Poker Night 267: The Guidance Counselors

"You never win by chasing," a man to our left said tonight at Lil Kim's Cove. Several other players agreed with him, to a point.

"If you don't get it on the turn, it's not worth going to the river," another said -- probably referring to a chase for a straight or a flush.

We listened to the discussion, not saying a thing. But when we were moved to another table with higher blinds, their words suddenly became our reality.

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: A-9 of clubs

Only five players are at the table, as the field narrows. We won a moderate-sized early pot, but lost 3,000 a few hands before this one when K-Q didn't pair on the flop. A-J came, but we refused to call a big bet with a straight draw. So we start this hand with 4,500 chips -- and while it's tempting to push right now, we choose to limp in. No one raises.

ON THE FLOP: 3c-3s-6c

There's "nut flush" potential here, and the play checks to us. We check -- but then the man next in line bets 2,000. One player calls. We make a bet which costs more than half our remaining chips, by calling. It would be nice if a club came right now....

ON THE TURN: 10d

....Except it didn't. We check again, and the man to our left spreads out 4,000. The man in between calls again -- and now it's decision time.

"You know how to drive a hard bargain, don't you?" we say as we ponder an all-in moment. We might win the pot with an Ace on the river. We probably would if a club comes out. But we've made it a point all evening to play on the tight side -- and in the back of our mind, we recall what those men at the other table said earlier.

"I'm gonna fold," we finally announce. This saves us 1,500 chips for something better.

ON THE RIVER: Qc

Ouch! The flush card comes -- and that man to our left stole our nuts! When the hand is over, we show what we had. And unlike that other table, these players are more on the gambling side.

"You'd already put 4,000 in there," a man across the table says. (Really it was 3,000.)

"I would have went all-in on that 4,000," another man says.

"That's going to blind you out," the first man points out. Indeed it did; misses with the big and small blinds eliminated us in 13th place. We reached the semifinal table, at least -- barely.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Before the game began, a young man at our table shared a bit of his personal poker philosophy: "I give up, and then I win."

He may have meant it as a joke, but we noted something in those words. "That's pretty deep," we told him. "In fact, it's almost Biblical."

Well, it's really fully Biblical -- but the Bible doesn't use exactly those words. Can you identify the place(s) in Scripture where that idea is expressed? We'll offer an answer in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 100 final tables in 267 nights (37.5%) - 15 cashes. Another slump officially is out, with six missed final tables in a row.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 160 point wins in 725 games (22.1%), 54 final tables, seven cashes.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $56,737, down $1,990. (A week of losses, after a week of huge wins.)