Poker Night #84: A Beastly Hand

"If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666." - Rev. 13:18, NIV

For some people, that number is something to avoid. At the poker table, it's sometimes a number to cherish. Take tonight at Lil Kim's Cove....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: A-6 offsuit

We decide to limp and call. Trouble is, the woman to our immediate left raises 300. A couple of players match the raise -- and since it's early, we decide to give it a shot.

ON THE FLOP: 6-10-K

We're first in line to bet, and offer 500 as a "feeler." The woman next door makes a continuation raise to 1,000. Other players bail out. We dare to call (after mistakenly taking back 500 from the pot for a moment).

ON THE TURN: 6

Beware the triple 6?! We're more wary of our opponent. Is she holding her own three or a kind, perhaps with Kings? We check. So does she.

ON THE RIVER: 9

We can't wait any longer, so we make a hopeful bet of 700. The woman curses, and folds her cards with a thud on the table. We'll probably never know in this life what she had. But then again, only readers of this blog know what we had. (A couple of guys at the table guessed we hit a flush.)

Sadly, little went well for us after that hand. Hopeful attacks with good pocket cards fell short, and drained our chip stack. When we finally went all-in with A-J, a woman called with K-J and caught a King on the flop. She put us out in about 18th place.


MINISTRY MOMENT: We bought this lapel pin two years ago, and decided to use it for a card protector tonight. A man next to us said he liked it. It turns out he's the same man who supporter our "Jesus as your Savior" coin last Thursday night -- and he says he praises Jesus all the time.

There's a curious story behind that pin. We found it at a church convention in Panama City Beach, Florida in 2007 -- only the church convention didn't sell it. A "biker week" motorcycle sales tent across the street from the convention did.

By the way, remember Harry -- the player who needed thyroid surgery? His trip to the hospital now is scheduled for August 4.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 36 final tables in 84 nights (43.9%) - 8 cashes.

YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $13,203 - down $3.

NBC SPORTS POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-goes - 21-27-3-3-6. Full tournaments - 9 final tables in 82 games (11%), 0 cashes.

We've finished in the top 20 in four of our last ten online tournaments, including a ninth-place out of 241 players last Sunday night. Barring something weird, we're on track to play in the weekly championship this coming Sunday for an $800 top prize.