Most screens were tuned to Monday Night Football on ESPN. One showed a replay of the London Olympics on NBC Sports Network. Surprisingly, none showed the deciding game of baseball's National League Championship Series. And only one small TV near the door had the final Presidential debate -- with no sound, and no one seeming to pay attention. Most of the poker players in the building were focused on their game, anyway. And we tried....
BLINDS: 100/200
IN THE POCKET: 6-6
Compared with last Monday night, we're at a table where the betting is relatively calm. But we haven't won a pot yet, and haven't seen many quality cards to try. A pocket pair could work, though. We call, and no one raises.
ON THE FLOP: 5-5-8
We feel fairly good about this flop, since the cards are in our range. A man to our right bets the minimum 200, and we call with two pair. As we recall, a third player remains in the hand with us.
ON THE TURN: 4
That's an even more hopeful sign, since we now have a straight draw. The man to our right checks, perhaps due to caution about what we might have. We don't give a clue, as we check with him. The third player also checks.
ON THE RIVER: J
We're not really sure where our hand stands -- but we're somewhat doubtful anyone's sticking around with a Jack. Yet the man to our right offers 200 again. We've come this far, so calling a minimum bet is a no-brainer. The third player folds.
"Sixes and fives," we say as we show.
"Jacks and fives," our opponent answers. He has J-K and hit the river!
That man did something we like to do -- bet on the flop to "take the temperature" of the table. We had the best hand at the time, and a raise on our part might have brought a fold. Or it might have been big trouble -- because what if he had 5 or 8?
Careful play kept us around for a while, with only a slow erosion of our chips. An all-in bet in the second hour with A-9 in the Big Blind paid off, improving us to 9,500. But more misses followed, and we finally had to push again for our last 500 with J-2 in the Small Blind. A flop of J-9-2 gave us a lovely two pair -- but a 6 on the turn gave a man with J-6 an even better two pair. He took out two players, and we finished tied for 14th place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We apologized before the tournament to the older woman who brought up Elijah last Monday night -- the Bible character we confused with Enoch. We gave her a slip of paper, listing the Scriptures we mentioned in our later study.
"We all can make mistakes," the woman said accepting our apology. She's right, of course -- and anyone who's ever lost in a poker tournament should agree. Errors in judgment can send even the top-ranked pros to the rail. So why would Jesus say this....
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:48Talk about an impossible-sounding task! We admit when we read these words years ago, we tried very hard for a time to live up to them -- perfect in word and action. The result was personal frustration, and even a bit of depression. It verified another verse of Scripture:
....For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23So what's a believer (or even a non-believer) to do? The good news is that in the original Greek, the word "perfect" also can be translated "complete." We are incomplete people, who need something added.
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. - Romans 8:10Jesus Christ can dwell in believers, through the addition of the Holy Spirit.
If you need that extra ingredient and want to know how to obtain it, leave a comment with an e-mail address and we'll offer advice. And if you're fighting a losing battle with perfectionism, you're not alone; read the Bible study we've prepared on the topic.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 124 final tables in 356 nights (34.8%) - 19 cashes.
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