Poker Night #83: Sharing the Wealth

The late Skip Caray said about baseball, "Sometimes all you can do is tip your hat to the better man." After playing poker at Soho Bar and Grill tonight, we're doing the same thing. We're tipping our hat to a better Christian example -- a long-haired, tattooed young man named Eddie.

It was "color-up time" at the one-hour break, where small chips are put in stacks of 500 and traded out for bigger ones. We had 350 chips, good for only one green 500 chip. But prompted by another man at our table, Eddie handed us 350 more chips to make us eligible for two.

"Those aren't my chips," we said.

The other man then explained Eddie was giving away some extras, on top of his stacks of 500. "It doesn't cost him anything," the man at our right said; he'd still get all the green chips he had earned.

We don't know if Eddie is a Christian or not, but he did something you seldom see so outwardly at the poker table. Paul described it this way in I Timothy 6:18: "....do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

Poker is about taking pots, building stacks and eliminating opponents. (In fact, it was "bounty night" at Soho -- with a 5,000-chip bonus for taking players out.) But to Eddie and the other man, poker night at Soho is simply fun and games. Any money on the line at the final table is secondary, so they're happy to help out other players in need -- even though we had 12,500 chips at the time.

So the MINISTRY MOMENT of the night goes to Eddie, probably without him knowing or realizing it. He taught us a trick to use at other tables on other nights. One hour earlier, though, we tricked Eddie in a more poker-like way....

BLINDS: 25/50.

IN THE POCKET: 6-6

It's the first hand of the night. We're the small blind. Most players call, and we join them.

ON THE FLOP: 6-7-9

We bet 600 in the leadoff position. Eddie is immediately to our left, and he's puzzled. "You limped, then bet 600....?!" It's amazing how one playing card can cure a limping man. Eddie calls, as do a couple of others.

ON THE TURN: K

We turn up the heat with a "demonic" 6-6-6 hand, and bet 700. Eddie folds. A man to his left calls; no one else does.

ON THE RIVER: 9

Now it's a well-rounded "boat." We bet 1,000, which actually is risky because the other man could be holding a 9-6 or 9-7 and made a better full house.

"I've got to see what you have," the man says as he calls. He never shows what he has, because it lost to our full hours.

A good start led to a somewhat defeatist finish, right after the one-hour break. We had A-10, and bet 2,000 when an Ace came on the turn. A different man to our left raised all-in, forcing an all-in decision on our part. What we feared became reality when we called -- he had A-5, hit two pair and we missed on the river.

Final result at Soho: about 27th place -- much worse than we did online during the afternoon at NBC Sports, when we finished 12th out of 128 players.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 36 final tables in 83 nights (43.4%) - 8 cashes.