Poker Night 236: Luck of the Aces?

"You're not wearing green?" The tournament director noticed our outfit as play began at Lil Kim's Cove tonight. Yes, it's Saint Patrick's Day -- but it's a day we don't participate in. The green we wanted was money in the wallet. But on this night, that would prove to be a major challenge....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: A-7 offsuit

We haven't played many hands, because we haven't had much in the way of good cards. But an Ace gives us promise, so we call -- as do several players.

ON THE FLOP: A-2-J

Here's the moment we've been waiting for! A player ahead of us checks, and we bet 400 with top pair. Three other people call.

ON THE TURN: A

That's even better! But now we decide to switch gears and show caution, by checking. The table checks, perhaps giving us some cover.

ON THE RIVER: 10

"Check the turn, bet the river," we've heard. So we do -- offering 800.

"Two-thousand," announces a man to our immediate left. Others in the hand bail out -- but what's that about? We conclude he's either bluffing, or has the one remaining Ace. Since we've committed so much, we really can't turn back. We call with 1,200 more.

"Do you have an Ace?" we ask.

"No, I don't."

"Because I do." We show with confidence.

"I have a straight." Ouch!!!! Our opponent shows K-Q, hitting "Broadway" on the river.

The pot-winner admits later if we had bet on the turn, he probably would have folded. But we tried to make a finesse move, and it exploded in our face.

That's the way the night went for us -- as we never recovered from that big loss, and only won one pot when we were forced to go all-in with Q-9 in the big blind. Three Kings and a Queen on the board gave us a full house. When we pushed again with pocket Jacks, the move was right but the timing was wrong -- as another man had pocket Aces, and burned us. Final score: 15th place, and a final table percentage dropping below 40 percent.

MINISTRY MOMENT: When that all-in full house came, we didn't look at our cards right away. "I'm all-in in the dark," we announced.

"You'd better not be in the dark," a man across from us said. "You should be looking for the light."

The man knows about our faith, so we both knew what he meant. Christians should be focused on light, and be examples of it.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.... But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. -- I John 1:5, 7

In fact, Jesus declared He was "the light of the world" (John 8:12) - and encouraged believers to be as well (Matthew 5:14). How are you doing in reflecting Jesus Christ, at the poker table and otherwise?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 94 final tables in 236 nights (39.8%) - 15 cashes. We've missed the final table five nights in a row.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 121 point wins in 612 games (19.8%), 46 final tables, 4 cashes.

We haven't played at NLOP lately because of a busy schedule -- and with spring cleaning underway leading to the annual Lord's Supper service in our local congregation, online poker is in an "off-season" of sorts for us right now.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $42,037, down $300.