Poker Night 252: Fit for a Queen

"Get your tape recorder out," a woman ordered at our Lil Kim's Cove table tonight. She knows we bring one (though actually it's digital) to note the key hands of the tournament. We eventually folded the hand where she called for it -- but it was ready to grab for this, a few hands later....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: 10 of spades - K of clubs

We've won a few pots in the first, to stand above 10,000 chips. As best we recall, no one raised before the flop and we simply called.

ON THE FLOP: 9-K-J, all spades

The least we have is top pair. The best potential hand we could have is a straight flush, with a "gut-shot." When the play checks to us, we bet 1,000. Several players have been commenting about our reputation for only playing quality cards, so they fold. One man to our immediate left calls.

ON THE TURN: Ac

This card is a bit concerning, because our opponent might have been waiting for an Ace. So we check -- and he checks, too.

ON THE RIVER: Qs

JACKPOT! We hit a straight flush -- yet we sense this man was on a straight or flush draw. If he hit it, we want him to go for it. So we check -- but he doesn't fall into the trap, and checks again.

"Five-thousand," we say turning over our straight flush for a bonus prize of that many chips. He only had a pair of Kings.

"He should have gone all-in," a woman comments.

"But I wanted him to go first," we explain -- as we're recording, of course. Looking back, he probably would have folded any big bet we made.

That pushed our total over 17,000 -- and we took another couple of pots to hit 23,000 at the one-hour break. But in the second hour, the man to our left got even in a big way. We held an Ace and A-6-8 came on the flop. We went all-in with 15,000 remaining, and again our reputation chased everyone away but that man. He dared to risk his 14,000 remaining chips on 7-9 and an open-ended straight draw -- and caught a 10 on the river!

The failed big move left us with a measly 1,000 -- but we escaped one all-in time with A-9. Then forced to go all-in with A-2 in the small blind, the flop was J-J-J. That man to our left struck again -- with pocket Aces, which gave him a better full house even when the turn was A. We finished 14th, knowing a big chance got away.

MINISTRY MOMENT: That man to our left also was interested in the "Lord's Supper" card protector we brought tonight.

"Do you believe in Jesus? Is He your Savior?" we asked. Yes, the man said -- so this time we probed a little deeper. "What's God been doing in your life?"

"He's supplied all my needs," our opponent said -- which actually is a promise from the New Testament.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

"He doesn't supply all my wants," the man added. Oooo - he makes a very good point there. We'll expand on it in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 97 final tables in 252 nights (38.5%) - 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 150 point wins in 676 games (22.2%), 51 final tables, six cashes.

We made the money in an afternoon tournament on Monday, for the second time this month! We finished fourth out of 608 players.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $48,143, up $1,379.