Poker Night 298: Approaching Royalty

Poker tournaments can be a bit like the children's game "King of the Mountain."  And at The Red Barn tonight, we played at a table which seemed that way -- with the felt board placed atop three uneven tables.  It was appropriate for our evening as well, because we had plenty of ups and downs.

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: Ace of spades - King of clubs

We won a couple of early pots, but lost a few as well.  After reaching the one-hour break at 5,100 chips, a failure with a pocket pair has dropped us to 2,500.  Now we're dealing at a table of six, and see no other option.  We go all in.  Three players call to take us on.  That's not exactly comforting for us.

ON THE FLOP: Ac-Qc-Jc

But that's a bit better -- top pair with top kicker.  Two players check, but a woman to our right bets 5,000.  That runs the other two away, and that 5,000 is hers to keep.

Then she shows K-7 -- not even a pair.  Then we realize we have not only the lead, but huge potential.  If the 10 of clubs comes, we'll hit a royal flush!

ON THE TURN: 8c

"Good enough," we say.  That's a nut flush, and we clinch the pot.  But a 5,000-chip bonus still is at stake....

ON THE RIVER: 6h

"I'll take it," we say.  But another player asks us to prowl through the deck for the jackpot card, just for fun. The 10 of clubs is near the bottom.  But that's OK; we're back in the action at about 11,500 chips.

We won another big pot minutes later when A-Q turned into a full house, and jumped to 27,000.  Then came a setback, including a big loss with A-2.  Then came another all-in win, which moved us to the semifinal table.  Then we had A-9, saw a flop of A-9-7 and went all-in for 11,000.  But an opponent holding A-10 caught a 10 on the turn, and that finally did us in.  He took out another player along with us, so we finished tied for 11th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: A woman to our right said an expletive during the first hour, then quickly corrected herself.  Other players wondered why she did that -- and her explanation sparked an interesting discussion.

"He doesn't curse," the woman said while gesturing toward us.  "He's a Christian, so...."

"I'm a Christian," answered the man two seats to our left.

"I'm a Christian," echoed the woman to our left.

"But if you come to a bar, you can expect to hear swearing," the man added.

"That's true," we admitted.  "But you don't have to join in it."

The man agreed, but repeated his earlier point.  "If you walk into a bar, you should expect to hear swearing."

"It's like joining the Navy," another man said.  "You might be the only person who chooses not to curse, but you're going to hear cursing."

There's a lot wrapped into this discussion of about 90 seconds.  We'll start by pointing out the woman to our  right was correct: we don't use profanity at the poker table (or anywhere else, for that matter).  We follow the instructions of Jesus in this regard....

But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. - Matthew 5:34-37

The Hebrew word for "swear" here is more along the lines of taking an oath, perhaps to assume a political office or testify in court.  But swearing and cursing were combined in a dramatic moment of the New Testament:

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away."  Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!"  Immediately a rooster crowed. - Matthew 26:73-74

Jesus's loyal disciple Peter denied the One he earlier called "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16) -- and he did it by invoking curses on himself.  We're not told exactly what Peter said, but the rest of chapter 26 indicates he felt utter humiliation moments later.

With all that said, we must add something else.  While we introduce matters of God and Jesus Christ in poker rooms, we do not make a point of bragging about how we don't use "blue language."  We don't think that sets a good Christian example, either.  So we simply say other words -- but we've noticed over the years if you don't curse or swear, some people pick up on it without you  making it an issue.

So what do you think of this discussion?  Which of the people at this table (excluding us) do you think acted most like a Christian?  We'll explore this much more in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 108 final tables in 298 nights (36.2%) - 17 cashes.