Poker Night 101: Know When to Fold 'em

Hand after hand the cards were dealt -- and hand after hand, we had to fold before the flop. Not many promising hands came our way at Lil Kim's Cove tonight. J-6 of hearts brought success on the second hand, when a flush fell on the river. And you'd think this combination would have worked....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: K-K

Hey -- didn't we see this last night?! Yeah, and it didn't pay off. That can't happen again, can it? We raise to 600, and several people at the full table call.

ON THE FLOP: J-A-J

Ouch -- this flop is potentially even worse than the one we saw last night. We're third in line to bet, and a player in front of us throws in 800.

"I started this mess," we say -- and call with two pair. A couple of other players call as well.

ON THE TURN: Q

The leading man now bets 2,000. We've gained a straight draw, but we fear the worst.

"You're probably not going to believe this when you see it, but I'm going to fold," we announce. Despite draws for a straight and a full house, we guess the bettor has an Ace to top us. Then a couple of other players call the 2,000 bet. Wow.

ON THE RIVER: 7.

The man who bet in the beginning bets again -- and winds up taking the pot with J-8. Our suspicions were confirmed, and we did well to minimize our losses.

Yet we had 7,500 chips at the one-hour break -- only to see a long series of poor-quality hands come our way. We folded a 6-7 which could have made two pair, but would have lost to a straight. Finally we went all-in with 3,500 and A-J -- and lost to a man with a pair of sevens.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Even before the tournament began, we told a woman at our table about a church convention we're attending in a couple of weeks. We'll keep the Biblical Feast of Tabernacles -- a festival which observing Jews call Sukkot (Lev. 23:34-36), and which Jesus marked when He was on the earth (John 7:2-10).

If you're interested in attending this feast, click on this link for a site near you. In the meantime, a happy Rosh Hashanah/Feast of Trumpets to all who are keeping it this weekend!

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 41 final tables in 101 nights (40.6%) - 9 cashes.

YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $13,835 - up $257 to a RECORD high! We've set records the last four times we've played there.

NBC SPORTS POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-goes - 29-34-10-5-8. Full tournaments - 20 final tables in 156 games (12.8%), 2 cashes.