Poker Night 239: First to "Act"

That big project which required us to change our poker schedule is in a break for several weeks. So we were able to play at The Red Barn tonight. Of course, the real question was how long could we play....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: A-5 offsuit

We stumbled out of the gate tonight, raising right away with K-Q of clubs and not even getting a pair. So we limp in here, hoping things will change. Most of the table jumps in.

ON THE FLOP: 2-8-4

It's the "belly-buster" straight draw. We try to lay low and check, but a man to our left bets 300. Then a man across from us raises to 600. We have a hunch a big card is coming for us, so we call. But the man to our left then re-raises to 1,400. The raiser calls.

"I'm probably going to regret this, but I'll call," we say.

ON THE TURN: 7

Our straight chances just doubled -- as a 3 or a 6 will do it. We check again, and are quietly delighted when the other two players check.

ON THE RIVER: 5

So much for our hunch -- but we have a pair, and a tempting opportunity. Our only real hope for winning the pot is through bluffing. The cards are showing for a possible "back-door straight." But the other men may have missed a straight, as we did. The table is playing slowly, so we ponder this a moment -- then decide.

"One-thousand," we bet. Can we run the other two off?

"I'll call," says the player to the left.

"I can't even call," the other man admits as he folds.

"Pair of fives," we say as we show.

"Trip deuces," is the response. Ouch - he had 2-2, and held the lead from the flop on. The man admitted later his re-raise at the flop was a move to chase us away from a straight.

The young man who beat us looked familiar, and we wanted to say something -- but we weren't exactly sure how to do it without offending. Only after we returned home did we confirm the man had been on the weekend news. He survived what police described as a vicious late-night beating downtown, allegedly by Army soldiers. Tonight's TV news claimed he was "in a trauma unit," but he was out and playing poker -- still with a serious blackened right eye.

That's the way the night went for us -- as hopeful hands never materialized. When A-Q appeared under the gun right before the one-hour break, we went all-in with 1,725. But the Big Blind was dealt A-A, and a third Ace on the flop proved too strong. We were eliminated in 19th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: It's the time of year when we use a simple long nail for a card protector. When a man to our left mentioned it, we pointed out it's a reminder of the crucifixion of Christ.

"A great symbol," the man said as he agreed the crucifixion has great meaning. "Symbols can be even more powerful than words."

Hmmmm - do you agree with that thought-provoking statement? We'll offer our thoughts about it in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 94 final tables in 239 nights (39.3%) - 15 cashes. We've missed the final table eight times in a row. And we're approaching nine months since the last time we won money at a local tournament.