Poker Night #39: "Because He Can"

A man wearing an Auburn hat and a ponytail was the dominator tonight at Lil Kim's Cove. I left with the tournament down to two players, but he gained a few early pots and proceeded to control the action with a big chip stack.

He'd call other players' big bets (and a few all-ins) "because I can." And he won more than he lost.

I sat 1-3 spots to his left all evening, and watched him announce a hand or two before the showdown. "Only one card can beat me," he declared when he made one big bet on the river. Sure enough, he had a club flush -- and the other player couldn't top his Qc (the Ac was on the board).

His words of wisdom late in the evening: "If a hand is worth playing, it's worth raising." Even if it means possibly getting burned, I suppose -- but he won about $25 at a different tournament earlier in the week, so it certainly works for him.

Oh, what about me? I survived long enough to finish 4th overall -- out of five tables' worth of players, or 35-40 in total. I survived one all-in moment, with a pair of 7's. But I chickened out of a possible big score when I folded a possible heart flush on the turn -- and you can guess what hit the river.

No hand really stood out, but a couple of other things did:

BLINDS: 1,000/2,000.

"I'm the big blind," a young man immediately to my right said with some pain -- as he proceeded to tip over his beer bottle, with some of the beer landing on my shorts. At least the beer was cold, in a club some said was too warm.

Beer on the shorts + cigarette smoke seeping onto my shirt = one true Southern bar experience.

Mr. Know-it-All sat to my left tonight. We got along fine, and he didn't have to correct me -- unlike last week.

MINISTRY MOMENT: At a semifinal table, I folded -- as did a woman immediately to my left. After the flop, I reminded others at the table that "I surrendered."

"I surrendered, too," the woman said.

"I surrender a little bit...." I began singing a hymn, a bit in jest. (I didn't go all-in, after all.) Then I reminded the fellow surrenderer the proper title is "I Surrender All." We'll see if that registers with her down the road.

And oh yes -- I'm thankful to have walked home in the rain. It came, because He can.

UPDATED SCOREBOARD: 19 final tables in 39 nights (48.7%) - 5 cashes.

YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $4,265 (Up 1,025! It's $315 from poker, $710 from blackjack.)