God and poker
Poker’s platforms are growing. People develop platforms. Platforms shift culture. A platform’s values are more important than its size or how much money it generates. Words and actions influence the future of humanity. Hopefully my words and actions give glory to God.
The purpose of my life is to identify and achieve all of the goals that God has for me. God’s plans are much greater than my own. God is good and God is love.
A challenge that consumed me for a while is establishing regulated interstate online poker for the USA. A lot of people have helped and shown love to this cause. Others are willing and waiting to do their part. If God wants regulated online poker for the USA then everything will come together with time. Patience is a virtue.
God gave me an idea to create things and to choose actions that benefit all of the people that love poker. I believe that God gave this idea to other people as well. It is a challenge to connect with all of the people that God wants me to connect with. I acknowledge God and believe that God direct my path.
Playing the game to the best of my abilities is a challenge. I play poker for Jesus Christ. Jesus saved my soul. People that have faith in God should not be afraid or ashamed. The only thing in life that I am proud of is my faith in God. The greatest honor a human can achieve is to be blessed. The rest of my poker results will be recorded in this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...
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Poker Security
Everyone who loves to play poker wants the games to be fair. Some players do not love to play poker. Some players play poker just to make money. Some players choose to repeatedly break the rules of poker for profit. It is a game runner's responsibility to ensure fair outcomes for participants in their games. Poker regulations improve poker security for all participants.
Poker Regulation
It might be a good idea for the poker community to find an inactive politician who could help us with federal regulation of online poker. Active politicians do not have time to spend on our cause. Ideally we could get former President Barack Obama to advocate for us. He has played poker and passed bills in the past. It might be a good time for the people who have a platform in poker to give him a shoutout and let him know that we respectfully need his help.
riiiiiiiiiiight
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. This is the serenity prayer. Fr. Dave Concepcion reminds people that prayer is not a self-centered dialogue, but a God-centered dialogue. At times I have been self-centered with regards to writing to the poker community. I am writing this after asking God what to write to the poker community today.
To the atheists in the poker community, by choosing to believe that there is no God you are effectively betting your soul that heaven and hell do not exist. I would strongly recommend to all of you to at least attempt to learn more about Jesus Christ so that you can make a more informed decision. I beg the outspoken atheists in the community to stop using the Holy name of Jesus in vain on your platforms and to stop spreading misinformation about the Christian faith. Jesus said that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
With regards to current poker tournaments structures, it is best to talk about Ignition/Bovada because some of their tournament structures have the most room to improve. The website offers a variety of tournament structures, some are good, but some are too easy for max late registering players to cash. For example, if you get a favorable seat draw max late registering into the $162 $214, 000 Guaranteed tournament you can make the money without playing a hand. This is because;
A. The starting stack is less than 5 big blinds at the end of registration.
B. When tables are full they sit max late registering players at the same table and it is not difficult to avoid having your table broken.
C. Players have 20 seconds before needing to use their timebank for every decision.
D. All entries are given a 90 second time bank.
E. At least 20% of the total entries are paid.
While it is understood why a website would not change the amount of time players can enter and re-enter a tournament, operators should at least create structures that make players take risks before making the money. Ideally, online tournaments with long re-entry periods would have at least some of these features;
A. The starting stack is at least 8 big blinds at the end of registration.
B. The tournament limits the amount of max late registering players at each table or the amount of time tables full of max late registering players stay intact. This can be achieved with a full redraw at the end of registration or by always breaking tables full of max late registering players first.
C. Players have 15 seconds preflop before needing to use their timebank.
D. Max late registering players have no more than a 45 second time bank.
E. At most 16.7% of the total entries are paid.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Christ has already returned and he likes to play poker. He was playing on a streamed game a few years ago. He goes by the name Mike Postle.
The Millionaire Maker tournament at the WSOP is a great tournament. It has become one of the low stakes Main Events of the year for poker players. In this year's event, the final two players decided to make a deal to split the money and award the bracelet to the player who was 2nd place in chips. Since the WSOP does not facilitate deals, the players decided to transfer the chips to the player who was 2nd in chips to ensure that he would be awarded the bracelet.
Why did the player that was 1st in chips agree to award the bracelet to the player who was 2nd in chips despite having ~90% of the chips in play?
By awarding the bracelet to the player who was 2nd in chips, they would have an extra $1, 000, 000 to split between the two of them. The money was available to them from a Club WPT Gold promo.
Did these two players collude by making this heads-up deal?
No. In the 2025 WSOP Official Tournament Rules, collusion is defined as any agreement between or among two or more Participants to engage in illegal or unethical acts against other Participants. When the deal was made there were no other Participants left in the tournament, making any accusation of collusion inaccurate.
Did these two players break any WSOP rules during the heads-up portion of the tournament?
It can be argued that the two players broke Rule 40 Article F which states that “Anyone found to have engaged…in any act that WSOP officials believe…could compromise the competitive integrity of the WSOP will be subject to sanctions.”
What could have the two players done in order to follow Rule 40 Article F?
The two players could have been transparent and notified a WSOP Caesars Employee about the deal they had made. The player who was 1st in chips could have then left the table if the staff would still not facilitate the deal that was made. Players cannot be forced to stay at the table and play against their own wishes.
What is a reasonable punishment for the two players?
They have already served a suspension during the 2nd half of the 2025 WSOP. It would be fair to prohibit them from playing anymore WSOP Millionaire Maker events. Banning them from all future WSOP events or Ceasar’s properties is an unreasonable punishment. The results of the tournament were already decided once the deal was agreed to, they just did not communicate this clearly to the powers that be.
How can the WSOP improve its brand and image after this summer?
The WSOP is compromising the competitive integrity of their events by not facilitating fair deals with regards to their final tables, action buying, and swaps. The WSOP is providing a negative freeroll to players and investors who honor every deal while giving players that act dishonestly the opportunity to profit from deals that they choose to not honor. The WSOP has a great opportunity to modernize its product and ensure fair deals for its customers by adding final table deal making, action buying, and swapping features to the WSOP+ app.
Does facilitating final table deals, action buying, and swaps hurt the value of the WSOP brand and devalue the bracelet?
No. It makes the WSOP more valuable because it makes the brand more modern, transparent, and customer friendly. The WSOP need not worry about the value of its bracelets. They are essential to the history of poker. Every WSOP bracelet is unique and has its own story based on the events that occur in order for them to be won. It would be good for the game if the WSOP kept more accurate and detailed records of their events and made advancements in ensuring fair deals for its customers.
What can be added to the WSOP rules to make the experience of playing better for all participants?
The WSOP could add more details to already mentioned infractions in Rule 40 to address current issues:
All participants agree to make decisions in turn in a timely manner.
Guidelines for acceptable time taken to act in tournaments not using a timebank:
Preflop unopened: 15 seconds
Preflop single raised: 20 seconds
Preflop multiple actions and postflop: 30 seconds
Significant preflop, flop, and turn decisions: 1 minute
Significant river decisions: 2 minutes
Bubble and in the money, almost all-in with chip(s) behind decisions: 20 seconds
Players who generally act faster than the guidelines earn the privilege of having more time for significant decisions.
Abusive speech play is not allowed. All participants have the right to ask for and receive silence from participants at their table when it is their turn to act.
Jesus says to love one another. It is possible to be a faithful Christian and a poker player. Doyle Brunson is a good example of this. The Lord is good and merciful. God gives good gifts to those who ask him.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. This is the serenity prayer. Fr. Dave Concepcion reminds people that prayer is not a self-centered dialogue, but a God-centered dialogue. At times I have been self-centered with regards to writing to the poker community. I am writing th
If God is true and real why do little kids get cancer and other nasty diseases that ruin their lives/kill them? Why do we have such suffering throughout the world? Would love to hear your response.
If God is true and real why do little kids get cancer and other nasty diseases that ruin their lives/kill them? Why do we have such suffering throughout the world? Would love to hear your response.
Good question. I don't know why so many innocent people suffer and why so many misbehaving people thrive. If you watch the video I posted from 3:15-3:45, Jesus explains that good and evil coexist in this world. I am not the qualified to explain why.
With regards to paying federal income taxes on income that does not exist, an opinion can be influenced by the words of the blessed St. Augustine, who stated, “an unjust law is no law at all.” A course of action can be influenced by the words of MLK, who stated, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
One can hope that lawmakers will be able to fix this injustice before individuals are required to pay federal income taxes on gambling income from 2026. If it is not resolved by that time, one can then hope that there is someone in the community who is called, willing, and able to sue the government and win a fair judgement. Mr. Baxter accomplished something very similar to this in 1986 and it looks like history may be repeating itself.
