Poker Night 228: House of Representatives

If our title makes you think we're going to talk about online gambling legislation -- sorry, that's another topic. We're talking about what happens when a poker room is filled with bluffers. Tonight at Lil Kim's Cove, we "sorta kinda" became one of them.

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: 8 of spades-7 of clubs

We're in the small blind with about 7,200 chips -- slightly above where we started, thanks to an early pot win with two pair. No one raises, so we call and give this a try. About half the table is in.

ON THE FLOP: 5s-3c-Kc

We have three clubs and little else. We check, as does everyone else.

ON THE TURN: 8c

We now have a pair -- but perhaps more importantly, three clubs are showing. We lead out 300, to feel what our opponents have. A man to our immediate left ponders for a moment, then calls. The others fold.

ON THE RIVER: 6h

No flush for us, but still "second pair to the board" as they say on TV. So we can represent a flush -- and we bet 400 to make our opponent wonder. The man to our left goes into the tank. After about 20 seconds, he reluctantly folds.

We never showed what we had, nor did he. But if he had a flush, we imagine he would have called or raised.

That small gain was followed by a large loss, and we had 6,000 chips left at the one-hour. Then with 4,500 left, we were dealt A-Q -- and a woman across from us pushed with a much larger stack. We felt compelled to call, and discovered she had J-J. Trouble us, all the cards came out low and her Jacks knocked another player out as well as us -- tied for fifth at our table.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We forget exactly what led to it, but a woman to our right at one point exclaimed, "Lord!"

"King of Kings and Lord of Lords," we answered. The woman laughed a bit, as if she knew what we meant -- or better put, Who we meant.

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. -- Revelation 19:16

Who would wear a name like this? Another verse in Revelation helps explain it....

They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings -- and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. -- Revelation 17:14

A "Lamb" is a Lord? And He has followers?? Who could this be?

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" -- John 1:29

The Bible truly can be a "connect-the-dots" book -- but we can connect Jesus to the "King of Kings, Lord of Lords" title. Have you connected with Jesus, and made Him your Lord?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 93 final tables in 228 nights (40.8%) - 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 113 point wins in 588 games (19.2%), 43 final tables, 2 cashes.

NLOP changed its "point matrix" this week, making it easier to win points in large tournaments. We earned points Tuesday for finishing 97th out of 625 players. Before this week, that would have fallen short -- with 70 the cutoff for games with 600-699 players.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $38,807, up $2,270.