

...They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. - Revelation 20:4-5

The first resurrection belongs to those who are faithful to God until the end of their lives (first part of verse 4; Hebrews 11:35). But if there's a first one, that logically means there's going to be at least a second one - after Jesus rules over Earth for a millennium.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. - Revelation 20:12

This will be a massive resurrection, likely involving billions of people. It also will be a resurrection of judgment, with this sobering warning....

If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. - Revelation 20:15

Some believers actually consider this a third resurrection - with the rebellious burned up along death and "Hades" (verse 14). This really is not a "podium finish." The Bible calls it a "second death."

We've won some money in poker tournaments lately by "chopping" the prize money with other players. We're thankful to do that, even if it means a little less than a first-place prize. But some tournaments don't work that way; the World Series of Poker Main Event comes down to one person in first place, with another in second.

God's judgment works the same way. We see nothing in the Bible to indicate you can "straddle" and be in more than one resurrection. Which resurrection you receive ultimately is up to God, since He's the only one who can resurrect us. But read Revelation 20, and strive for the first one. Any judgment there apparently will be quick, with the prize assured.

Cynn City

Soccer fans will be focused today on the World Cup finals in Russia. The event might last three hours, if it winds up in a penalty kick shootout. But imagine an event where determining a world champion came down to a showdown even longer than that - practically lasting all night.

Courtesy Joe Ginn/WSOP.com

That's what happened this morning at the World Series of Poker's Main Event. The final two players battled from Saturday sundown until nearly 5:00 a.m. Las Vegas time - and it ended with Indiana native John Cynn (right) outlasting Florida's Tony Miles to take the "title belt" and $8.8 million.

The lead in heads-up play went back and forth several times, so we give credit to both men for playing hard and well. But in the end, this Main Event probably will inspire a lot of clever headlines (like ours) - and maybe even a few sermons from preachers.

For instance, Miles wore a Tim Tebow college football jersey to the final table. Tebow is known as a  believer in Jesus Christ. We're not sure where Miles stands on that - but his challenge for more than ten hours was, well, overcoming Cynn. It's your challenge, too, only with a different spelling....

...for everyone born of God overcomes the world.... Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - I John 5:4-5

Louis Armstrong sang years ago, "What a Wonderful World" - and in some ways it is. But it's also a world filled with sin:

For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. - I John 2:16

This endurance contest isn't only for one night - it's a lifelong "main event." So how can you overcome these more common "sins"? We skipped over part of chapter 5, which offers an answer:

This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. - I John 5:4b

The late George Michael sang it correctly: you've got to have faith. But it needs to be in the right things - or better put, the right Ones. It means believing in Jesus as God's Son, and turning to Him to cover your sinful life.

...For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. - Revelation 12:10-11

That "accuser" is Satan, the devil (Job 1:6-9). The blood of Jesus can pay the penalty for your sin, and give you freedom to testify of the good things God does in your life.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:21

On this Sunday in Las Vegas, Mr. Cynn came out on top. It's a victory he earned. In your life, "sin" doesn't have to win. Put your faith in the Son of God who can help you overcome it.

Poker Night 518: The Ol' Auction Barn

People who sell items on eBay hope for a bidding war to break out. People trying to buy a bargain probably hope for the exact opposite. We faced something like that tonight in the tournament at Five-Star Billiards....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: K-Q offsuit

We're in the Small Blind early in the game. No one has raised at a full table of eight. These cards might tempt you to do it, but we decide to sandbag and simply call. Five players are in.

ON THE FLOP: A-J-9

We're one street off "Broadway" (a top straight), but the Ace has us wary. Sitting first in line, we check. So does everyone else.

ON THE TURN: J

The board pairs, but we're still more concerned about that Ace. We check again. So does everyone else.

ON THE RIVER: 3

If no one else is going to take a stab at this pot, we might as well with King high. We bet 500 in a semi-bluff, and two players to our left fold.

"One-thousand," says a man across the table. The fifth man to his left folds.

"I wanted you to do what they did," we say to our opponent as a joke. It appears to us that someone else was sandbagging - and since we lack a second pair, we assume the worst and fold.

"Bought the pot," a man to our left guesses. He certainly outbid us.

"Had a Jack," we hear the winner say quietly. If that's true, his tactic worked perfectly.

We won a few good-sized pots to reach the first break at 11,900 chips. But things didn't go well from there, and we finally had to go all-in with a lowly 4-2 of hearts in the Big Blind. The dealer flipped over two Aces, and the Small Blind had a third Ace to top us. We finished 11th, which was our best showing there in a month.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Our biggest win of the night was a 7c-3c hand that made a flush and cracked pocket Aces. But then other players made expensive pre-flop raises in the next couple of hands, while we had better cards.

"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away," we said to the table as we called. "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Those words seemed to go over the heads of the entire table. If you know where they originated, you may be a real Bible scholar....

...Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked will I return.... the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. - Job 1:21 (KJV)

These are the words of Job. If you read the entire first chapter of his story, you might be amazed at how he was able to say them.

God allowed Satan to take Job's farm animals, camels, several groups of servants and at least his seven sons (Job 1:14-19; some translations indicate his three daughters died as well). Many people would have responded by blaming God for it all. But Job did not.

Then he fell to the ground in worship.... In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. - Job 1:20, 22

We don't think Job was tipped off to what Satan did. He simply realized God is the ultimate provider of everything in our lives. Job was reminded of that by God later....

Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. - Job 41:11

If you've had big losses in poker lately, think about these words. Can you see a God who's bigger than your chip stack? Bigger than all your physical possessions? Can you worship Him, whether you have a lot or a little? If you faithfully can, God promises the ultimate prize in eternal life after this one.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 188 final tables in 518 games (36.3%) - 38 cashes.

Wise Guys (and Gals)

The World Series of Poker seems to have something for everyone. There are tournaments in games most people probably have never played, such as Razz. And this year, there were two events for "seniors."

The Seniors Championship, for people 50 and older, had almost 5,400 entries. The "Super Seniors" contest was smaller, at 1,720 entries - but perhaps that was because you had to be 65 or older to play. It's interesting to compare those tournaments with the WSOP Main Event, where the final table tends to skew younger; it's a rare year anymore when someone in "senior" range is there.

It's easy to assume older poker players would be smarter and better than younger ones. As a famous book puts it:

Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? - Job  12:12

Of course, we should note that some people start playing poker in their "aged" years. So game experience matters as well. But in general, older people have seen and experienced more of life - so they can pass on their lessons to younger people.

And yet the Bible also says....

I thought, "Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom." But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right. - Job 32:7-9

These words came from Elihu, who described himself as "young in years" (Job 32:6). Read the book of Job from beginning to end, and you'll discover his comments about Job's trials made more sense than the "counsel" of Job's older but close friends.

To be wise in playing poker, or in anything else, it's best to consult a God who was around before any of us:

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. - Proverbs 2:6

Ask God for His wisdom, and it may come at times you don't expect it. Even in the midst of a poker game.

Lest Ye Forget

The casino in our area has held a big Memorial Day poker tournament for several years. This year the buy-in is quite big, at $350. At least the casino will give away free hot dogs for a couple of hours.

But we wonder if the casino will stop for a moment to remember players who have died in the past year, or in recent years. Somehow we doubt it. (If we're wrong, we hope someone will let us know.)

Jack Buck used to say when the St. Louis Cardinals played baseball games on Memorial Day, "I hope you'll take some time to think about the meaning of this day." Some people suggest it should be Christmas in May, with everything shutting down for quiet contemplation. But we think a balance can be struck between tribute and other activities.

We also think if you limit thoughts of Memorial Day to death, you're missing something....

If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. - Job 14:14

Whether someone dies in military combat or after a lengthy ordeal with a disease, this life can be a "hard service." But thankfully, that's not all there is.

..And I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. - Acts 24:15

The Bible speaks of a resurrection of the dead - a "renewal" of life! But did you notice it's divided into two parts?

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. - John 5:28-29

Jesus Christ said those words - and the Bible shows He is the one who will pass final judgment on humankind (Hebrews 10:30). What can you do now to be part of that first resurrection?

...And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4

In short, these people lived for God and his word, the Bible - enough to resist the forces of this world, even unto death. These are people worthy of remembering. In fact, they might be alive today all around you.

So taking time for a "memorial" over this U.S holiday weekend is a good idea. But please learn some lessons in the process - and live in a way that will lead to eternal life with Jesus.

The Option Play

Is it something we've said? Maybe the wrong anti-perspirant?

Whatever the reason, 2016 is ending with yet another closure at a place where we've played poker. We mentioned last week that Osage Casino near Tulsa has "temporarily closed" its poker room - a place where we made a final table on our only visit during the summer.

This adds to a 2016 dropout list which included three independent poker rooms in Wichita, Prairie Band Casino north of Topeka and Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City (at least for tournament play).

It feels like we're not playing in person as much - but maybe that's misleading. As of this post, we've entered 31 live tournaments this year. That's better than one every couple of weeks. But work and other projects have cut into our poker time - not to mention a rather high buy-in at the main casino which has become our most convenient place to play.

What do you do when you run short of options.... not in terms of poker rooms, but big decisions in life? We can think of one man who faced that sort of challenge:

...A messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off".... another messenger came and said, "The fire of God came from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants".... another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" - Job 1:14-17

Talk about a bad day! And things got worse for Job from there. He lost all his children in the next two verses. Yet God allowed Satan the devil to do all these things to Job (verse 12). It was a test to see how a "blameless and upright... man who fears God" (verse 8) would respond to the loss of valuable things.

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. then he fell to the ground in worship and said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." - Job  1:20-21

You may be in a place on this planet where you can't go out and play poker every week - or even every month. In the internet age, at least you have online options for having some fun and keeping your game sharp. But even if you didn't, could you still be thankful to God for not having anyplace to play poker?

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.... - Ecclesiastes 7:14

God may have removed the poker options to get you focused on other things. Better things. More important things - like straightening out your life and repenting of your sins.

So give God praise for whatever he gives you, whether it's a little or a lot. Then ask Him prayerfully to show where you should go from here - and have faith that He will open the best options of all in your life.

The Drought of 2016

We live in a state that's had a weather-related drought in recent years - but certainly not this year. More than seven inches of rain have fallen on our city already in July.

But 2016 is turning into a drought year, in terms of poker opportunities. We chronicled the police shutdown of local poker rooms early in the year. Then we mentioned a tribal casino giving up poker. And now we've learned a state-sanctioned casino has stopped its poker tournaments as well - in Dodge City, of all places.

An operator at Boot Hill Casino told us Wednesday night a "Three-Card Poker" tournament (a very different game) is planned there in August. But otherwise, the poker room with its five tables apparently is only for cash games now. If that's your preference, that's fine. But we tend to do better in tournaments - and they're drying up.

On top of that, our searching found a different tribal casino in northeast Kansas has closed its poker room. So to our knowledge, there are now only three places in our state offering legitimate poker tournaments: Yvie's once a week for free, along with casinos in the Kansas City and Wichita areas.

Could it be that the "poker craze" is waning? Casino tournaments we visit still tend to be full. But some of the neighborhood poker rooms we visited before they closed could be empty places at times.

Could you cope with a lack of in-person poker? We probably could - by playing online when time permits, or even applying this principle:

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water.... It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. - Jeremiah 17:7-8

We existed well for more than 45 years, hardly playing any poker at all. And if all the doors close for playing it again, we still could thank God for the years of opportunity and occasional success.

...The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. - Job 1:21b

It's easy to thank God when your poker games are going well - although ironically, some ministers say that's when we're least likely to be thankful. But when doors are sliding shut and opportunities are few, we should be thankful nonetheless for what God provides.

The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. - Isaiah 43:20-21

So if the neighborhood poker games are in a drought, or if your personal game is in a dry spell, thank God anyway. After all, showers of blessing may come when you least expect them.

Safe at Home?

The shutdown of poker rooms in our city this year probably has NOT ended poker games completely. They've simply moved to quieter, more private places.

One website offers to connect poker players with home games. In our city, someone is trying to organize games once or twice a week. If they're kept secluded, they can become a habit. But the key word is if - because if real money is being used in cash games, we'd think police would raid them for being every bit as illegal as what the poker rooms did.

Secret law-breaking is still law-breaking. That's true with the laws of God, as well as the laws of man....

His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide..... He [God] punishes them for their wickedness where everyone can see them. - Job 34:21-22, 26

You can try to run from God. But ultimately, it won't work. You might get away with illegal card games now, but God promises a day of judgment:

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:14

You may think your private home game is a good time. But if it's against the law in your city or county, we think God will consider it evil - and subject to judgment someday.

Are we being killjoys? Some might say so. But we're trying to say the joys of life should be legal ones - with the laws of man and God. Keep it clean, and you should have no reason to hide.

The Book on Daniel

How do you know when you've made the poker "big time?" These days, you might not have to win the WSOP Main Event. One modern sign of greatness is having your life story turned into a documentary.

Daniel Negreanu was the subject of a 90-minute film on Canada's TSN a couple of weeks ago, followed by his own Twitter chat. While we haven't seen the movie, KidPoker reportedly is about how Negreanu went from Las Vegas rookie to consistent winner and media star.

In one interview, Negreanu offered some of his advice for poker success:

“It’s trial and error to an extent -- not crying about what happens but getting on with it. So what if I got a pair of aces and lost? It happens. Keep going.”

When some poker players endure a big loss, they go "on tilt."  They bet wildly with an "I don't care" attitude (and sometimes they really don't) - which can be dangerous for everyone else, especially if that approach turns into a comeback.

Yet Negreanu's words speak of a more disciplined approach. We think it's also more Biblically-grounded.

Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house, do not raid his dwelling place; for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity. - Proverbs 24:15-16

For years we've taken verse 16 as advice for someone who "falls" into sin - and we think the advice is valid. We need to climb out of our sinful hole and return to a righteous walk:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - I John 1:8-9

Yet after looking at verses 15 and 16 together, we think there's a different point to that part of Proverbs: sinful people shouldn't spend their time trying to ruin the lives of righteous people. If they continue in a righteous walk, God can restore their losses and bless them even more. Consider Job, who was allowed by God to face extreme hardship from the devil:

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before... The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. - Job 42:10, 12

Compare verse 12 with Job 1:2, and you'll find his livestock "chip stack" doubled.

So the lesson of Daniel (as in Negreanu) as the same as that of Proverbs and Job. Don't get so down in the dumps from a big loss that you surrender everything that matters. "Keep going," Negreanu says - and we'd add: go in a right godly direction.

Poker Day 457: The Honeycomb Hideout

"It's a perfect day to play poker," a man said before today's tournament at Arrowhead Poker.  "Cold and windy."

The cloud cover and breeze were a bit deceiving, as the temperature actually was in the mid-50's F. at game time. But since poker sometimes is a game of deceit, that would be OK - as in this hand.

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: A of clubs - 8 of spades

We made an early flush to move ahead in chips.  Now we're one off the Big Blind at this one-table eight-player tournament, and these cards seem worth the trouble. We call. No one raises.  Three players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 3c-5c-7c

We're one card away from something very nice. But we don't have it yet, so we check. As we recall, everyone checks.

ON THE TURN: Qc

The very nice "nut flush" is ours! But we decide to be deceitful polite about it in lead position, and check. A man to our left bets 2,000.  A man across from us calls. Now Hollywood is calling.

"Two-thousand?!?" we ask with a bit of uncertainty in our voice. We shake our head a bit, then seem to reluctantly say, "I'll call."

ON THE RIVER: 10d (as best we remember)

This card doesn't matter. We keep playing our part and check again. The man to our left checks.  But the man across from us bets 10,000 - exactly as we hoped.

"Double," we now say with no trepidation; "20,000."

This causes a hubbub for some at the table, who clearly didn't see this coming.

"He really slow-played that Ace," the man to our left says as he folds. Our poker face is on, and we're not commenting.

"I have to call," the man across from us says. He matches the 20,000, and shows why. He has the King of clubs.

"You thought I slow-played that," we say to the man at our left. "You're absolutely right." We show the Ace and score a big chip gain of more than 24,000.

This was a classic case of what poker players call "letting others bet into you." We let our opponents do all the work, until we sprang the trap with a check-raise at the river.

Those big hands gave us the chip lead for awhile, with a high of 104,000. That helped us through a period of dry cards and habitual folds.

But then with six players left, we over-reached. In the Small Blind with 8-8, we doubled our opponent who turned out to have Q-10. When 7-9-10 came on the flop, he went all-in for 60,000 and we instant-called. Our open-ended straight draw missed (we had ten outs, if two remaining 8's are counted), and we dropped to a lowly 5,000.  A desperation push with A-2 failed, and we ended the day tied for fifth (officially sixth).

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Before we begin, I have some sad news," a regular player who manages another poker room said at the top of the tournament. "One of our everyday players, Bobby, died."

The newspaper obituary for Bobby Kallail was posted on the poker room bulletin board. There we learned things he'd never revealed at poker games - about how he operated a once-popular downtown-area nightclub, and was a part of high school and college wrestling teams.

The man who announced Bobby's passing thinks he might have been heading for the poker room when he died in a car crash. Several players were comforted to know that at least he'd played poker the day before, and was doing what he wanted to do.

"I have hope of seeing Bobby again someday, beyond this life," we said. Only one other player at the table seemed to acknowledge that - and that one barely did. We would ask: do you have such a hope?

If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. - Job 14:14

The ancient Job expressed hope of a resurrection. And the New Testament indicates it will happen for everyone.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. - Revelation 20:12

Were not sure if Bobby ever expressed faith in Jesus as his Savior. All we know for sure is that his funeral will take place at an Orthodox Christian Church. But the Bible shows a time of resurrection and judgment is coming - for him and for you. Are you prepared for that moment? Have you prepared, by giving your life to Christ?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 171 final tables in 457 games (37.4%) - 29 cashes.

We have cashed in four out of 19 in-person tournaments this year. Our next event (probably not until mid-December) will determine whether our percentage hits 20 or 25 percent.

One Shining Moment?

Joe Cada. Martin Jacobson. Greg Merson. Jerry Yang.

What do these poker players have in common? They've all won the World Series of Poker Main Event. (Jacobson did it only last year.) Yet they're all out of this year's Main Event, failing to survive their first day of play in Las Vegas.

With more than 6,400 players competing for the 2015 title, the odds of repeating as champion are ridiculously small. That's why it was noteworthy last year when one man reached the final table for the second year in a row.

The players we listed above are still well-known in poker circles. But the worldwide attention that can come from winning the Main Event is fleeting - lasting no more than eight months, from a "November Nine" to the next summer.  Sad as it sounds, our lives are like that as well.

Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure. - Job 14:1-2

Trouble even can come to Main Event winners.  One wound up being battered in a home invasion - and only in researching this post did we learn his stolen WSOP bracelet wound up in a waste bin. Given that fact, how should we live?

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, with moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, were moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. - Matthew 6:19-20

Jesus is using poetic language to indicate we should focus on eternal things - things beyond this life. Those treasures will have a payday sometime in the future:

Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. - Revelation 22:12

Play your poker well - but do other things along with it, that might earn you a rich reward from God. He promises the ultimate payoff of all.

Watching Closely

It's probably a rare day when the World Series of Poker cancels a big tournament.  After all, there's no shortage of players in this day and age.  But the WSOP did exactly that in Ohio - for a surprising reason.



Courtesy WXIX-TV

An upcoming 12-day event was canceled because Horseshoe Casino didn't have proper security cameras in place.  The tournament would have been played in a big banquet hall, in stead of the regular poker room.

You may never think about them when you're playing, but many poker rooms have cameras watching and recording the action.  In Ohio, a state commission uses them to prevent cheating.

We recall hearing church pastors years ago warning against such things.  They said surveillance cameras inside businesses and along streets would take away U.S. residents' "right to privacy" - along the lines of "Big Brother watching you" in the classic George Orwell novel 1984.

But that argument struck us as strange, especially from ministers, because of what the Bible says about "government surveillance". That phrase isn't in any translation we've seen. but consider this....

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. - Proverbs 15:3

His eyes are on the steps of men; he sees their every step. - Job 34:21

Does the thought of God watching you scare you?  If it does.... well, good. If it persuades you to do things in a godly way, even better.

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done - Matthew 16:27

How can God and Jesus Christ hand out rewards if They aren't keeping score of what you do in some way?

We concluded the ministers were missing a bigger issue with security cameras - that from God's point of view, the "right to privacy" ultimately does not exist.  He's monitoring the games we play in our lives (whether at the poker table or away from it), and will make sure the final outcome is fair.

...Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. - Psalm 98:9

Long before anyone dreamed of a Santa Claus, God was seeing people as they were sleeping. He knows when they're awake.  He knows if they've been bad or good.  So be good in the poker room.... ultimately for God's sake

My Millions of Sons?

We're going back to our last poker day and a chat we had about Jesus with "Gramps."

The man told us he considered Jesus the "Prince of Peace."  Then he said, "I think we're all sons of God."

Is that an accurate statement?  We can see how he might draw that conclusion, based on a few Bible verses:

The God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:26-27

So we're made in God's image. That means we look to some extent like God.  But does that really make us His children?

Lots of people are poker players.  But only a few are really considered, if we may, Poker Players.  You know - the skillful pros who compete for big money on circuits, winning cash games and tournaments.

God may have called His creation "sons of God" for awhile, giving them the benefit of the doubt. But....

....The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.  Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be 120 years." - Genesis 6:2-3

Bible scholars debate what the phrase "sons of God" means here -- perhaps people, perhaps fallen angels.  But Genesis 6 clearly shows God wasn't happy with what they were doing, so He decided to wipe them out (verses 6-7).  The phrase "sons of God" only appears a few times in the Old Testament after that, clearly referring to angels (see Job 1:6 and 2:1 in KJV).


But in the New Testament something changed -- when Someone special came to this earth:

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.... - John 1:12

To all who received whom?  The One John calls "the Word" (verse 1) - then One who "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (verse 14).  The One we know as Jesus Christ.


The Bible shows that title "children of God" is not as wide-open as you might think.  It's reserved for those who receive Jesus and believe in His name.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. - Romans 8:14 (KJV)

Does this really describe you?  Or does this seem too elitist and far-fetched to be believed?  Please leave a comment with your thoughts about it, and we'll come back to it in a future post.

Can I Get a Witness?

The moment admittedly felt awkward.  After a wonderful Sabbath day with good food and Biblical preaching, we sat at sunset in a car in the parking lot of a casino.

It's closer from our church hall to the casino than to our home.  So we decided for one Saturday evening to go there from church -- hoping to win some money and do a little ministry.

A dealer saw us standing near his table wearing a suit and "Praise Jesus" lapel pin, and gave a respectful (perhaps stunned) nod.  Then he went on with the game, because his table was full.

We finally found a Ultimate Texas Hold 'em seat, next to a man in a very verbal mood.  He asked us not to say "Boom shaka-laka" ("Boom goes the dynamite" was acceptable) - and we proceeded:

BLINDS: 5/5

IN THE POCKET: Q-7 offsuit

Nothing worth shouting a boom about here.  We check.

ON THE FLOP: 7-10-K (last two cards not precise)

As best we recall, we have bottom pair.  Our practice at the online Ultimate game has taught us to be wary about betting bottom pair.  It's tempting, but we check.

ON THE TURN/RIVER: Q-Q

The house is full, and we're quietly happy.  We bet the $5 to stay in.

The dealer turns over his cards, to show a flush - but we have him topped.  A player to our left has a better hand, and his full house pays well.

"I have a boat," we say as we quietly turn over our cards.

Except the dealer doesn't recognize that - and he starts to take or cards and chips away!

"He's got a full house," a man next to us says before we can speak up.  He saw it, too -- and the dealer apologized.  He points to the empty "trips" diamond, where an extra $5 bet would have paid us 8:1.  But instead, we get a $25 payout (blind paying 3:1).

We didn't tip the dealer - but probably should have tipped the player to our left, for speaking up in our behalf.  In legal terms, he was our "advocate."  And whether or not you play poker, we all need one.

Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. - Job 16:19

Job said this in the midst of a difficult trial.  Without his knowing it, God had allowed the devil to take away practically all his belongings in life.  It was a test -- and at this point, Job was passing it by stating his faith in God.

My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God.... - Job  16:20

Who is Job talking about?  We're led to think he knew something about a Savior who would come to Earth much later, then go back to heaven:

Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died -- more than that, who was raised to life -- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. - Romans 8:34

There he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  - Hebrews 7:25

Jesus can intercede and be an advocate at the throne of God in your behalf, too.  But you have to believe in Christ, and His ability to do that.  Are you willing to do that -- so God the Father doesn't declare you an ultimate loser?

P.S. We wound up losing $50 at the table, after having a modest gain for a moment.  The chances of us repeating the "church-casino" double are slim, at best.

Sad About Chad

The World Series of Poker is still going -- but there may be heavy hearts among many players.  It was stunning to learn today that one of the more popular pros on tour had died, much too soon.

Chad Brown completed in some of the biggest poker tournaments.  Yet in many ways, he wasn't the stereotypical poker player.  He was well-built and handsome, not frumpy.  His background was in baseball and acting, not really as a "card shark."

And we remember him best for what a TV commentator said when he was eliminated from an event: "One of the nicest guys on tour."  Brown actually shook the hands of players who beat him.  Trust us to say not many players do that, at any level of poker.

A rare form of cancer took Chad Brown's life at age 52.  For the poker players who are missing him, we'd like to offer some words of comfort.

If a man dies, will he live again?  All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. - Job 14:14

The story of Job is that of a man who endured extensive trials, which God allowed Satan to bring on him.  The devil was not allowed to take Job's life (2:6) -- but even in the worst of times, Job looked ahead to a "renewal".  So did other Bible characters,

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. - I Corinthians 15:52

Death was like sleep, in the mind of the apostle Paul.  He also looked forward to a "change."  And as a believer in Jesus Christ (verse 57), Paul had faith about what that change would be....

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. - I Corinthians 15:53

We don't know the religious background of Chad Brown.  But believers in Jesus have hope that they'll receive eternal life, as Jesus did when He was resurrected from the grave (Romans 1:4).

May all poker players follow the sort of good example Chad Brown set at the table.  And may they be filled with a hope that goes beyond the table, beyond this life -- a hope of a life with Jesus which will never end.

All Give, No Take?

The inevitable question had come up about the strange card protector we were using.  We used it to refer to Jesus Christ -- and one player was a bit puzzled when we asked if he believed in Christ.

"I do," he said.  "But I have a hard time believing Jesus would be at a poker table, trying to take all my d**n chips."

This admittedly prompted some soul-searching on our part.  After all, God is a giving God.  And....

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

God gave Jesus Christ for us.  But does that mean God never takes things from us -- even from loyal believers?  There's one big Biblical case which disproves that:

...."Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."  In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. - Job 1:21-22

If Job had been a poker player, he would have been called deep-stacked.  He had massive holdings of livestock (verse 3) -- yet God allowed Satan to take all those blessings away from Job (verses 9-12), including the blessing of good health (2:4-6).  Technically God didn't do the taking, but He permitted it to happen.

God can take things away from us for other reasons as well....

The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets.  So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there. - II Kings 17:22-23

The nation of Israel was in a very nice land -- but God took it away, because the people kept sinning.  So did the coming of Jesus (the Son of God) make things any different?  The Lord said no:

"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit".... When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus's parables, they knew he was talking about them. - Matthew 21:43, 45

The Pharisees thought they were in line for God's future blessings.  But Jesus's parables (especially the one beginning in verse 33) warned them the blessings would be taken away.

So if you think of God and Jesus as keepers of a big "payoff window" ready to toss out gifts to poker players, you're missing the full picture.  They take things from us, as well.  A future post will examine what we should be ready to give up.

But You Lost

We've been rather successful in live poker since moving to our new city.  But we haven't been perfect -- as in 100-percent final tables.  If anyone really is perfect (especially in professional poker), we'd like to meet them.

In prior posts, we mentioned we pray before going into tournaments -- and among other things, we pray for success at the table.  But what if it doesn't come?  What if we go bust in a couple of hands?  Does that make God a failure?

No -- it only proves we are a failure.  There could be many explanations for why success doesn't come.  We'll offer a few here; you might be able to scan the Bible and find others:

1) OVERCONFIDENCE IN SELF.  A little success can build a big ego.  Yet we're reminded:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. - Romans 12:3

We can think we faithfully follow God to the best of our ability -- but if we give ourselves too much credit for it, God can deflate our big head in a hurry.

2) A TIME OF TESTING.  The Biblical character Job faced this, probably without his knowledge -- tested by the devil (as allowed by God) to see how loyal he'd be to God.  At one point Job said:

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.  What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released. - Job 12:13-14

Can we keep honoring and glorifying God, even when Satan throws challenges in our way?

3) THE ANSWER IS NO.  Contrary to what some might preach, God is not Mr. Rubber-Stamp - always giving believers everything they request.  The apostle Paul knew about this:

To keep me from becoming conceited.... there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. - II Corinthians 12:7-8

But read on and you'll see God turned down Paul's plea -- so God's power could become more evident in Paul's life.

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong. - II Corinthians 12:10

Delighting in such things admittedly is very hard to do.  But it's what Paul says believers should do -- so when successes come, Jesus and God get the glory and honor for them.

If you're in a losing streak, whether in poker or life, we invite you to consider our Bible study on failure.  We've personally been through it.  Perhaps you can learn from it.

Ask, and Ye Shall....

We asked in a recent post if you pray before entering a poker room -- whether for a tournament or cash game.  For some people, this question may sound absurd.  But it's something we do on a regular basis.

So what do we request of God?  Let's use our successful Sunday in a poker room as an example.  We first prayed for wisdom....

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. - James 1:5

We take this verse a couple of ways -- asking for wisdom not only in playing hands well, but in doing the "poker ministry" that we like to do at the tables.  We want to say the right words at the right time, to express our faith and offer guidance if need be.

So along those lines, we also ask for God's help in being a "light":

Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.... - John 12:36

Jesus offered this advice, and the Bible shows He called Himself "the light of the world" (John 8:12).  But Jesus also told His disciples they are "the light of the world" as well (Matthew 5:14).  We take that to mean Jesus wants us to reflect His light in everything we do (verse 16) - even a dimly-lit poker room.

Oh yes -- and lastly, we do ask God in prayer that we might be able to play well, and perhaps win money at the table.  Sometimes it happens.  Sometimes it doesn't.  Either way, we leave it in the Lord's hands....

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. - Job 1:21b (KJV)

So that's a brief summary of how we pray before a tournament.  But it clearly raises a deeper question: why does God sometimes reward us with good days in the poker room, while sometimes we go bust on the first hand?  We'll ponder that one in a future post.