Poker Night 127: Push to the Finish

A phrase in business says, "You've got to spend money to make money." That's true in poker, too -- but in poker, other people are striving for the same money you want. That means both higher risk and higher reward. A hand at Club Eighty-Five tonight was a classic example....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: Ace of spades - Ace of clubs

We've hardly had any cards worth playing so far, so this is worth the wait. Sitting second in the betting order, we raise to 400. But a man to our left isn't impressed by that, and re-raises to 900. Then a man across the table (giddy over hitting quad 8's on the opening hand of the night) hikes the stakes to 4,000!

We have 5,400 chips left at this point, but elect a simple call. The man who went above us first does the same.

"You ought to go all-in," a man to our right who folded suggests. But there's a method to what we're doing....

ON THE FLOP: 3-8-3

Now comes the all-in bet, tossing in our remaining 1,400. This timing could give the impression we hit something big on the flop -- and we seriously doubt anybody still would be in this big pot with a 3. The first man to our left is wary of this, and folds. The other man calls.

"Rockets' red glare," we say as we show the Aces. (Well, OK -- the cards really are black.) Our opponent has face cards, but no pair.

ON THE TURN: J

Looking good for us....

ON THE RIVER: 4

We raised a little. They raised a lot. But when all was finished, we gained a big pot -- jumping to more than 15,000 chips.

Our stack kept growing as the night went along -- to 20,000 at the one-hour break, and 55,000 at the two-hour break! Patient play with rising blinds allowed us to not only make the final table, but wind up SECOND on the night! We trailed badly when heads-up play started, and lost when we were forced to go all-in with 7-9. Two pair came on the board, but that gave our opponent a winning straight.

If this was Lil Kim's Cove, second place would have earned us a "bucket of beers" worth about $10. At Eighty-Five, which was hosting poker for only the second time.... well, we went home empty-handed. The young man who won was pointed out to the bartender by the tournament director -- but when we left, he still didn't know if he earned a prize for it. Still, this was our highest finish in live play since mid-August.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "I see you brought a battery," a man across the final table from us said. "A little AAA battery."

"Is there a reason for it?" another man to our immediate right asked.

"Yes, there's a reason," we answered with a nod and a smile. (Besides being our card protector, of course.)

"You knew he'd have a reason for it," a woman across the table alertly said. She's getting to know our tricks rather well, isn't she?

We then explained the reason to the final table. "This is to remind me that I receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon me." (Acts 1:8)

The man who first asked about it decided we could have brought a better illustration. "You should have brought a size D!"

"Watch out," the woman added. "He'll bring a big marine battery, and slam it down!"

We all had a good laugh about that -- but the man's point was that a big battery could reflect more of the Spirit's power. His point is a good one. But remember what Jesus said about little things?

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) Does moving small mountains of stacked poker chips count along those lines?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 50 final tables in 127 nights (39.4%) -- and we're going to call this a "cash" based on the Lil Kim's Cove standard, so we're up to 11 (ten first or second places, plus the fourth-place money-maker in northwest Florida).