Follow up to the Christianity, poker, and gambling issues

Since I have posted my biography, I have heard many opinions about poker and gambling issues. I have come to a conclusion that poker can be gambling and at times, it has to be gambling. I know that some players play poker in order to gamble, this makes some of their decisions more of an impulse decision instead of a correct calculation. These players will have a hard time making money in the long run because they rely a lot more on getting lucky. I forgot to mention in my bio how much math is actually involved in poker. Pot odds are a huge part of the game whether it is calling an all in from the big blind, chasing a flush, as well as many other scenarios. There are some points in a tourney that a player is forced to do a little gambling. Sometimes a player is shortstacked and must push all in with a marginal hand. He is gambling on him having a better hand than the people yet to act. He may also not have the best hand, but the aggression of raising may force a better hand to fold. This is all part of the strategy of poker though. Say I have KK and I call an all in preflop of someone who has 77, I am "gambling" on the fact that my opponent does not have the unlikely AA and have me dominated and force me to have to get really lucky. I am also "gambling" that 80% favorite hand, KK, will hold up against the 77. I feel that if a player continues to put my money in or "gamble" with the better hand, he or she will not lose money in the long run. My goal, as well as every good poker player's goal, is whenever I am all in in a tourney, I want to make the other person have to get lucky. So one may say that poker is gambling in a way. I am open to the suggestion that poker IS gambling now, though I try to gamble as little as possible when I am playing.

It has also been brought to my attention that there is no specific verse in the Bible that says that gambling is wrong. If you find a good verse please let me know. I definitely should have sited Bible passages to support my beliefs instead of just going on what people tell me is in the Bible. Anyway, the subject of how the love of money can lead to sinfulness is definitely mentioned in the Bible (1 Timothy 6:10 and Matthew 6:24). As I mentioned in my bio, money is of very little value to me and money does not come close to buying happiness. I feel that money is a way of keeping score in poker. After talking to my well respected RA who is a future pastor, I have come to the conclusion that being on tilt is sinful as well as having an urging desire to play poker that you can not overcome. That urge of "I have to get my money back" or "I'm going to skip class because I cannot leave this table." These situations can lead to going bust or not realizing that there are more important things in the world than poker. When I first started playing poker as I mentioned in my bio, I would play any chance I had. I would play if I had 10 minutes in between classes. Now, poker is more of something I do when I have nothing else going on. The fact is, I would much rather be playing basketball or hanging out with friends. I have yet to skip a class or church this school year because of poker.

I still do struggle with the issue that while I am making money, someone else is losing it. I hate to see people who do not know how to manage a bankroll go over their heads and play a game that they can not afford to play. Bankroll management is something that I feel I have done really well with. I have never and will never put myself into a situation where I am in danger of going bust. My RA gave me a great analogy about how a person pays say $30 to attend a football game for entertainment. A poker player may put down that same $30 to play poker for entertainment instead of going to the football game. The only difference is that the poker player has a chance of making that money back plus maybe more. This terrific analogy has helped me come to conclude that playing poker for entertainment purposes is totally acceptable. But now I have to figure out if playing for a living is acceptable. I also heard some great news today: I HAVE TWO AND A HALF MORE YEARS TO DECIDE IF BEING A POKER PLAYER IS REALLY WHAT I WANT TO DO. I am only a sophomore in college who has played poker for less than a year. I feel that I have rushed a huge decision. I now can take a lot of time and listen to many people before making my career decision.

These are some of my defenses that I am starting to put together and legitimize the game of poker. I love hearing new logical suggestions and I promise to listen to them with an open heart. Please continue to comment. Thanks.