BLINDS: 25/50
IN THE POCKET: Ace of spades - 9 of spades
It's the second or third hand of the night. We're sitting in the small blind with about 5,600 chips. We don't recall anyone raising pre-flop, so we're content to call and "lay low" with a potentially good hand.
ON THE FLOP: 7s-10s-Jc (not absolutely sure about the suit for the Jack)
The potential for our hand has increased quite a bit. But it's not there yet, so we check. A gray-haired gentleman two seats to our left bets 300. OK by us; we join a couple of other players in calling.
ON THE TURN: 2s
Forget that "potential" stuff. A winning flush has come -- but we've been "playing possum" all along, so we check again in lead position. The man to our left doesn't slow down, betting 600. Others fold. We certainly do not -- following along by merely calling again.
ON THE RIVER: Kd
Our opponent has done the "dirty work" for us so far, so why should we get in his way now? We check again -- and are a bit surprised when he tosses out 1,700.
"Seventeen hundred?!?!" we ask. It's an acting job on our part more than anything, although we're not sure why he's betting so much.
"Double," we then say - a raise to 3,400.
"Re-raise," our opponent declares. He goes all-in for 1,500 more. Trap plays seldom are this easy. We call, of course, even though it leaves us with less than 100 chips.
"Do you have the nut flush?" we ask. Our opponent says nothing. Give him credit for not "bluffing" with his tongue.
"I didn't think you did," we say as we show our nut flush. The man quietly shows K-10. He made two pair on the river -- but he was beaten on the turn, as if he never saw that coming. He's eliminated; we jump to around 14,000 chips.
"That's a mean question," a player out of the hand says moments later. Wellll -- we tried to have a modest, semi-puzzled tone of voice when we said it.
We won a couple of other pots in the first hour as well, but lost a few which cost us our early gains. After the one-hour break, we bet big when a straight came on the river -- only to lose to a man who made a flush.
That led to two all-in moments for us. The first was A-8 in the Big Blind, and an Ace on the flop was a winner for us to return to 6,000. The second came with A-5, when we pushed with two pair showing on the board at the turn. But a man had a matching Jack for a full house, and we were tossed out in 14th place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: A friend came to our table late and said to us, "I have faith I'll do well as long as you're here."
"Don't put your faith in me," we responded. "If you're putting your faith in me, you're putting it in the wrong person."
The man seemed to understand what we meant -- and Who we meant. Our Savior put it very simply:
"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. - Mark 11:22Famed Atlanta pastor Dr. Charles Stanley once said everyone has faith in something. The issue is where you place that faith.
"Believe in yourself," we heard an insurance salesman say earlier in the day. Well, no....
I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory.... - Psalm 44:8As they say, nobody's perfect. We know we certainly aren't (check our final table percentage if you doubt that). Put your faith in friends or relatives, and they're bound to let you down sooner or later. The only logical place left for our faith is in the hands of our Creator.
If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. - II Timothy 2:13UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 110 final tables in 313 nights (35.1%) - 17 cashes.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 223 point wins in 936 games (23.8%), 73 final tables, 7 cashes plus 1 other win. No-River Hold 'em - 5 point wins in 22 games (22.7%), 4 final tables, 1 cash win.
The NLOP week was very good -- five "top 15" finishes out of 12 tournaments, three of those bringing us to final tables (one of those a ninth-place finish out of 554 players).
POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $81,811, up $1,999.
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