Poker Night 301: The Great Diamond Heist

You may know the famous last words of a poker player: "They were suited."  But sometimes two suited cards can be a perfect fit.  Let's see if they were for us tonight at Lil Kim's Cove....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: 7-10 of diamonds

After a small early loss or two, we have about 6,200 chips.  Pre-flop raises have been common at this table, but this time no one piles on.  We're willing to call and see what happens, joining about two-thirds of the table.

ON THE FLOP: Qd-Jd-7c

It's more than bottom pair -- it's also a flush draw.  A woman to the dealer's left tosses out 200.  That's not large enough to run us off, so we call; so do one or two other players.

ON THE TURN: Qs

Uh-oh.  We now have two pair -- but if the woman across from us has a Queen, we have serious problems.  She raises the bet to 500.  We came prepared to take some calculated risks, so we call again.  We're now heads-up.

ON THE RIVER: 4d

It appears our patience was rewarded!  And when the woman checks, we're pretty sure of that.  We bet 1,500 with our flush.  The woman shakes her head, as if she fears the worst -- but she calls.  We show our flush.  She doesn't show what she had, so we jump well above 8,000 chips.

"You let him steal it," a woman out of the hand says to the early bettor.

We politely beg to differ.  "She bet twice," we point out.  Other players at Lil Kim's Cove might have bet a lot more, though.  And besides, a Christian never likes to be accused of stealing; check Exodus 20:15 to find out why.

We apparently bet too much after that, because that was our last win of the evening.  Failed chances left us with 3,200 at the one-hour break, then a forced go-for-broke push in the second hour with A-Q.  Neither card paired, and a man with Kings and 7's took us out.  We came close to the final table, but had to settle for 11th place for the second week in a row.

MINISTRY MOMENT: It's spring pollen season in our corner of the world, with yellow dust covering every car in town.  Yet it was thundering as we walked to the poker room, and we were glad we carried an umbrella as rain began to fall.  Within about 20 minutes, it was a downpour.

"On behalf of my car," we said at the table, "I'd like to thank God for the rain."

Too much rain, of course, can be a problem.  Our sympathies are with people elsewhere in the U.S. who have dealt with flooding from several days of rain.  But the Bible shows that moisture is a godly blessing:

....Your Father in heaven.... causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. - Matthew 5:45

The NIV Study Bible comments concerning this verse: "God shows his love to people without distinction."  The difference lies in whether you acknowledge the love God provides.  If you do, we'd think you're more likely to walk in a righteous way -- a way that shows gratitude toward God.

[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. - I Peter 2:24

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 108 final tables in 301 nights (35.9%) - 17 cashes.  The last time our final table number dropped below 36 percent, it was 2008 -- in our first months of live tournaments.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 200 point wins in 858 games (23.3%), 68 final tables, 7 cashes.

It turns out the midday NLOP "turbo tourney" hasn't disappeared after all.  It's still held several days a week, and you now have to register for it well in advance.  We had a good NLOP week all in all -- 6 point wins in 11 games, and two final tables on Sunday (a ninth and a fifth, the latter missing the money by two spots).

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $70,732, down $2,225.