[Megenoita]

I'm a conservative born-again Christian. I believe the Bible and all that it says. When I started playing poker, I talked with a lot of pastors and leaders. While the Bible does not condemn or even mention gambling, gambling has in church history been considered a sin worthy of church discipline. This doesn't make it sin, only that it historically has been treated as such. The church has been wrong on a lot of things. What matters is what the Bible says.

The Bible teaches against valuing money too much, desiring to get rich quickly, being greedy, being a poor steward. If you can play a skill game and win consistently, and have none of these issues reigning in your heart, then you can play poker in faith.

Personally, poker for me is not gambling anymore than any other business investment. I don't believe I'm greedy or worship money. So my conscience is clear.

Something you'll have to consider if you are a Christian is how this venture affects other people. You don't want to tempt someone to play and lose their money, and you don't want to anger brothers. I have a friend who is also a 2.2er who plays professionally, and his church is like mine--they don't call it sin, but they'd rather we not do it. Still, they don't condemn it since the Bible doesn't. Most people don't have the luxury of such pure thinking. Most people are in churches where it's about "religion" and not God's word.

Regards,
M