Poker Night 187: Crusty, But Not a Clown

The poker game went well at The Red Barn tonight -- but that wasn't the real story. We're reversing our usual order, because of the continued reaction our card protector is receiving....

MINISTRY MOMENT: "You brought a f***ing piece of bread?!" a woman asked at the final table. Yes, we did. One man thought at first it was cake.

A few people actually figured out the meaning of the crust without our mentioning it -- "the bread of life" (John 6:35, 51). A couple of them even explained it to other puzzled players! Yet there were skeptics.

"This isn't a.... church," said one man when we said the crust reminded us Jesus is the bread of life. Yes, we know. But Jesus's disciples shared the gospel in non-church settings many times.

"I don't think you should mix Jesus and poker," a woman said later at the final table.

"But Jesus went all-in more than anyone ever did," we answered. For some reason, this brought laughter from a man to our left. Perhaps he took our comparison as a joke -- but John 3:16 is pretty serious to us.

We may not have converted anyone tonight, but we certainly made several people think about Jesus -- and we hope they're stirred by God to think of the Lord more often.

Meanwhile at the game, only about a dozen people showed up tonight. But several of the players are high-ranking regulars, so a good finish would have to be earned -- with some help from good cards:

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: Q-J of clubs

A player across the table from us raises to 200. With high suited connectors, this seems fine to us. Several players join in.

ON THE FLOP: 10d-9h-8d

A straight on the flop looks fine, indeed! We're first up to bet, so we toss in 400. A couple of people call, while the man who raised pre-flop apparently smells trouble and folds.

ON THE TURN: 8h

The board pairs, but we're more concerned about players possibly chasing a flush. We increase the bet to 600 -- yet nobody runs away, as calling continues.

ON THE RIVER: 6h

Anyone holding a 7 at this point has a losing straight, so that's not our issue. We now see three hearts, and that makes us think a moment. If we check, another player might sense weakness and make a big bet even without the hearts.

"Split the difference -- 500," we announce. A woman to our left who concerned us most folds. A man to the right calls. He has a 9, but his two pair is only second-best.

We made a big 4,050-chip gain minutes later when a man went all-in with pocket 4's. We had to call with pocket Queens, and they held up. From there, we held on to finish third. In a 12-player casino game, we think that would have earned us some money.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 78 final tables in 187 nights (41.7%) - 15 cashes.