Poker Night 378: Gimme a Break

Who said gift-giving season was over?  We received several during the Wednesday night poker tournament at Soho Bar and Grill -- and we never asked for any of them.  First a bartender sprayed us a Diet Coke "on the house," and threw in a 1,000-chip piece to boot.  Then the Tournament Director handed us 5,000 chips, seemingly for no other reason than he likes us.  And then....

BLINDS: 2,000/4,000

IN THE POCKET: Q-9 of spades

We've survived to the semifinal table largely through folding.  We haven't won a pot outright all night, and split one with a woman in the first hour due to matching straights.  But after being moved here, a debate developed over who took out whom to gain "bounty" bonus chips.  The Tournament Director wasn't sure whom to believe, so he gave 5,000 chips to everyone - including us!

But after folding 2-2 pre-flop and missing a big win when a third 2 came on the turn, we're down to 6,000 chips.  And now we're in the Big Blind, committed to two-thirds of our stack before things even start.  We're thankful simply to see the table call ahead of us, with no one raising.  We're tempted to push right now, but check instead.

ON THE FLOP: A-2-9, all clubs

Wrong suit.  But it's middle pair, and we see little choice but to act on it.  The Small Blind to our right checks.

"I've got to do it.  I'm all-in," we say as we commit our last 2,000 chips.  "Now or never."

In an online tournament, a few players at this point would have written "now" and rooted against us.  And the way this table is playing, we fear callers with Aces.  But an amazing thing happens.  The big stack to our left folds.  Then another.  Then another.  That half-sized desperation push works!

But the dealer shows the remaining cards, anyway.  The chip leader holds out his King of clubs.  But no club appears for a flush on the turn or river.

"I couldn't do it," the chip leader says.  "He's got an Ace.  I know how he plays."

Another man reaches for our cards, trying to confirm that.  But they're lost in the discards, and we say nothing.  It brings to mind a word mentioned a few times in the Bible....

Here is a trustworthy saying: if anyone sets his heart on being an overseer.... He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. - I Timothy 3:1, 7

In this case, our reputation for "playing it safe" kept us in the game -- and we made it into the third hour of play.  But a night when good cards were scarce eventually did us in.  Forced to go all-in with K-6 in the Big Blind, the flop was A-K-Q.  A man with a King topped us, and took out another man with us.  We finished tied for tenth place -- tantalizingly close to the final table again.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We showed our "Jesus as your Savior" coin to a young man, and asked if he agreed with the message.

"No," he said.  He explained he grew up in a "quasi-Christian" home, but finds his spiritual thinking complicated now.  "Buddhism, atheism...." are some of the views he's considering.

We offered one of the reasons why we're not persuaded of atheism.  "I see too much evidence in creation that there's a designer.  The sun and moon and orbits being in precise timing...."

You may have a 2013 calendar with the phases of the moon noted on particular days.  Astronomers are able to compute the next new moon (Friday U.S. time) right down to the minute   All the way through December.  Not simply for this year, but for years to come.

Unless Jesus intervenes and returns, those times should be accurate -- proving of God....

The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon.  It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. - Psalm 74:16-17

We're not sure how supporters of evolution explain such precise time patterns in the heavens.  Believers in God don't try - they simply praise God for making it so.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 131 final tables in 378 nights (34.7%) - 20 cashes.