Poker Night 260: The Jackson Four

"This is not my favorite hand," a player at our table said at Lil Kim's Cove tonight -- as he played pocket Kings. As we recall, they lost that hand. But we may have found a new personal favorite....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: A-J offsuit

We're sitting "under the gun," first to act at a six-player table. The play has been tight (others like to say "friendly"), so we choose to limp. No one raises, and about four players are in.

ON THE FLOP: J-J-J

Enough hooks for a deep-sea fishing trip -- and quads for us! But remember the house rules: no 5,000-chip bonus is paid for quads until the river. So we wait and watch the players in front of us check. No gain yet.

ON THE TURN: 10

Now there's a little action, as the lead player in the small blind offers a modest 500. The big blind calls. Sure, we can call that. Everyone else is out.

ON THE RIVER: K

A straight flush is not in play, so we hope someone gets daring. But the tight play continues, with two checks in front of us.

"How about 3,000?" we ask. Nope, too much -- as they fold.

"Plus 5,000," we announce. Showing the "case Jack" earns us the bonus -- and we're up to around 22,000 chips.

We had 21,000 at the one-hour break, and played carefully after that with one exception. When a man went all-in at the semifinal table for about 8,000, we called with 9-9. He had A-Q, so our read was right -- but he hit an Ace on the river to escape with a big pot.

We held on from there to make the final table on a three-table night -- but our own A-Q there didn't work so well. We pushed with 5,000, but the board didn't pair for us. A pair of 6's prevailed, and we left in ninth place. But it was still our best finish in more than a month.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Toss that one in there," a man said as he playfully threw our card protector into the middle of the table on the first hand of the night. It was our "Lord's Supper" protector -- the one with an artist's rendering of Jesus Christ on the back.

"I really don't think He looked like that," we said to the man. "I don't think He had long hair, based on what I read in the Bible."

"Maybe they didn't have scissors back then," the man speculated. Now there's an argument we'd never considered before. Trouble is, history indicates the Middle East probably did.

"We don't know the truth," the man went on to say. On that point, he may be right.

"That's why I choose to stick with the truth -- of Jesus," we answered. In fact....

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but through Me." -- John 14:6 (NASB)

If someone tells you the Bible is "the truth" -- well, there's truth to that. Jesus said "Thy word is truth" in John 17:17. But don't get so focused on the written word that you overlook the One who is "the Word.... made flesh," as in Jesus (1:1, 14). Worship a Savior and Lord, not a book about Him.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 99 final tables in 260 nights (38.1%) - 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 155 point wins in 705 games (22.0%), 54 final tables, 7 cashes. We also played one late-night ten-player sit-n-go, hoping to qualify for the Sunday night weekly championship -- but we finished sixth.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $50,343, down $300.