Poker Night 131: All-4 Won

Ace is high in the game of poker -- yet some pros won't play an Ace unless the right card is alongside it. How many would have played the Ace we saw at Club Eighty-Five tonight?

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: A-4 of diamonds

We won an early hand to jump from a starting 6,000 chips to 7,950. But now we're down to about 5,500 chips and are looking to make a move. We call in the leadoff position. So do a few other players.

ON THE FLOP: Ac-4h-2h

One player is ahead of us, and checks. We notice two hearts are out there -- but we also realize top two pair are pretty good. We bet 900.

"I only need one card," a man to our left admits. But he folds. So does everyone else, except the player who checked in the beginning. He calls.

ON THE TURN: Ah

A third heart brings a moment of noisy regret from others at the table. Obviously, our full house leaves no reason to be sympathetic. So we stay deadpan, as our opponent checks again. Then we bet 1,500 -- enough to put the man all-in. He's tempted and thinks it over, but folds. We win the pot, but others want to see....

ON THE RIVER: 10h

With the hand over, the regret level increases. The man who only needed one card shows me the Queen of hearts.

"Did you have a King or an Ace?" someone else asks.

"I had something...." we say as we muck a hand better than any flush. We'll see how many of those players read this blog.

We held on to reach the final table for the third Monday night in a row, but then had our own moments of regret. We folded 8-10 of spades -- and three spades came on the flop. We folded 2-6 of spades, and 3-4-5 hit the board to allow a straight.

Finally we had to go all-in for a 10,000-chip big blind. Our 3d-10h looked promising when four hearts came out -- but another player made a full house with Aces and 2's. Final score: a tie for eighth place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We puzzled several players tonight with our latest card protector -- a small bottle of Dove soap. We assured one man it was not an attempt to mark the cards.

"This is a reminder to me," we explained, "that I should be wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove." Then we noted it was a statement Jesus made (Matthew 10:16, KJV).

"I don't think of serpents as very wise," the skeptical man said. What do you think of Jesus's words? We'll elaborate on them in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 52 final tables in 131 nights (39.7%) - 10 cashes.