People who believe in god have a question for you. Is playing poker for money a sin?

No

If it is legal where you are at, you are not breaking any laws, it should be alright. Might be something old testament but have not ran across it. Lot of new testament about love of money and temptation. If you are not cheating and staying with in framework of the game, no Hail Mary needed.

I guess it depends if you are religious. If you are... more than likely what you think is a sin probably isn't to someone else...and what they think is a sin may not be to you..it's all opinions.

The (subjective) sin in question is gambling but I think poker is unfairly lumped in with games of chance (blackjack, roulette, slot machines etc.), probably because it takes place in a casino.

However it is a statistical game of incomplete information. Just so happens to be played with cards. I don't see any relationship with gambling exepct for the bet sizing but this is more like choosing what to invest in relation to your expected return.

If playing an MTT you are not even risking cash on every hand and your inital investment is capped at the buy-in.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people do not recognise this and the stigma is hard to overcome.

Definitely, it is a dreadful sin, when I lose a hand.

I have had this discussion with my mom, who is a pastor. And while she does believe some forms of gambling are sinful she came to the conclusion (through our discussion) that poker is a game of skill with some luck involved. Therefore not a sin. Hope this helps.

It feels like a sin.

If you cheat and bend the rules in poker than I think you are sinning. Other than that I see no harm in playing poker for money.

A sin would be to have never played it

Originally Posted by kkami

People who believe in god have a question for you. Is playing poker for money a sin?

Playing casino is a sin, according to the Bible, but poker is not, as it is considered a strategic and calculating game, rarely involving luck and luck.

I believe in god and I don’t consider poker a sin, but my parents and some of their friends are very religious and they don’t like poker or any other type of gambling.

Originally Posted by kkami

People who believe in god have a question for you. Is playing poker for money a sin?

you are not making anybody to play at gun point all of the players playing poker or gambling willingly so its not a sin

Poker is a sport! And that's what it is.. different kinda sport I agree! But that's doesn't make it a sin.. not for me though.
But you can be addicted.. and we all know what addiction leads to...

Don't be so darn foolish. No it is not a sin to play poker. People have been gambling one way or another for centuries, When were growing up we were told it was a sin to play cards on Sunday, that an unnamed baby would go to purgatory if it died before getting a name. Then we learned that priests were sexually assaulting young people for years. Sometimes I believe that religion is a crock. How can churches justify building multimillion dollar buildings and still see people starve and live homeless?

playing poker not bad, just don't forget your responsibilities hugs.

Believe it or not to sin is the miss the mark or the point. That is all, nothing more, nothing less.

If you dont play poker well, one might say you are sinning.

So make sure you study as well, so you dont sin when you play.

Originally Posted by enzomyn

Playing casino is a sin, according to the Bible, but poker is not, as it is considered a strategic and calculating game, rarely involving luck and luck.

Is it really? Can you quote me some scripture to support your stance? Here are some which I think are in favor of casino. Tell me what you think.

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

When you play casino the house has an edge so overall you are doing more giving than receiving.

Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”


Here the bible is suggesting that you should make humble straight bets instead of parlays.


Proverbs 28:22 reminds us to tip our slot hosts or else "The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them."





Phillipians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.


https://superluckycasino.com/game/bible-slots/

Personally, I think the biggest scam is religion! Priests do not sow or plow, but only rob gullible believers (but this is their choice). And poker is the same kind of work and no worse than any other honest work!

Yes and we are all sinners!

(Nope)

I believe in God.
I think playing poker is a grey area. In some ways it is blood money because lots of people get addicted to gambling and lose everything playing poker. You could say that participating in poker is bad because of those people who lose everything. I think most people know about gambling addiction. Some of those gambling addicts can lose their family/ marriage, become homeless or worse.

I know someone who is a very good poker player and won a lot. He believes in God and quit poker for this reason because he didn't want to take money from addicts even if not everyone he played against was an addict.

The reason I play is because I think the addicts are going to play anyway. Somebody is going to take their money and it might as well be me.
I am currently more or less a break even player. If I start making money with poker I will consider donating some of it to Gamblers Anonymous. Good luck deciding what you feel good about.
Again I think playing poker is not a big sin unless you become addicted, but I think it is a grey area.

If you donate all your winnings to the Church then it’s a win-win situation!

Of course, everyone has their own understanding of this issue. But for me personally, poker is not a sin. Poker is fun. I play for fun, and money is just a reward for the time I spend.

I haven't heard the church speak out against poker !!! Some of its representatives may have expressed their opinion on poker, but this does not mean that this is the official position of the church !!! It's not a sin for me !!!

poker is still gambling hence it is a sin

but as long as im not doing anything harm to other people and to myself

i think the person above there will still let me in, when the time I'm knockin' at his door

And God said: No, my son, it's a sin only if you do slow roll.

Jesus played many games at dinner with his disciples, they drank wine until they got drunk, so it is not a sin, to always enjoy the game

We used to play poker in a room attached to Catholic Church.
My friends father was a prison Pastor. He used to play poker with the inmates and listen to their schemes for when they were released.
They must have wondered why they were caught breaking the law so soon after they were let loose.

Originally Posted by ChickenArise

Is it really? Can you quote me some scripture to support your stance? Here are some which I think are in favor of casino. Tell me what you think.

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

When you play casino the house has an edge so overall you are doing more giving than receiving.

Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”


Here the bible is suggesting that you should make humble straight bets instead of parlays.


Proverbs 28:22 reminds us to tip our slot hosts or else "The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them."





Phillipians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.


https://superluckycasino.com/game/bible-slots/

I just LOVE your style of thinking lets play slots to be redeemed

Well any games involving money are a sin because they are not produtive and you risk to loose not only money and time but sometimes friends and family members "including wives"... Many religions don't allow humans to harm themselves.
They say that poker is a game of skill, but statistically 95% of players are loosing ones. And the ones that have won major Tourney, either they were running hot, won flips where they where underdogs ...etc (luck)
Phil HELLMUTH said "If luck wasn't involved I guess I would win everytime"
Anyway I play poker but in moderation. Never put more than 20% of my incomes in POKER. Never put more than 20% of my time in POKER.

yes all gambling is forbidden by god. it is a sin but I hope that god will forgive us all our faults and our weaknesses.

Nope, why should it ?

Originally Posted by tauri103

yes all gambling is forbidden by god. it is a sin but I hope that god will forgive us all our faults and our weaknesses.

Scriptures please. It should be really easy to show.

Originally Posted by rastapapolos

Well any games involving money are a sin because they are not produtive and you risk to loose not only money and time but sometimes friends and family members "including wives"... Many religions don't allow humans to harm themselves.
They say that poker is a game of skill, but statistically 95% of players are loosing ones. And the ones that have won major Tourney, either they were running hot, won flips where they where underdogs ...etc (luck)
Phil HELLMUTH said "If luck wasn't involved I guess I would win everytime"
Anyway I play poker but in moderation. Never put more than 20% of my incomes in POKER. Never put more than 20% of my time in POKER.

You mention that you can lose your wife playing poker...how does that work ? Maybe I'm not playing in the right cash games or tournaments...I've NEVER been allowed to bet my wife as an all-in !!! Gotta find those games !!!!

its a misinformed question, there are many religions in the world. Whilst the christian religion believes helping the poor and vulnerable to be a virtue there are religions out there which believe that helping the poor and vulnerable is a sin and only the strong should survive and it is our duty to crush the weak.

By the latter religious values poker would be a big virtue. As for the main religions Christianity, Islam, Hinduism etc etc I think you could discuss according to a specific religion whether poker is a sin or not.

However if we believe in a god, the next question would be which god.

If we were for the sake of argument to assume god existed then what do we mean by god? how do we define god? and what is the nature of this god? and what god is it? is it the viking god? the christian god? the Islamic god one of the many hindu gods or even the god of the Zulus? without this we cannot possibly answer if it is a sin or not.

Originally Posted by SPANKYSN

You mention that you can lose your wife playing poker...how does that work ? Maybe I'm not playing in the right cash games or tournaments...I've NEVER been allowed to bet my wife as an all-in !!! Gotta find those games !!!!

It's one of the consequences of being absent and not paying attention for her.. Etc if you have watched the movie "rounders" it illustrate this fact. There are addictive players out there.

Originally Posted by ChickenArise

Scriptures please. It should be really easy to show.

It's open to interpretation...

Thou shall not steal (the blinds)
Love thy neighbour (the fish on your left?)
Honour the Sabbath (Sunday Millions?)
Forgive them for they know not what they do (donk betting)

I'm gonna assume that when you say "people who believe in god", you mean the Judeo-Christian God, since the idea of sin usually correlates with this deity. Anyway, I consider myself extremely well-versed in the Bible and there is nothing that strictly forbids playing poker. Those in this thread who say otherwise have not produced any scripture to back up their claims.

However, one could make a case that playing poker leads to detrimental behavior like poor money management, gambling addiction, emotional distress, etc. While these things may also not be sins in their own right, they are unhealthy patterns that God would generally want people to avoid. But on its own, no, it is not a sin.

Poker couldn't be sin by direct rule in most of religions, just because it's name and current variant vs created 3 - 6 centuries ago. So, without direct rules it depends on human interpretation - will some holy or ruling people say that poker is sin for your religion or not. Anyway, in my opinion, if you fill indulge in sin when you play poker or some other card game - it is sin for you.

Originally Posted by kkami

People who believe in god have a question for you. Is playing poker for money a sin?

Why are you asking me?

Originally Posted by kkami

People who believe in god have a question for you. Is playing poker for money a sin?

If you Believe in God then (christain catholic) i would say yes its a sin cause its gambling idk what other religions say. Yes Its a sin thats why you dont win.

You'd have to tell me which of the 10 commandments playing poker for money is breaking to call it a sin. Played within the rules and not cheating or scamming your fellow opponents then it is perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned. If the morality of playing poker is weighing on your mind then just don't play poker for money.

And just to be clear, I'm sure there are plenty of people who believe in god who don't have this question for you. Mostly just the moralizing, feeling holier than thou people who want to feel better about themselves are the ones likely asking this question. I'm sure these same people are the ones also asking if drinking alcohol or smoking some weed or cigarettes or buying lottery tickets are also a sin.

Originally Posted by eagleaces

If you Believe in God then (christain catholic) i would say yes its a sin cause its gambling idk what other religions say. Yes Its a sin thats why you dont win.

The catholic church in New York used to deal black jack but they would have dealer win all pushes making it even harder to win against God.

Whilst poker itself may or may not be a sin, Deuteronomy 27:18 clearly states that you can not steal my big blind on any street.

Poker is like sex,,,if it doesn't feel like a sin,then your doin it wrong,,,

Originally Posted by Garfield52

Don't be so darn foolish. No it is not a sin to play poker. People have been gambling one way or another for centuries, When were growing up we were told it was a sin to play cards on Sunday, that an unnamed baby would go to purgatory if it died before getting a name. Then we learned that priests were sexually assaulting young people for years. Sometimes I believe that religion is a crock. How can churches justify building multimillion dollar buildings and still see people starve and live homeless?

Agree, people have been gambling long before religion was invented and monetized.

Gambling is not explicitly mentioned in bible as sin but the greed is. So it depends how you play i suppose. If you play for fun or to earn money for living i see nothing wrong.

losing ypur mind and money over it most likely is. Anything else is kind of a moral question. I ve never heard Jesus flopping quads though.

Originally Posted by toots babos

No

It is not a sin, if it were, God would not have allowed the existence of Poker, much less money. So enjoy life and its games. No one should judge you for playing Poker for money, much less neither God nor, if we were to take away our free will.

Sin. Why the hell it should be a sin. My money, my life, my choise. If i want to spend all my money and if that make me happy that is only i care about.