Poker Night 284: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave

In one of his books, Gus Hansen writes the poker mentality should be different at a smaller table.  We had a taste of that tonight at Lil Kim's Cove -- as most of the evening was spent at a table of five or six players.  One of the challenges comes in attempting to convert big hands into big gains.  Take this example....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: A-A

We're "under the gun" with "pocket rockets" for the second time tonight.  We limped in the first time it happened, then "three-bet" an opponent who raised.  Even though our raise was only from 200 to 700, it ran everyone else off.  This time we limp with plans to "play innocent" - but no one at the table raises.

ON THE FLOP: J-6-9

The play checks to us, and now we decide to move.  Our bet of 300 is designed to keep people in, and maximize our gains.  Two players call.

ON THE TURN: 4

We still don't see any reason to be concerned.  So we turn up the heat, with a bet of 700.  But our opponents call, anyway -- with a man across from us looking a little frustrated.

ON THE RIVER: K

As we recall (not remembering the suits exactly), this puts three clubs on the board.  We decide to slow down and check now, in case someone is on a flush draw.  Our opponents check along.

"I've got Aces," we announce and show.  A woman to our left is a bit stunned, and throws away her cards.  But wait.

"Nines and fours," the frustrated-looking man says.  He's not frustrated now -- because he made two pair on the turn, and winds up cracking our Aces for a nice pot.

"You let him stay in," a player out of the hand tells us.  That's the "art" of the game, you might say.  We wanted to catch some fish, but our bait wound up tipping us overboard.

That loss hurt, but we won another nice pot later when an open-ended straight draw came through on the river.  Then came a double-up in the second hour when we went all-in with J-10 and a paired Jack on the flop.  But then we reached the brink with a big pot loss, dropping to one measly chip worth 500.  But we escaped when we bet that chip on A-2, and saw running 2's on the turn and river.

With only 2,000 chips left and the big blind at 4,000, other players were eliminated ahead of us -- and we survived to the final table.  But then with nothing to lose, another push with A-5 failed to pair the board.  We fell to a pair of 9's, but wound up in eighth place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "I'm not even a Broncos fan," confessed a man who joined us for the semifinal table.  His orange football jersey with a 15 on it told the rest of the story.  "I'm a Tim Tebow fan."  He's bought into the phenomenon surrounding the Denver quarterback with unrestrained faith in Christ -- so much so that he was thanking God, Jesus and Tebow out loud (not always in that order).

"God can do amazing things, can't he?" we told the man.  He agreed -- then proceeded to go all-in with A-5, and win the pot with a pair of Aces.

"I told you God can do amazing things," we said.  We've seen it personally, at the poker table and other places.  And the Bible is filled with amazing examples....

Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion.  But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. - Luke 9:42-43

God's greatness is shown in miraculous healing, moments of deliverance for believers facing life-or-death trials, and.... well, let's ask this.  Which Biblical miracle amazes you the most?  Leave a comment with your answer, and we might discuss it in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 104 final tables in 284 nights (36.6%) - 17 cashes.  We've made two final tables in a row locally, for the first time since July.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 182 point wins in 790 games (23.0%), 62 final tables, 7 cashes.  One table sit-n-goes: 8-13-9-3-2.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $63,779,  down $430.