Poker, Faith, and Randomness in Life

Brian recently encouraged me to contribute to the nc-op blog, which by the way, is very fun to follow when people write. Initially, I was hesitant as I am pretty much a private person and I didn't really think there was anything worth sharing. But several weeks ago, I was watching ESPN as I usually do for a handful of hours a day and came across the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.

The WSOP Main Event is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. In my opinion, it is up there with electricity, cars, airplanes, mapquest, youtube, tivo, fantasy football... you get the point. Poker tournaments are run pretty much everyday in probably all fifty states and unless a deal is made, only one person emerges victorious. That's the beauty of tournament poker: whether it's a ten person home game tournament, a decent sized tournament in a local casino with several hundred entrants, or a major World Series of Poker or WPT tournament with a field of 500-600 of the toughest poker pros in the world, only one person emerges victorious. For everyone else, whether you are the first one out, or the dreaded bubble boy, or runner-up, when you are eliminated with that fateful river card, all your hopes and dreams are cruelly vanished. But until that time, if you are alive with even one chip, there is a certain sense of hope, that maybe this will be the tournament when all the stars align, the cards will break your way, and you will be the last entrant standing. Tournament poker has flourished in the last four years (since Chris Moneymaker splashed onto the scene) because it fosters a dream that maybe, just maybe, YOU might be the last player standing.

I've played in the Main Event the past two years and I don't think I'm overselling it when I say that there is nothing like it in the world. It is the Super Bowl of poker and ANYONE can enter. Immediately before the cards go in the air on the first day, there is tangible electricity in the air. As players are knocked out and you see the field shrink, that fantasy or dream that tournament poker fosters begins to grow. Perhaps I could be the next world champion of poker. And if you can in fact navigate your way through the largest poker field of the year, then you can try to figure out how to spend a sick amount of money. It's not quite as much as the Powerball, but it's certainly enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life. In 2006, I was able to last four days in the Main Event before busting out 286th out of a field of almost 9000. Unfortunately, Jamie Gold took home the first place prize of $12 million, not yours truly. This year, I barely lasted one level as I got all my chips into the middle with a set of jacks against a guy who had unimproved pocket aces and the winner of the massive pot who held a ten high flush. Tough beat.

The winner this year was a social worker from Temecula, California by the name of Jerry Yang. The Main Event final table was televised several weeks ago and Yang utterly ran over the table. I believe he eliminated all but one of the final table players and unlike last year, when Jamie Gold held a dizzying number of hands, I think Yang actually outplayed his opponents for the most part. Granted, if you look at Yang's poker resume, you'll see that he is a relative novice, and he did commit a number of big mistakes (though fortunately for him, his opponents made even bigger mistakes on the hands he played poorly), but all in all, he absolutely steamrolled the final table.

What I wanted to discuss was something that I saw repeatedly during the final table. It was pretty clear that Yang is a devout Christian and his convictions came across on television. I actually saw the final table live on pay-per-view back in July and Yang not only prayed during hands but it seemed like he was speaking tongues while waiting for the turn and river cards in key pots. Now, I don't have a problem with faith and hoping for the best possible outcome, but Yang's convictions were unique and thought-provoking. He actually thought that it was God's will for him to win the main event. In the middle of an all-in hand, he even said something along the lines of, "Lord, I know that you have a purpose for me in this tournament; so please, let me win this one."

Now, I may be over-stating this a bit, but it was clear throughout the final table that Yang sincerely believed that God was on his side. Watching all this unfold, I was intrigued. I thought, man, this guy Yang really believes that God is on his side and conversely that God is not on the other nine players' side. While his play was certainly aggressive right from the start and he benefited by making his opponents uncomfortably play huge pots against him, I thought that if Kravchenko or Lam or Watkinson got ahold of some chips, he wouldn't be able to overcome their experience and superior play. But in the end, Yang emerged as the victor. Without a doubt in my mind, he believed that God had anointed him to win the 2007 WSOP Main Event. While this is certainly possible, I am of the opinion that the Main Event developed totally randomly, just like I believe that the Boston Red Sox won the World Series randomly (meaning without God's intervention). It is possible that God interacts in a more hands-on way (I'm referring specifically to sporting events and other competitions), but I am skeptical. I think that it is much more likely that every hand that was dealt in the Main Event was totally random and that every player in the hand had decisions to make and that the results developed without God's intervention. Decisions were made, outcomes dealt with, and most players tried to learn from their experiences. Yang obviously felt very differently about his experience.

This exploration of God's interaction with human activity is something that I think about often. I know that a lot of people, Christians especially, believe that everything happens for a reason. I don't necessarily share this sentiment. I am a big believer in the randomness of life: the recent fires in Southern California, Hurricane Katrina, the fatal earthquakes in India (2001), the outcome of Super Bowls, World Series, Final Fours, and the Main Event of the World Series of Poker are totally random. I believe that it's a part of the human experience to actively participate in life's events and to learn from them. I think that trying to discern God's specific will in human activity is sort of over-reaching.

I hope you don't think I have a negative opinion of Jerry Yang. I'm actually happy that he won as he seems to be a very, very genuine and humble person. He has pledged 10% of his winnings to three charities and I think he will do a lot of good with the Main Event winnings and title. I thought he was very, very lucky to win the Main Event (but no more so than previous winners like Varkonyi, Moneymaker, Raymer, and Gold) but most significantly, I thought his perspective on God's will regarding Yang and the outcome of the Main Event was very, very interesting and thought-provoking.