Poker Night 347: If It Feels Good....

People come across this blog for all sorts of reasons.  We met a man tonight who said he found out about poker games in the Columbus, Georgia area through our blog.  He sat across the table from us at The Red Barn, and he won a few pots through aggressive betting.  But would that approach work for us?

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: A-10 of clubs

The first hour of play went fairly well for us.  A high pocket pair gained us one pot.  Then K-9 right before the break brought a winning pair of Kings and a "Rodney bonus" of 5,000.

We began Hour 2 at 18,000 chips, but lost a good bit chasing big hands after that.  Now we're in the Big Blind with 12,000.  Only five players are at our table.  Others are coming, to make it a semifinal table.  No one has raised in front of us.  Even though these cards are high and suited, we choose to lay low and check.

ON THE FLOP: 9s-Qd-Jd

This is a tempting flop, as we have a "gutshot" draw for the top straight.  (We don't even notice an 8 would work every bit as well.)  We check in lead position, but a man to our immediate left offers 1,500.  He's bet into several hands with mere speculation, and we have this feeling a big hand is coming.  So even though two players call in front of us, we call as well.

ON THE TURN: Jh

Close, but not quite.  We check again.  The man to our left offers 1,500 again.  This is low enough to keep us in the hunt.  So we call, as do the other two players.

ON THE RIVER: Kd

Jackpot!  Our hunch is proven right.  So we don't hesitate.  "I'm all-in," we declare -- plunking down our remaining 9,000 chips.

The man who had been betting is taken aback by this.  He ponders a moment, then shakes his head and folds.  The woman next to him folds as well.  The dealer calls -- but we still feel good, and we've got our clinching line ready to go.

"You can call me...."

"I've got a flush," the dealer says without listening to us.  He flips over two diamonds.

"....the Rivercenter, because I'm on...."  We fade out the reference to Broadway before the sentence ends.  To our surprise, our straight is topped and our night is over in 16th place.

Yet the dealer isn't satisfied.  "I was one F****NG card away from a royal flush!"  One of his diamonds was the 10.  So he doesn't get a 5,000-chip bonus for that, but he still gets the win.

Of all the Kings to come out of the deck, the one which landed on the river was the worst.  And to be honest, we never realized that card put three diamonds in play.  We loved the letter, but didn't notice the suit -- although if we had, we probably still would have risked all our chips had the dealer forced it.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "What do you have over there?" that winning dealer asked us a couple of hands earlier.  Did he mean the size of our chip stack?  The 4-4 in our hand, with 5-5-6 showing on the flop?

"I've got a Life Saver," we said holding up our wrapped card protector.  That answer was meant as comedy relief.  But we then explained to a woman sitting to our right, "It reminds me Jesus is my lifesaver -- my hope of salvation."

We didn't ask the woman what she thought of that statement, but she seemed to understand.  It's a desire believers expressed long before Jesus came to Earth.

I wait for your salvation, O Lord, and I follow your commands.... I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. - Psalm 119:166, 174

Did you notice what's connected to salvation in Psalms?  There's commandment-keeping, and delight in God's law.  A poker tournament admittedly can test your loyalty to that law.  For instance....

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.  You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. - Deuteronomy 5:21

This tenth commandment is why we're admittedly reluctant to play cash games for real stakes (even though we've done it several times).  There's a desire for gain.  But it comes with a price -- as other players have to lose money for that gain to happen.  Financial markets work differently; people who buy stock could pay enough to leave the seller with a profit.

As Constitution Day approaches in the U.S., we ask: how much do you delight in law?  Not only the laws of the land, but the ones God established long ago?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 123 final tables in 347 nights (35.4%) - 19 cashes.