Under the normal format at the live tournaments we usually play in Columbus, the director likes to say the "serious poker" begins after the one-hour break. Blinds are 500/1,000 and climbing fast, and the smallest chip in play is a 500. That led to a poker sermonette tonight at Lil Kim's Cove from usual nemesis Harry, sitting to my right.
In the first hand at 500/1,000, he raised 3,000 right away. No one called, and he took the blinds. "I raised big with a pocket pair, so no one could suck out on me on the flop," Harry declared -- then repeated his comment a couple of times. (No, he doesn't drink.) Sure enough, Harry had pocket Jacks.
Next hand, Harry raised 4,000 pre-flop. "Remember what he just said," we told the players around us. "Unless he said all that to set up a bluff."
No one dared try it -- and Harry displayed pocket 10's. "Just giving you all something to think about."
But for us, the serious poker came earlier in the evening. We lost about half our starting stack with A-K when an opponent made a K-Q full house on the river. (We bailed out and folded when she went all-in.) So we needed a double-up anyplace we could find it....
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: A-10 offsuit.
We're the small blind, with a chip stack of 1,900. Some players might have pushed it all then and there, but we choose to lay low and call. Several players join the action.
ON THE FLOP: A-5-K
"I'm all in," we say going first. Another player curses at the thought of betting 1,700 to take us on. A different opponent guesses correctly we have an Ace, and folds. (One speculates it's A-5, because we beat him with A-7 two pair on the flop earlier.) The woman who cursed our bet calls.
"They're only chips," a man across the table points out. "Only chips." Yeah right -- we could feel our heart strongly beating for a moment. That man calls, as does one other.
ON THE TURN: Q.
All we can do is watch. The table checks.
ON THE RIVER: K.
The same thing happens. "I have Ace with a 10," we reveal. But the man across the table has A-7 -- and we wind up splitting the pot with A's and K's.
That was our last good moment of the evening, as the blinds and poor cards combined to kick us out after about 90 minutes. Our last slim hope was an all-in big blind with A-4. Another 4 hit the board, but an opponent with 6's topped it.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Our thanks to Lawry's for inventing seasoned salt. We put some on our dinner before the poker tournament, and decided to take a tall eight-ounce jar of it to serve as the biggest "card protector" we've ever had.
Of course, several people asked about it. That was the idea. "I read in a book that I'm supposed to be the salt of the earth." No one asked which book -- and we suspect a couple of them knew, but didn't want to press the issue.
Which book is it? The Bible -- specifically the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13. If the phrase puzzles you, read Colossians 4:6 as well. Then pray for God's wisdom in understanding what it means.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 32 final tables in 76 nights (42.1%) - 8 cashes.
YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $13,082 - unchanged. (Because we haven't played there lately.)
NBC SPORTS POKER TOTAL: Five-player games - 14-15-2-2-5. Cash tournaments - 3 final tables in 43 games (7.0%), no cashes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment