Poker Night 153: His Way and Our Way

"Put this in your blog," a man sitting next to us said during a hand at Soho Bar and Grill. He won the hand with a pair of 9's. OK, why is that blog-worthy?

"I went by the odds, the percentages, their facial gestures and their betting habits during the game."

Now he tells us this. Earlier in the evening, our thinking was a little different:

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: A-6 offsuit

We're in the big blind, and no one raises ahead of us. We probably could, but we don't.

ON THE FLOP: K-10-6

A man ahead of us bets 600. With bottom pair but an attractive kicker, we decide to call and see what happens. One or two other players do the same.

ON THE TURN: A

The first player in line doubles the bet to 1,200. But now we have two pair, and we sense (without looking at him) the turn card left the man to our right weaker than he thought. We call again. Everyone else bails out.

ON THE RIVER: 9

Our opponent checks -- which we don't mind. A big bet might have made us sweat a little. Now we bet 1,000. A call in response indicates to us we're safe.

"Queen-10." He has one pair, missed a straight draw -- and seems surprised we stayed past the flop with bottom pair. "You hit runners." (Only one, really.)

That big gain was erased minutes later, when a man fooled us by betting big with a well-disguised full house. We never really recovered after that -- finally going all-in with K-Q. Both cards paired on the flop, but a man across from us caught a flush on the river. We went home in approximately 30th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Even before play began, players at our table were puzzled by the little bottle of Liquid Paper we used as a card protector. (At least one man knew we like to bring these discussion-starters.)

"I brought this to remind me that Jesus can wash my sins whiter than snow," we explained (based on Psalm 51:7).

"There are two things I don't bring up: politics and religion," a man said in response. "I'm not really religious. I consider myself spiritual."

We didn't answer that comment, because we wanted to check a book at home before responding to that statement. Our check found "spiritual" people shouldn't be afraid to be Christians. An upcoming post will explain why.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 60 final tables in 153 nights (39.2%) - 11 cashes.