Poker Night 140: Flip This House

The way things began at Lil Kim's Cove Thursday night, it was not going to be our night. We played promising hands such as 9-9 and A-8, only to see them come to nothing. A player raised ahead of our 10-5, and after we folded a 10's over 5's full house showed up. We bet too big when 5-5 on the flop gave us a set, and our gains were minimized.

On top of all this, we were in the big blind after the one-hour break -- hoping for anything good to happen. Simply hoping....

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: J-2 of diamonds

Ugh. That's not much. But thankfully, no one at the five-player table raises. We get in by checking.

ON THE FLOP: 2-6-8 (no diamonds)

Yes, it's a pair -- but it's the bargain basement of pairs. So we check, and so does everyone else.

ON THE TURN: 2

The small blind checks. Our decision is automatic -- "all-in," we announce. A woman to our left calls.

"Not just no -- but L-no," the small blind says as he folds.

ON THE RIVER: 8

Remember the full house that eliminated us earlier in the week? It looks like what goes around is going to....

"I've got a boat."

Huh?!?! The woman to our left says she has one? We have 2's over 8's. But she shows A-8, and the river gave her 8's over 2's. She built a bigger boat, and we wash out in 24th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: A nice word came up several times at our table. A woman said it first, after a big bet was made.

"Lord, have mercy!"

"I hope he has mercy on us all," we said as we folded.

Then we called a bet of 1,000 on the flop, holding two clubs while a third was showing. When the turn card failed us, our opponent across the table started stacking chips by the thousands.

"You don't have to unload the whole truck," we pleaded with him several times. Yet he almost did, making a bet in the 9,000 range which we didn't dare call.

"I decided to have some mercy on him," the pot winner said to someone else.

"Thank you for showing mercy," we said to him moments later. "Mercy is a good thing."

Jesus would agree with that. "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" (Matthew 9:13) Do you think that's a good idea -- in poker or otherwise? We'll comment more on that in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 57 final tables in 140 nights (40.7%) - 11 cashes. Online play is suspended for now, due to two road trips and a busy overall schedule.