Father Andrew Tapp, a priest from South Carolina, will have a shot at winning the million dollar pot in this Saturday’s PokerStars.Net Million Dollar Challenge, a new show on Fox TV Network.

A Priest on the Poker Tables

Father Andrew Tapp entered a free online Texas Hold ‘Em Poker tournament, battling his way through 10,000 other hopefuls, in order to get a spot on the show. But that’s not all that he did. Father tapp proved to be an extremely talented poker player and by the end of the tournament, he was able to make the top 10 – although that still wasn’t enough to land him on the show, it did allow him to advance to the next qualifying round.

The next qualifying round involved making a YouTube video which the producers of the show would have to pick and poke at, judging whether or not a contestant was viable for actually being shown on TV. Of course, with Father Tapp’s profession, he was automatically one of the most interesting candidates. A priest playing poker borders on taboo, and it was sure to draw a lot of attention from the press – both good and bad. It was a difficult decision to make, but ultimately, they let him in. After all, once anyone hears Father Tapp’s side of the story, nobody will dare argue against the poker playing priest. In fact, I dare say that we’ll all be rallying on his side, cheering him on just as the Almighty will surely be doing.

A Holy and Noble Cause

Let’s be perfectly honest, though. A priest holding the Bible– now that’s something we’re used to seeing. It’s right, it’s correct, it’s normal. But a priest holding playing cards, shuffling chips – now that, that just gives us the heebie-jeebies. Somehow, it doesn’t seem right. But ask Father Tapp and he’ll clarify things for us and even dispel our own doubts.

He says that in Catholicism, the sinfulness of playing games of chance, like poker and other gambling games, is a “matter of moderation”.

Furthermore, he’s not really playing for himself. He says that all of his basic needs are already taken care of by the church and he doesn’t need the money himself. The money he’ll win will be donated to the local church and will be used for some badly needed repairs. It will also be used to expand the church so that it will be able to accommodate a growing congregation.

And with all that money going to such a noble cause, we really can’t help but hope that Father Tapp goes home with the money. After all, it’s always much better to see a big church rather than a big flat screen TV. And it certainly seems that Father Tapp has a good shot at winning seeing as he already has a few advantages.

He says, with good humor, “I’m going to be dressed like a priest. That will probably be something that most haven’t come up against. They’ll probably be thinking, ‘Can this guy bluff? Is God going to be mad at me if I knock him out of this game?”.

So here’s a message to Father Tapp from one of those who are on his side: Good Luck, Father, and may God bless you and your game!