Poker Night 266: On the Outs

The last week has been big for us in online poker -- huge, in fact. But that happened in "cash games" with play money, which didn't count. Yet we hoped the success somehow would carry over to Lil Kim's Cove tonight. After winning a small early pot, a big test came....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: Q-J of diamonds

We're ready to quietly limp in, with high suited connectors. But this table has been betting bigger with every round of blinds. A man to our left raises to 400. A man across from us adds another 1,000. With 9,475 chips in our stack (helped by bonuses for soda and arriving on time for the game), we decide to take the risk and call 1,200 more. Four players wind up seeing the flop.

ON THE FLOP: Kc-10s-9s

It's almost a dream flop for us, as we hit a straight! But the big bettor across from this makes a continuation bet of 2,000. We know our hand is best, and we want him to know it.

"Raise," we announce; "2,000 more."

"I'm getting out of the way," another player says as he folds. The big bettor doesn't; he calls and we're heads-up.

ON THE TURN: 5s

Uh-oh -- now three spades are on the board. Our opponent checks. But we really don't think he's betting so big sitting on spades. So we fire a second big barrel, betting 2,000 again.

"I'm all-in," our opponent decides. He tosses out 2,050 more. Now we're wondering a little -- but we don't ponder long, because we're pot-committed either way.

"I'll call," we say. "Do you have the flush?" Thankfully, no! Our foe turns over K-K -- but one of the Kings is a spade. He has three of a kind and several draws, but we still lead.

"He's got a full house," someone at the table says as a card is burned. Not yet he's doesn't....

ON THE RIVER: 5c

....but now he does! A pair on the board lets him escape "by boat." We're left with quiet pain -- and a single wimpy chip, worth the minimum 25.

"I had a lot of outs," the man said. "Like maybe half the deck?!" Well, let's see. Nine spades would have earned him a flush. Add possible full houses from three 10's, three 9's, three 5's plus the "case King" for quads -- and the grand total is 19 outs out of 44 unknown cards. That's a 43-percent chance, or a virtual coin flip.

Obviously, that loss was a crippling blow. We had to go all-in for the big blind three hands later, and our K-8 brought a pair of 8's on the river. But a man with a pair of Jacks sent us home -- with a painful sixth place, out of eight at our table.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We took a little packet of salt to the table for a "card protector," and explained to a man on our right how it referred to "the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13).

"Do you believe in Jesus? Do you do what he says?" we asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm saved. I'm baptized." Then he added the name of a church he attends.

Let's break down his answer, the way we broke down our bad beat. Are you saved? The Bible tells us....

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. - I Timothy 2:3-4

How does salvation happen? We need to combine several Bible verses for a complete perspective of the answer.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. - Acts 2:21 (see also Romans 10:13)

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But some Christian groups make it seem too simple -- as if that's all there is to it. Jesus indicated otherwise:

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. - Mark 13:13

The King James Version says we must "endure" to the end. That appears to refer to the end of the age -- or the end of our lives, should that come first. Yet we also have these reassuring words....

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.... - Ephesians 2:8

By the grace of God, He considers us saved now. But we need to stay close to Him, to "make our calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10). We'll analyze the other parts of our poker buddy's answer in future posts.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 100 final tables in 266 nights (37.6%), 15 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 159 point wins in 722 games (22.0%), 54 final tables, 7 cashes. UFC 3-card Hold 'em - 2 point wins in 11 games, 1 final table, 1 cash. One-table sit-n-goes - 8-12-7-3-2.

We came close to qualifying for last Sunday night's weekly championship, thanks to a strong showing in a Saturday night game. But second place in a "SNG-gie" didn't provide enough points to put us in.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $58,727, up $7,815.

Whoa - what happened here? Two big "lightning round" drop-ins Sunday did it. Big hands came our way, and we pushed with them to success - making $4,145 in one session. We wound up with gains in eight out of nine sessions.