Poker Night 185: The Top-Pair 500

All that good feeling about a "top 100" finish in a massive freeroll doesn't last long for a regular poker player. In fact, we never even brought it up at The Red Barn tonight. We were too busy getting schooled by other players....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: A-7 of clubs

Few good cards have come our way all night, so we sit with 3,200 chips near the one-hour break. We don't want to play desperate yet. But to borrow from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., perhaps now is the time. We limp in, as does about half the table.

ON THE FLOP: A-9-6

Top pair is good news -- and being first to bet is even better. But we want to maximize our gains, so we bet 500 in hopes other players will stick around. Only one man does.

ON THE TURN: K

Suits are not an issue, so top pair still looks good. We bet 500 again. The other man calls again. Uh-oh -- why is he sticking around?

ON THE RIVER: 4

A straight or flush are out of the question -- but with our stack down to 1,800, we're concerned our opponent might have an Ace with a higher kicker. So we check. So does he.

"Ace with a 7," we say as we show. Trouble is, the other player has K-9. He made two pair on the turn to top us. Thankfully he doesn't tend to be a big bettor, because a raise might have tempted us to go all-in.

We had to go all-in after the one-hour break, with only 2,000 chips. It worked once, with Ace high. But it failed a second time with K-10, as someone else made a pair while we failed. A 15th-place finish beat that freeroll, but a much smaller turnout left us feeling unimpressed.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Following up on the chat in our last post, we ripped a corner from a bread heel to use as a card protector tonight. Several people asked about it -- and we explained it was a reminder Jesus is the bread of life.

"I 100-percent respect that," a woman to our right said when she heard our explanation. Others made a joke of it, warning us not to leave bread crumbs on the table. We weren't hurt by that -- but we're reminded from Scripture:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. -- II Peter 3:3

Simply put: scoff at God's Word at your own risk.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 77 final tables in 185 nights (41.6%) - 15 cashes.