Twelve a Clock High

One of this year's Grand Slam tennis finals took almost six hours to finish.  Playoff games in hockey have gone to four overtimes, and lasted nearly as long.  But those events seem tame, compared to what the three finalists in the World Series of Poker Main Event went through this past week.

Greg Merson won the championship after a session which lasted 11 hours, 59 minutes -- practically from dusk to dawn!  Admittedly, a WSOP event doesn't have the physical action of a tennis match or hockey game.  But think about it: could you do your job at a top level for 12 hours, through more than 250 transactions (or "hands" in poker)?  And lest we forget, Merson had to outlast nearly 6,600 other players in preliminaries last July.

Merson credited long cash games for preparing him for the final-table marathon.  He learned a trait all of us could use -- endurance.  It's not simply for poker players, athletes and hard-working laborers:

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. - Matthew 24:12-13 (KJV)

Yes, Jesus Christ had something to say about endurance.  Believers must endure, if they want to achieve salvation.  What sort of things must they face?  Let's note one example....

We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.... - I Corinthians 4:12-13

Christians around the world face a wide range of persecution today.  It could be as relatively tame as name-calling in a U.S. school lunchroom -- or as serious as churches being attacked in Africa and Asia.  Yet they're told to endure.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father? - Hebrews 12:7

Tough times can teach us the importance of being obedient to God, and following his Biblical instructions in our lives.  In doing that, Christians follow the best example of all....

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

Jesus endured to the end of His physical life, then was resurrected to the eternal life He had in ages past.  Believers can have the same thing -- a prize even better than Greg Merson won:

....For riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.... but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper - Proverbs 27:24, 28:25

Merson the Marathon Man

People who enter triathlons have to be in great shape.  But how many of them could compete at a top level for more than 12 hours in one session?

Greg Merson did -- and a few minutes ago, he won the World Series of Poker's Main Event.  The "final three" were at the table in Las Vegas all night, with the winning hand coming around 5:45 a.m. local time.

We were unfamiliar with all of the "October Nine" players.  But we leaned toward rooting for Merson because of his biography -- a story of overcoming personal addictions.

The challenge of overcoming is something we all face, whether we realize it or not.  We need to overcome the evils of this world....

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

We'll have more to say about Merson's triumph in the coming days.  But in the meantime, what's the longest poker "all-nighter" you've ever had?  Did it end in success - or lessons from failure?  Comments are welcome.