Poker Night 133: Mr. Big Threat

"I consider you a threat," said the man sitting to our left tonight at Club Eighty-Five. He meant that as a compliment. The man has determined we play "ultra-conservative" poker, being careful with our cards while others show up simply to bet at anything. Was he right, and would it work?

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: A-Q

We're in the small blind, looking at a big hand. Other players call to us, and we raise 200. But then Mr. Big Blind (the man who called us a threat) raises 500 more. We call, as do a couple of others.

ON THE FLOP: K-J-J

All around our cards, but not quite there. "Check to the raiser," we say going first. The raiser surprises us a bit by checking. Everyone else checks as well.

ON THE TURN: Q

There's the connection! We bet 700, and the raiser expresses frustration -- in part because the dealer is a bit sloppy with the deck in his hands.

"I saw the bottom card," he says, "and lost one of my outs." We hadn't seen it, but the raiser admits it was a 9. Then he shows us 9-9 and folds. Others fold as well, giving us the pot.

Were we conservative there? Well, we made a measured bet on purpose. Our opponent might have been hiding a Jack or a King. Thankfully, he wasn't.

Several nice pots came our way after that -- and we made it to the final table for the fourth Monday night in a row! Entering with 23,500 chips, we went all-in with 20,000 remaining on A-Q. But a man who had been hitting several big hands turned over A-K, and wound up eliminating us. We finished tied for fifth, with another all-in player.


MINISTRY MOMENT: We changed card protectors tonight to a small bottle of Liquid Paper. A man to our right asked about it right away.

"That's to remind me," we answered, "that Jesus can wash me whiter than snow." (Isaiah 1:18-20)

"Good." The man didn't want to discuss it further -- except to explain why. "I'm a Catholic. I believe in God. But I keep it to myself."

We asked which church the man attended, and unwittingly went deeper into a spiritual sore. This man may have been told to leave the congregation (we didn't quite hear him clearly), but he had to do certain things to be invited back -- things he hadn't done yet. We're not sure if that included the cigarettes he was smoking and the beer he drank (a rarity for him, he said).

What do you think of this man's situation? We'll offer our thoughts in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 53 final tables in 133 nights (39.8%) - 10 cashes.