July Senior Championship: He's Right on Time

"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time - Psalm 145:15

We've heard ministers say God is "always on time" and "never late." That exact wording isn't in the Bible, but the principle certainly applied to us tonight at the National League of Poker July Senior Championship.

The game started poorly all around for us -- with hopeful hands not panning on, and nice flops being met with all-in challenges which we had to fold. Then at the 47-minute mark, one hand changed everything....

BLINDS: 150/300

IN THE POCKET: 5-5

We have 385 chips left. "Little choice," we write as we push all-in. Three other players call to take us on.

ON THE FLOP: 8-Q-9

Ugh -- three higher cards.

ON THE TURN: A

One of the other players makes a big all-in bet. "Uh-oh" we write and prepare to say good night.

ON THE RIVER: 2

Things look very grim -- until the other three players turn over their cards. Believe it or not, nobody paired!

Dealer: flopblogger wins Main Pot ($1540) with One pair, fives
Me: whoa
Me: PTL!
FiveAces: dah u go boy
Me: Thanks -- sure didn't expect that

That surprising win allows us to survive to the third break with 1,090 chips. Out of 847 players, 198 remain -- but we're still near the bottom. Yet look at what happened from there....

:56 IN: We have K-J in the small blind, and call a player's all-in bet for 350. The flop is 6-K-6. A big 500 bet makes the rest of the table fold, and we take out an opponent with Q-4. We climb to $1875.

1:20 IN: After folding two semi-good hands which would have earned at least a split, we have A-J in the big blind. We go all-in, and prevail when the board brings a pair of Queens. We're up to $3805.

1:23 IN: We have pocket Queens, and call a player who doubles the bet. The flop is 10-4-2. Our opponent pushes, we call -- and he has A-9! The turn and river are 3-8, and we've jumped to $7,710.

1:44 IN: We have K-A in the big blind, and go all-in with 6,060 left. The flop is Q-6-3, followed by 4-7. Another player pairs, but we escape with two side pots and gain to $11,728. All this from $385!

1:47 IN: We have K-K on the button -- and here we make a safe play, which proves to be a big mistake. We call, and let the big blind check. When the flop shows J-7-7, we go all-in with 7220 left -- and the big blind happens to have 7-3. (Another player has A-Q.) The turn and river are 6-3, and the big blind takes everything. If we had dared to push, that winner probably would have folded and....

But still, we finished 25th out of 847 players. In a real tournament, that would have meant a nice payday. But only the top ten won money in the NLOP format. A thrilling evening nonetheless -- and we thank God for showing how big comebacks can happen.