Poker Night 159: Thrill of the Chase

It's as true with poker as with any other casino game -- early success can be deceiving. Score some wins right off the bat, and you might think it's your night. But what happened to us at The Red Barn tonight was a reminder of reality....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: K-6 of clubs

"Hey Larry!" the Tournament Director shouts across the room from two seats to our right. "I've got the hand you love.... to hate." We don't remember right away what that hand is, but the Director decides to play it. "Be glad I'm just calling." We're in the big blind, so we're glad about it. We check.

ON THE FLOP: Ac-Qc-Jh

This is a flop with lots of potential, as we have a "nut flush" draw. And with about 7,500 chips, we can afford to spend money on it. But there's only potential for us at this point, so we check. Play checks to the Director, who bets 500. We call, as does one other player.

ON THE TURN: Qd

The board pairs, but not with the shade we want. We check again, and the Director now bets 2,000. Still hoping to hit it big, we call. So does the other player.

ON THE RIVER: 9s

Ouch! Our flush dream is denied. We check again, hoping the Director also missed a draw and our King might hold up. But no -- he bets 4,000, which almost would put us all-in. It's an easy decision to fold. And it's a good thing we did; he had A-Q and made a full house on the turn.

That loss hurt, but we held on from there to make our third live final table in a row. We hoped for a comeback when we had to go all-in with A-10 in the small blind. The flop was Q-10-8, which helped. But a woman next to us had pocket 8's, which hurt immensely. Then a 9 and 2 followed, to seal our fate: a tie for sixth place with someone else who pushed.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Is that thing your good luck charm?" asked a puzzled man across the table during the one-hour break. We were using a three-prong to two-prong electric plug adapter as our card protector.

"No," we answered with a laugh. "I brought this to remind me that I receive power from the Holy Spirit of God."

The man now seemed even more puzzled. "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit's power?" we asked.

"I do," he answered after thinking for a moment. "But I don't carry it with me."

Don't worry -- we don't, either. But we used it here to bring up the things of God. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power," Peter said in Acts 10:38.

That Spirit is now available to believers (potentially even to you) -- and the upcoming Christian holy day called Pentecost focuses on that. If you want to know more about that, click here for an in-depth explanation.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 63 final tables in 159 nights (39.6%) - 11 cashes.