It was a fairly good day in online poker -- a top-100 finish in a tournament with 641, then an $1,820 pretend cash game gain. So did that mean our final table slump would end at Lil Kim's Cove tonight? A key moment came early....
BLINDS: 25/50
IN THE POCKET: K-Q of clubs
We won a small early pot, so our chip stack stands at about 5,300. A player ahead of us raises to 350, and we call with our suited connectors. Several players at the full table join in.
ON THE FLOP: J-2-7 (Jack is a club)
Not quite a direct hit, but we have 60 percent of a royal flush. The other players at the table do us a favor by checking.
ON THE TURN: 2c
The board pairs -- but now we have a real flush draw. A man to our immediate right makes a really serious bet of 600. It's about a tenth of our stack, but something tells us he doesn't have a 2. We decide to take the chance and call. No one else does.
ON THE RIVER: Ks
We miss the flush, but gain two pair. Yet our opponent doesn't slow down, betting 1,800. Now we stop to think for a moment. Could he have three of a kind after all? We're not really sure -- but cautious play hasn't worked for us lately, so we go for it.
"I'll call. Do you have a 2?"
"You win." Our opponent mucks his cards - clearly a sign he was bluffing! We show our K-Q to claim a big pot.
"He sucked out on the river," another player says. OK by us.
That put our stack above 9,000 -- and then we ordered a tasty cheeseburger for 6,000 more. But alas, two big bettors started dominating the table. We should have stayed out of the way, but we lost a couple of big pots trying to challenge them.
Eventually we put 1,000 chips in with A-10, then watched a big spender bet 5,000 on a flop of A-5-6. We called -- then went all-in when the turn was 6. Trouble was, the big spender had 6-5 for a full house. The river was 4 and we were no more -- tied for fifth at our table. Our slump of misses in local tournaments grows to a record 13.
MINISTRY MOMENT: The man who took us out led us into a fascinating discussion of God tonight, before the cards were even dealt. We carried a small candle, to note Jesus's instruction to be "a light to the world" (Matthew 5:14). "Do you believe in Jesus?" we asked.
"Yes and no," the man answered. "I have my doubts." Why? Because even though the man was dragged to church by his parents every weekend, he says he's become a logical thinker.
"If God has all power and can do anything," he asked, "why can't he make a rock he cannot lift?"
How would you answer this skeptic's question? We'll tell you what we said in a future post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 94 final tables in 244 nights (38.5%) - 15 cashes. We checked the records, and we've had "one in 13" streaks a couple of times. Maybe we're due for a comeback?!
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 130 point wins in 633 games (20.5%), 47 final tables, 4 cashes. We've earned points four days in a row, and finished sixth in a Senior Championship qualifying game Wednesday.
POKER STARS.NET TOTAL CORRECTED: Pretend cash games - $44,797, up $1,070. (Updated, as the website shows we haven't topped $45,000 after all.)
UPDATE 1/1:45am 4.29.11
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