We tried a new poker location tonight, invited by the director of the Thursday night games at Lil Kim's Cove. Soho Bar and Grill has rock bands on weekends, but it was conservative enough to have The O'Reilly Factor on TWO of its four TV screens when we walked in.
For one group of players, it was family poker night. The mother sat to my immediate right. She gave herself away with several statements that you'd only hear a mother say -- things like, "Daughter, would you share a fry?"
At one point early in the evening, "Mama" (which is what we called her) demanded respect from the rest of the table -- and we offered her some on the spot. "So would you put in the small blind, please?"
But Mama played well enough to make the final table. And so did we, tying with her for fifth place on the evening. We've heard the winner at Soho gets $100 -- and when we left, a Lil Kim's Cove regular named Harry was in line to get it. He was on fire at the final table, so when the moment came to take him on, we felt confident....
BLINDS: 5,000/10,000
The tournament director is in a lively mood, and throws two gold chips for 10,000 onto the table just for the fun of it. Somehow we don't think "ante" rules at casinos work this way.
IN THE POCKET: ACE of hearts-ACE of spades!
Our stack stands at 55,000 -- but that doesn't sound so good when the blinds are so high. We only raise to 30,000, hoping to induce further betting. In a hopeful sign, Harry (holding what looks like 550,000) asks how many more chips we have -- then re-raises to 55,000.
Mama sits in the big blind, and dares to join the jamboree. She only has 15,000 left. Haggling then ensues over exactly what Mama can win. We're tempted to declare it won't matter -- but Deuteronomy 5:16 says we should honor mothers.
"Oh yes, and I'll call," we declare when a quiet half-moment comes. Three of the six players at the table then turn up their cards. Harry has A-10 of diamonds. Mama has Q-8 of diamonds. We feel good.
ON THE FLOP: Jd-6d-3 (forget which suit).
"How about a diamond?" Harry asks. Oh no...
ON THE TURN: 2d.
Flushed out again! Harry's happy, and our Aces have no chance.
ON THE RIVER: 10.
Like so many hands on this night, it was a big Harry deal.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Early in the evening, someone across the table from us used the name "Jesus" in a semi-profane sort of way.
"He's my hope of salvation," we say quietly -- probably too quietly for that person to hear. But Mama next to us heard it.
"Oh, He IS my salvation!" Mama declares. (Oh, is Jesus yours as well? Review Acts 4:12 for a stern warning about that.)
Mama later hears the word "Jesus" in a song on the Soho background music. She points it out to us.
"I heard the name, but I didn't hear the rest of it," we admit. Neither did she; she wondered if we caught the context. We then add: "Lots of folks say the name of Jesus, but that doesn't always mean it's the right way."
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 31 final tables in 73 nights (42.5%) - 8 cashes. While we won no money, fifth place put us in the running for a "quarterly" big game at Soho in a few weeks.
(Yahoo and NBC Sports records will be updated after the Lil Kim's Cove game Thursday.)
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