On most Tuesday nights, we join a Bible discussion via teleconference from Alabama. But the last Tuesday night of the month is when the National League of Poker has its Senior Championship -- and this week, we had our best finish there ever. How well? Follow the action....
:06 IN: We have Ace-Jack of clubs, and raise to 100. A few players call. The flop is 3-K-10 (only the K is a club). We make a continuation bet of 60 and get called. The turn is 5c, giving us plenty of draws. Everyone checks. The river is a disappointing Jd, and everyone checks -- but that gives us top pair, beating someone with 6-6! We gain $450.
:15 IN: We have J-10 in the big blind, and a player in front of us goes all-in for 310. We dare to call, and face 8-8. The flop is A-K-2. But the turn is J and the river is 10. We gain $600.
:23 IN: We have A-A on the button. A player ahead of us doubles the blind, and we happily follow along. The flop is 9-8-J, and the raiser goes all-in for $1,665. We dare to call again, as does someone else. The turn is 6. The table checks. The river is 6. We bet a hopeful 150, get called -- then get rewarded! Our opponents have A-J and A-9. Two pair wins us more than $3,100.
:27 IN: We have A-6 of diamonds. A player raises 460 to go all-in, another player adds 160 to do the same, and we have the spare chips to call them both. Our opponents have 4-4 and 7-6. But the flop is a gorgeous A-J-A -- and A on the river gives us quad aces! After a meaningless 5 on the river, we win $2,850.
We reach the first break in great shape, at 4,190 chips - good for 20th place, with 364 players left.
:34 IN: We come back from break with K-5 of hearts. The flop is J-3-K, and happily call an all-in bet of 520. Our opponent has a mere 8-Q. That apparent bluff failed, as 2-8 follow on the board to win us another $1,350.
:39 IN: After a sizable loss with an open-ended straight draw which failed, we have A-8 on the button. The flop is 5-8-9, and we offer a lead-out bet of 250 which gets a caller. The turn is Q. Both of us check. The river is 2. After more checking, our pair of 8's holds up! We beat A-4 for a welcome $950.
:53 IN: After winning a sidepot with a pair of 6's, we have A-A again. We choose to limp. The flop is 10-J-9, bringing checks. The turn is 4. The river is 3. A player goes all-in, and wins the main pot with 3-3; we settle for a side pot of $960.
But then several promising hands fall short -- and we stagger to the second break with only 935 chips left. We've fallen to 142nd place, out of 158 remaining.
1:08 IN: We make another move after the break, with K-K on the button. We go all-in pre-flop, and get called by a player with 7-A. The flop is J-5-8, followed by 3-4. Out big comeback commences, by winning $2,520.
1:13 IN: We have Q-K, play it -- and see 2-8-Q on the flop. We bet the minimum 400, and that's enough to run everyone else off. We pick up $1,850 more.
1:27 IN: After winning more antes and blinds with a big blind walk, we have 5-A. The flop is a very nice A-5-10! But we check with caution. Then come 3-J, and two pair win for us again - gaining $1,950.
1:32 IN: We have 5-5 in the big blind, and call an all-in bet ahead of us for 325 extra. The flop is K-8-4. The turn is 2. The river is Q. And amazingly, our pocket fives win - as two players show A-7 and A-5! It's a big gain of $4,275.
The big third-period comeback puts us at $6,645 at break time. Only 61 players remain, and we're 36th.
1:42 IN: Once again, we have promising cards right after the break with A-9. The flop is 2-9-A, and a player goes all-in for 2,585. We call with two pair, of course -- and the opponent has A-8! The board brings 5-7. And thanks to pre-flop callers and rising antes, our haul from this hand is $12,897. We climb to 15th place, with 55 left.
2:03 IN: We go "card-dead" for quite awhile, with three promising hands missing the flop and forcing folds. Now we see Q-A under the gun, and raise all-in for $6,356. An opponent calls -- with only Q-K! The flop is 9-3-8, but A on the turn clinches a big win for us. Our push wins us $21,312, putting us in seventh place.
A round of blinds then goes badly -- but we're moved to a semifinal table during the fourth break with $12,312. Only 19 players still can win. But we're in 18th place.
2:21 IN: The big blind forces us all-in with 2,712 -- but we have a hopeful A-9. We're heads-up against K-Q. The board brings 7-3-2, then 4-4. We'll take a "big blind special" worth $9,824.
2:28 IN: The blinds come faster now, and the next big blind is another forced push -- this time with a lowly 5-8. We face opponents holding Q-9 and 10-A. But the flop is 2-7-6. And when the turn is 4, we're thrilled! The river K doesn't matter, because we've escaped with a straight -- climbing back to $15,672.
2:34 IN: With 13 players left at two tables, we have 7-A under the gun. The blinds are so high that we choose not to hesitate, going all-in again for $8,232. We get called by a player with 9-9. A flop of K-2-2 has us fearing the worst. The turn is 6. The river is 8 -- and we're right. Two pair top us, and we're through for the night.
Yet our final result was a strong 13th place -- especially strong considering 1,045 players entered the tournament! Using a World Series of Poker payoff matrix we found from 2009, we would have finished the night taking home seven to nine times our buy-in. But alas, NLOP only pays money to the ten players at the final table. So we miss the money by three -- but what a great night it was.
MINISTRY MOMENT: A player to our right took a huge loss in the second hour, dropping to a measly 10 chips (everyone starts with 1,000). But then he fought back, and we noticed. From the chat-box...
Badone won Main pot 20 with Two pair, aces and queens
Me: The comeback begins.
flopblogger won Side pot 1 760 with One pair, sixes
Badone won Main pot 60 with One pair, eights
Me: as I said....
Me: Badone x6
Badone: thanks for encouragem
The word he clearly meant to finish was "encouragement." It's a trait you're not likely to see very often in big-time professional poker. But it's something believers in Christ are, well, encouraged to have.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. - I Thessalonians 5:11
Times were not easy for believers when Paul wrote these words. Newly-developing Christians faced persecution from Roman leaders, as well as outraged Jews (3:4). But Paul wanted to encourage them -- in what?
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. - I Thessalonians 5:9
Paul admitted encouragement is a trait not everyone has -- perhaps not even in church groups:
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.... if it is encouraging, let him encourage.... - Romans 12:6-8
We've been on both sides of this line -- trying to aid others who are "down in the dumps," then feeling so down ourselves that we want to burst any encourager's bright yellow balloon that comes along. If you have this gift, don't be afraid to use it -- even at a poker table, where hardened players might not appreciate it. You might be giving them the best example of God they'll see all day.
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