Poker Night 375: Present Perfect Tens

When poker night comes around at a bar, the machismo in some players comes out.  They want to talk big and play bigger.  But sometimes you can make a lot of noise simply by being present.  That worked for us tonight at Lil Kim's Cove....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: 10-10

Our seven-player table has several "type-A" personalities, fond of one-upping each other and talking in tones barely this side of a bar fight.  So we've been waiting for the right moment to get serious with a hand.  Holding about 10,775 chips, this nice pocket pair looks like the right time.  We call; no one raises pre-flop.

ON THE FLOP: K-K-Q

Would all those letters scare you away?  It might as well be a caution light for the table.  Everyone checks; we do it because other players are behind us and we want to see if anyone gives a hint at making a big hand.

ON THE TURN: 5

Feeling better now?  A man across from us hopes we don't; he opens the bidding for 800.  The Tournament Director sits to our right, and raises to 2,000.  Yet something tells us these guys are simply being as blustery as the winter weather.  Since we have two pair, we call.  No one else does, as even the original bettor gets out of the way.

"Now I'm concerned; you called," says our only opponent.

ON THE RIVER: 3

Now our reputation at local tournaments comes into play.  The Tournament Director checks.  We're admittedly wary that he might have a face card, so we check as well.

"He's got a King, man," the original bettor predicts about our cards.

"Nope - a pair of 10's," we say as we show.

"That beat me," the Tournament Director admits.  He shows 6-6.  A little toughness and a good read pays off, as we gain several thousand chips.

We won a couple more nice-sized pots in the first hour, taking advantage of opponents making speculative chases -- including one win with J-A, when a Jack came on the flop.  We reached the one-hour break with 28,775 chips.  Then when we were moved to another table in Hour 2, K-J resulted in a straight on the flop.  A check-push move on our part brought a gain of about 20,000 more.

We stood at 45,000 chips after two hours, and endured with 30,000 to reach the final table.  Winning the draw for dealer allowed us to hang around even longer.  But with the blinds approaching, we tried going all-in with K-3 of spades in response to another player's push.  It failed to bring even a pair, and a young man eliminated us in seventh place.  At least it wasn't tenth again!

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Is that some Chap-Stick?" a man across from us asked about our card protector.  Nope.  Instead, we brought a little travel-sized bottle of shampoo from a hotel similar to our photo.

"I brought that to remind me," we explained, "that Jesus can cleanse me of all my sins."

We asked a man at another table if he believed Jesus can do that.  "I sure need it," he answered.

"So do it," we admitted.  "We all need it."  The early apostles would agree with that....

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin.... - Galatians 3:22a

But you'll notice the man's "answer" to our question wasn't really an answer.  We come back to that word "belief," which we mentioned in our last post -- and which the apostle Paul goes on to mention:

....so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. - Galatians 3:22b

Put simply: God's promises are for God's believers.  And that belief is shown through godly action.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. - I John 1:7

Are you walking in a way which shows Jesus has purified you -- cleansed better than any shampoo can do?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 130 final tables in 375 nights (34.7%) - 20 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 275 point wins in 1,293 games (21.3%), 86 final tables, 10 wins, 11 cashes.  No-River Hold 'em - 21 point wins in 81 games (25.9%), 16 final tables, 1 cash win.

Our two strong finishes in NLOP championship tournaments this week again brought no points.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $89,523, down $2,855.