Poker Night 179: Kicked to the Curb

Are you one of those players who's automatically in when you're dealt an Ace? Sometimes that approach works. But sometimes that second card matters. Consider what happened to us at The Red Barn tonight....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: Q-2 offsuit

It's the final hand before the one-hour break, and we're in the big blind with about 6,200 chips. No one raises ahead of us, so we get in for free -- well, sort of.

ON THE FLOP: Q-5-3

Here's our chance to make a move. The player ahead of us checks, and we bet 500 with top pair. Three other players call.

ON THE TURN: 8

That card seems harmless, so we bet 500 more. But two players stay in -- and now we start to wonder. Our "kicker" card (the 2) is as weak as you can get. And for all we know, someone might have two pair.

ON THE RIVER: 4

Smelling trouble, we check. The other players check as well -- and a man across from us shows Q-7. His pair of Queens tops ours, because his kicker was better.

That scene repeated itself somewhat after we reached the final table. With the blinds at 1,000/2,000, that same man bet the minimum when an Ace appeared on the flop. We called with A-4 -- and he made the same bets on the turn and river, draining our stack. We both had a pair of Aces, but his 9 outkicked us again.

We only lasted a couple of hands at the final table, finishing ninth. But we've now made the final table at The Red Barn in six out of the last seven Monday nights!

MINISTRY MOMENT: For some reason we can't recall, a man sitting to our left claimed at one point "Lucifer" was at another table. As it happened, earlier in the day we eliminated an online player with Lucifer in his name.

"I wrote: 'Lucifer lost long ago, too.'"

"And he'll lose again," the man to our left responded -- adding he believes Satan knows of impending doom, and is spreading troubles around the world as a result of it. What do you think of that? Our thoughts about it are coming later this week.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 75 final tables in 179 nights (41.9%) - 15 cashes.