Poker Night 263: Perfect Position

It's not always what cards you're dealt in a poker tournament - it's when you're dealt them. Timing and position in the betting order can make a big difference. It did for us at Lil Kim's Cove tonight....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: Q-Q

We dealt ourselves a nice hand, at what a few people have dubbed a "nice table" -- as in no one making big raises. So when the play calls around to us, we make things modest. We raise to 300. About half the table calls. "Thank you for your generosity," we say with a smile.

ON THE FLOP: 3-6-A

Uh-oh -- we didn't want to see that big a card show up. But because we're dealing, everyone else in the hand has to make a move first. When all of them check, we do not -- offering a continuation bet/position bet of 500. That chases every player except one away; he calls.

ON THE TURN: 9

There's no straight or flush threat here -- but we're concerned the man to our right might be sandbagging an Ace. He checks. So do we.

"You have a pocket pair," the man to our immediate left says at this point. No comment....

ON THE RIVER: 2

Our opponent checks again. If he had an Ace, we think he would have bet by now. So we offer 500 more, and he calls it.

"How did you know?" we ask the man to our left. "Yes, I have a pocket pair." We show it -- and our opponent shows no better than a 2. His bottom pair loses. Playing last pays off for us, and we jump to more than 8,000 chips.

We reached the one-hour break at 8,300 -- then had a big round in the blinds early in the second hour, including three Aces to move us up to 25,000. But we went virtually "card dead" after that, with little quality to play and a big bettor entering the game to our immediate left.

The stack drained away with rising blinds until we had to push with Q-J in the third hour -- but they didn't pair, and a woman across from us made one. We reached the semifinal table on a busy night, but finished 14th.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We usually settle for one purchase per night to gain extra poker chips -- but tonight was an exception.

"We're collecting money for Elaine," the tournament director said during the one-hour break. "For every dollar you give, you get a black chip" -- as in 1,000 chips more.

Elaine (shown at right) is arguably the best female poker player in our city. She plays a lot, and has won at least six local tournaments so far this year. But a medical condition has left her with weakening kidneys. She's shown up for games in a wheelchair for months, and has been in and out of the hospital lately.

The donations from other players were designed to help pay Elaine's bills beyond the hospital, such as rent and utilities. The players have responded by offering nearly $300. We joined in tonight -- but realized the "money for chips" approach isn't really the best:

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. - Luke 6:35

We certainly don't consider Elaine an enemy -- but we hope you see the point of this verse. Some preachers make it sound like a "seed offering" to their ministry will bring a financial payday. But Jesus taught real giving (or lending) should be done with an even purer motive -- even though such giving will be remembered in God's kingdom with eternal life as His sons.

There's another more private "gift" we plan to offer -- and you can join in this. Will you pray for Elaine's healing and full recovery, that God might receive the glory from it?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 100 final table in 263 nights (38.0%) - 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 157 point wins in 712 games (22.1%), 54 final tables, seven cashes.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $49,996, down $125.