Poker Night 299: A Perfect Fit

We've heard other poker players declare the best cards to have before the flop are not high ones, but mid-range connected ones.  We're told you can make more hands with them.  Let's see if that worked for us tonight at Lil Kim's Cove....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: 8-9 offsuit

We've been biding our time since the evening began - getting in small during several pots, but not connecting with anything yet.  Holding about 7,000 chips, that "mid-range connector" theory is worth a try here.  We call; no one at the table raises.

ON THE FLOP: 6-7-10

A split in bowling, but a solid strike for us!  We have a straight, and there's no flush threat showing.  A man across from us who admittedly hasn't played in several weeks tosses out a feeler of 300.  Keeping in mind what happened to us with A-A last week, we raise to 1,000 to take charge.  Three players call, including the bettor.

ON THE TURN: Js

This puts two spades on the board, and increases our sense of urgency a bit.  The man who bet before us a moment ago now tries 1,000.  A man to our immediate right calls.  Nice try, but we're raising -- up to 3,000.

"That would put you all in," we say to the original bettor after a couple of players fold.  He doesn't count his stack (it looks like around 600), but he calls anyway.  The player between us calls as well.  What is he chasing?

ON THE RIVER: 3s

Uh-oh -- maybe that.  Three spades now are showing.  The man to our right checks.  We cautiously check as well.

"I hit it on the flop," we say as we show.  The other men didn't hit anything close.  Our stack more than doubles to the 15,000 range, eliminating a player.

We thought we had another big winner minutes later, when K-Q brought top two pair on the flop.  A woman across from us saw our big betting (1,100 on the flop and turn) and actually guessed what we had.  But a Jack on the river gave another player with 9-10 a winning straight.  In poker, what goes around truly can come back around.

We didn't have any great chances after that, and had to go all-in for our last 2,000 in the second hour with K-J of diamonds in the small blind.  But a player with 10-10 received a third on the river and kicked us out. We were close to the final table again, but finished 11th.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Where did you get that - the world monetary fund?" the man across from us said earlier.  He'd seen our card protector -- the cased depiction of the Biblical "last supper."

"Do you think that happened?" we asked the man minutes later.  "Is Jesus your Savior?"

"There's too much historical evidence to say He didn't exist." he answered, going on to call Jesus an extraordinary individual.  "But we don't know if things exactly happened that way."  He referred to the rendering on the card protector, but he went on to suggest humans have made adjustments to the Bible over time.

We agreed with him that changes in interpretation can happen.  While we didn't bring it up, there's one timely example in the book of Acts:

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. - Acts 12:4, KJV

The King James Version says "Easter" - but we challenge you to find any other Bible translation which uses that word.  The original Greek refers to Passover, which makes sense considering verse 3 refers to "the days of unleavened bread." (Even the New King James corrects verse 4 to say "Passover.")

But while translators can make human errors, and even reflect personal biases, the Bible claims the original writers did not:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. - II Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV

Is that how you look at the Bible?  Do you read it with all four of those "profitable points" in mind?  If you don't, we invite you to look at God's Word from those perspectives.  It's OK if you take what you read a bit personally.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 108 final tables in 299 nights (36.1%) - 17 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 194 point wins in 847 games (22.9%), 66 final tables, 7 cashes.  "No river hold 'em" - 4 point wins in 18 games (22.2%), 3 final tables, 1 cash win.

NLOP's midday "turbo tournament" with a $100 prize pool quietly disappeared Wednesday.  Instead, the former "UFC Knockout" game is back with a new name -- the version with three cards pre-flop, then a three-card flop followed by only a turn card.  We made a final table there Wednesday afternoon, finishing eighth.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $72,957, down $2,640.