Before the windy wintry front came through town, a cool customer at my table blew me away Thursday night. Out of a table of six, I finished sixth -- and went bust on the sixth hand of the evening. (No, I don't think Rev. 13:18 applies here.)
BLINDS: 25/50.
IN THE POCKET: Kc-Kh.
I'm in the small blind, and raise 150 when my turn comes. That chases a few people -- but not a man to my left, who's wearing sunglasses and a dark hooded sweater. You know, the Laak look.
ON THE FLOP: 9d-9h-2h
Three hearts + two pair = big bet. Leading off, I throw in 500. The Laak-a-like calls. Everyone else bails out.
ON THE TURN: Jh
Four hearts + two pair + no Ace showing = another bet of 500. But this time, the man under the hood quietly raises 1,500.
He's taken one hand already, so he has me covered chip-wise. A quiet alarm bell goes off in my mind -- but I recall this man pushed me off a pot by bluffing last week. So I call the 1,500, leaving me with only 1,000 chips on hand.
ON THE RIVER: Qd
I'm hearing the alarm bell (and seeing my slim chip stack) enough to check. My opponent bets 1,000.
"That would put you all in, sir," the man sitting between us says. Yeah, I know. Thanks for the words of assurance. I'm quietly pondering this.
"Don't even bother looking at him," says a woman across the table who notices me doing exactly that. Mr. Hoodie is simply grinning.
The inner voice is telling me he has a third 9, to beat my two pair. But would he push in that many chips simply to bluff -- perhaps to fake hitting a flush on the turn? I finally conclude he just might be doing that.
"If I go bust, I go bust," I declare and push in the last 1,000. I show two K's. Sure enough, he has the third 9.
"I thought so," I say as I shake the man's hand and give him two Carmike Cinemas movie passes for KO'ing me.
In John 13:27 Jesus said, "What you are about to do, do quickly." It's obviously not fair to compare another poker player to Judas Iscariot, but he certainly made quick work of me. To borrow from Psm. 150:4, he played me like a "stringed instrument." It was not the first time I've been eliminated first on poker night -- but this one certainly stung the most.
MINISTRY MOMENT: I was out in under 20 minutes -- so fast that I never even brought up matters of God. I guess John 13:27 needs to apply to me, too.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 21 final tables in 50 nights (42%) - 6 cashes.
With seven consecutive final table misses, maybe it's time for a break -- and on Thursday nights, we'll have one. Lil Kim's Cove will be closed next Thursday for Thanksgiving, and work commitments will prevent us from playing December 4. We make no guarantees about other nights.
YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $8,888 - up $218. We were as high as $8,989 during online "warm-ups" Thursday afternoon, but couldn't quite climb to $9,000. Yet.
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