Poker Night #45: You Push Me, I'll Push You

A change of work plans opened the door for us to play tournament poker two nights in a row. But Thursday wasn't as successful as Wednesday -- as we only reached the semifinal tables at Lil Kim's Cove, finishing 15th overall.

Aggressive betting worked early, as we hit a 3-4-5-6-7 straight on the turn with a pocket 7. A bet of $450 (blinds 25/50) on the turn was called. A $1,200 bet on the river wasn't.

But then it didn't work, as we went fishing without success for a few big hands and lost the edge. And for awhile we couldn't bet at all, as the pocket cards were dreadfully weak.

But then it worked once -- in a battle of the 200/400 blinds. The flop was a 6-7-9, and in the small blind position we went all-in straightway with a pocket 9. That scared our opponent off.

But then the final failure came....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: K-Q of diamonds

Our stack is low at 3,350, so one off the button we raise to 1,000. A couple of opponents call.

ON THE FLOP: 9-6-4, rainbow (no diamonds).

A man across the table bets 2,000 ahead of us. It's a tough decision time, and with two "over cards" we go all-in with 2,350. An easy call for our foe -- and he has a 9, so he leads the race with a pair.

ON THE TURN AND RIVER: The dealer put these out so quickly that it's a bit blurry, but I think it was A-10. In any case, I missed a straight by one card -- and the opponent's 9's hold up.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Good Lord!" a man to our right exclaimed when he received the latest in a series of unplayable deals.

"He's good all the time," I answer. Jesus did that when He walked the earth (Acts 10:38). Hopefully you do, too.

I've learned in recent years how to answer outbursts about God or Christ. Say something short and to the point, of about one sentence. And if the oath-maker takes issue with you giving a Christian response, I say: "Hey, YOU brought Him up."

UPDATED SCOREBOARD: 21 final tables in 45 nights (46.7%) - 6 cashes.

YAHOO POKER TOTAL: RECORD HIGH $7770 -- Up $114, in a single Thursday session (a topic for another time).