Thursday, February 11, 2010

Poker Night 136: Clash of the Titans

The local poker tournament director started a points system in early January, a la NASCAR. Using that as a measure, we're doing well. We made the points at Lil Kim's Cove tonight, giving us six nights in a row where we finished in the top ten! Trouble was, we finished tenth -- missing the final table (our standard of success) by one hand and one player.

But the hand of the night was one we merely watched. It's a case of what can happen when someone tries to be the bully of the table....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: 9-2 of diamonds

A man named Lee sits to our immediate right. He went all in on the previous hand after the flop with about 12,000 chips, and the table folded to him. We think we saw him show A-3. Now Lee pushes all-in before the flop. There's no way we're pushing with this, so we fold.

"How much is it?" asks a man wearing a cowboy hat to our left. We'll call him Tex.

"12,750," Lee answers.

Tex takes his good sweet time stacking up that many chips. Then he surrounds them with his hands, stares at the cards again and finally decides to call. Everyone else bails out.

Tex shows A-J. Lee shows A-K, and takes the lead. The dealer flips the cards over with dramatic slowness.

ON THE FLOP: 2-J....

Tex is on his feet, and is understandably thrilled to see this.

....J

The table is cheering Tex on. It appears Lee pushed one time too many.

ON THE TURN: J

Three Jacks in a row gives Tex quads! The table is in an uproar, while Lee is slumped in disbelief. (Notice we would have had a full house at this point, yet would have been doomed.)

ON THE RIVER: 2

A full house is on the board. But the extra Jack gives Tex a huge pot, while kicking Lee out of the game. Tex was still playing, when we were eliminated.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We showed a new female player our "Jesus as your Savior" coin tonight. "Do you agree with that message?" we asked.

"Yes. Definitely."

"Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior?" This is a question we admittedly haven't asked much at the table -- an "all-in" question in its own way. Happily, the woman said she had.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 55 final tables in 136 nights (40.4%) - 10 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-goes - 3-7-3-1-0. Full tournaments - 9 final tables in 153 games (5.9%), no cashes.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: $10,485 - up $123, all from pretend cash games. (No tournaments.)

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