Daring to Dream

JULY 9 UPDATE: Ryan has made the money at the Main Event! An update on that is coming soon.

UPDATE: We looked at the wrong day's chip count. Ryan is in 846th place, heading to "Day 2C." Why he wasn't shown on the "Day 2AB" scoreboard despite not playing is a mystery to us.

As we write this, about 1,070 players remain in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event. This year's big tournament had 8,225 entries - including one (hold on to your chair) who's a candidate for President of the United States!

No, we're not kidding. Ryan Von Bevern filed the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for President. He has a billboard or two up in the Kansas City area. Of course, he has a campaign website. But by his own admission, he hasn't raised a lot of money - and he lost his buy-in at the Main Event, by not placing among the top 2,500 players [SEE UPDATE ABOVE]. (He won a discounted buy-in by playing in a local league.)

We've mentioned Ryan's WSOP exploits before, because he's married to one of our nieces. He obviously has big dreams - even though we think his Presidential bid is tongue-in-cheek.

Our poker dreams are a bit smaller these days. (For one thing, a $10,000 Main Event buy-in is massive.) But we have a big dream, too - and believe it or not, it ranks above being President of a country:

And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." - Revelation 5:9-10

Can you grasp what the apostle John saw in this vision? Creatures in heaven are singing this to "a Lamb" (verse 6) - and it clearly refers to Jesus Christ....

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." - John 1:29

Jesus, who was with God the Father from the beginning (1:1), came to Earth to redeem us from our sins by His pure sacrifice. But it means more than that. We're made "to be a kingdom and priests" - or as the King James Version puts it, "made.... unto our God kings and priests...."

Pocket Kings in poker can be good. Becoming a real king is even better. And to be a king serving under God on this Earth? That's a huge dream, that the Bible indicates someday will come true. As Jesus put it....

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. - Revelation 3:21

Uh-oh - did you see the "catch" there? We have to overcome, before we can sit with Jesus. That's the daily battle of life, resisting sin and walking in a godly way.

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

That's obviously not easy to do. But it's what God requires to obtain that big dream - and with His help, you can do it.

...Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. - I John 5:4

How are you doing, in achieving your dreams? Do you have the biggest dream of all? And have you put your faith in God, so you can gain it?

Poker Deep After Dark

The flop was a dream come true for us - 9-Q-9. That's because we held pocket Queens.

So to borrow the lead of what other people around the table had done, we got out of our seat, stomped around a bit in celebration - then went all-in.

The "cards" were unusual, too. They were really torn-up slips, as someone apparently wrote all 52 cards in a deck on sheets of paper.

And then, before other players replied.... we woke up. That's because the dream hand was in fact a dream. It happened as we slept, at around 3:45 this morning.

Have you ever had a dream involving poker? They're rare during sleep time for us. But if you have one, how should you react to it? Is it a message from God? From the devil? Or, as some ministers have put it.... did you simply eat the wrong things at dinner last night?

There are times when God has spoken to people through dreams. They happened at dramatic Biblical moments, such as Joseph warning Egypt's Pharaoh about an upcoming famine (Genesis 41:25-27) or Daniel explaining a vision to save many lives....

Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries...." - Daniel 2:27-28

The same thing is supposed to happen in our "New Testament" age.... but not necessarily to everyone:

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." - Acts 2:17

In some church groups, testifying about dreams is a big deal. In others, it's downplayed as something which only happened in the early years of the church. We take Acts 2 to mean God will give significant dreams and visions to people who have His Holy Spirit - and you can receive that Spirit today.

Peter replied, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." - Acts 2:38

We should note Joseph and Daniel were able to interpret what they had dreamed, with God's help - and the interpretation turned out to be accurate. If you have poker-related dreams, a trusted friend (preferably someone wise in spiritual matters) can help you interpret it properly.

There's a second aspect to having a "poker dream." An upcoming post will get into that. But in the meantime, we welcome your comments. Have you had sleep-time dreams about poker? What's the most unusual one you've ever had? (Keep them clean, please.)