{"id":106,"date":"2014-12-07T19:43:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T03:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/?p=106"},"modified":"2014-12-07T19:44:03","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T03:44:03","slug":"the-gambler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"The Gambler"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Gambler<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a rainy spring day I rode into town.<\/p>\n

I turned from side to side, looking all around.<\/p>\n

I had six months worth of pay on my bod.<\/p>\n

I was planning to gamble with this wad.<\/p>\n

Learner\u2019s Saloon: Cards \u2013 Music \u2013 Drinks.<\/p>\n

This looks like the place—I think.<\/p>\n

I entered, brushing off the rain and mud.<\/p>\n

I saw him in the back, sitting, dealing stud.<\/p>\n

It was a gambler all dressed in black.<\/p>\n

Sitting in the corner, the wall at his back.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay I join in?\u201d I asked those playing.<\/p>\n

The gambler nodded yes without so saying.<\/p>\n

It took me an hour to get warmed up.<\/p>\n

I saw the gambler was not a man to bluff.<\/p>\n

After a few hours, the others dropped out.<\/p>\n

Just the gambler and I continued our bout.<\/p>\n

The chips shifted from me to him.<\/p>\n

Then they shifted back again.<\/p>\n

When it came to the final draw.<\/p>\n

I knew one of us would win it all.<\/p>\n

He raised high and I called his bluff.<\/p>\n

Then, I found I didn\u2019t have enough.<\/p>\n

He said \u201cPut up the cash or you have to fold.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point I was feeling mighty old.<\/p>\n

I dug deep into my stash.<\/p>\n

I barely came up with enough cash.<\/p>\n

I said, \u201cYou\u2019ve been called.\u201d\u00a0 And I showed four nines.<\/p>\n

He put A, K, Q, J, of diamonds—The next blew my mind.<\/p>\n

It was the 10 of hearts—I HAD WON!!<\/p>\n

But, celebrating was over before it had begun.<\/p>\n

The gambler didn\u2019t say a thing.<\/p>\n

The silence was thick, like in a dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did good; you\u2019ve won the pot\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s late. I think I\u2019ll head for bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI sure wouldn\u2019t mind another drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, you\u2019ve won all my money\u2014I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave one on me.\u201d\u00a0 As I tossed him a chip.<\/p>\n

He said \u201cThanks.\u201d \u201cWhy are you doing this bit?\u201d<\/p>\n

I said \u201cWhat do you mean by that?\u201d<\/p>\n

He said \u201cGambling and all this crap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanna settle down. So I took a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a gal. I\u2019m gonna buy a ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said \u201cIf you do then stay out of town,<\/p>\n

or your ranch will no longer be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have gambling in your blood, son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour feeling good because you won.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, a gambler won\u2019t always win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you think they call it a sin?\u201d<\/p>\n

With that said, he stood up to go.<\/p>\n

I said \u201cIf I\u2019m asked to gamble, I\u2019ll say no!!\u201d<\/p>\n

He said \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work that way .\u201d<\/p>\n

There was nothing else for me to say.<\/p>\n

Deep inside I knew he was right.<\/p>\n

I knelt and said a prayer that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cLord, what the gambler said was true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep this Lord between me and you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp me never to gamble again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let me ever commit that sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

—– 0 —–<\/p>\n

Years later, at the ranch with my wife and kids,<\/p>\n

I thanked the Lord . All this was really his.<\/p>\n

I also thanked the gambler a lot.<\/p>\n

For giving me more than just the pot.——–R. W. Johnson—–(2005)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Gambler On a rainy spring day I rode into town. I turned from side to side, looking all around. I had six months worth of pay on my bod. I was planning to gamble with this wad. Learner\u2019s Saloon: Cards \u2013 Music \u2013 Drinks. This looks like the place—I think. I entered, brushing … Continue reading The Gambler<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-western"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}