Poker Night 379: Two Your Request

It's a rare day when a player recommends we blog about a particular hand.  But it happened tonight at Lil Kim's Cove.  Check what happened, and you might understand why....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: 2-2

After winning a couple of nice early pots, we've been moved to a "back table" across the bar from the others.  Five players are here, jokingly moaning about being far from society.  But at least we have the blessing of about 17,000 chips.  So in the dealer's position, we're willing to call with the smallest of pocket pairs.  No one raises.

ON THE FLOP: Kc-7s-9s

We didn't gain much from this.  Or did we?  The table checks; so do we.

ON THE TURN: 10s

Three spades now are showing, but the table keeps checking.  Since we're dealing, we take advantage of playing last and bet a modest 500.  A man to our left calls; the other players fold.

ON THE RIVER: 2

We forget exactly what this suit was - but it was NOT a spade.  That's good news for us, especially after our opponent checks.  We bet 2,000.  The other man seems puzzled by this for a moment, but he calls.

"Three deuces," we say as we show.

We might as well have announced Florida had fallen into the ocean.  Our opponent is stunned.

"You stayed in all the way to the f***ing river!" he says in frustration.  He finally turns over K-7, showing he had two pair on the flop.  But he admits he was hesitant to bet, because so many spades were showing.

"Write that one down, and put it in your blog," the runner-up recommends.  And so we have.

A couple more nice pots brought us to the 34,000 range at the one-hour break.  Then back at the main tables, we went all-in with pocket Queens and scored a big win over two players who missed draws.  That returned us to around 39,000.

But a stunning turn occurred at the semifinal table.  We called an all-in bet of 13,000 with pocket Kings, then another all-in bet of 17,000 more on a flop of 8-9-8.  But a man with J-10 made a straight, and the first player to push scored a full house.  They combined to knock us down to 5,000.  Then came A-10 in the Big Blind, and we went all-in again -- but an Ace on the turn couldn't top a man with another straight.

All in all, we had a good night at the table.  But the chips that came with relative ease left in a hurry, and we walked home shaking our head in 16th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We had pocket Jacks in the first hour, and was betting them despite a King appearing on the flop.  The river card was another King, so we checked.  Then a man across the table faced a big decision.

"Should I try to steal this?" he asked aloud as he held out a yellow chip worth 5,000.

"Don't do it," a player to our left recommended.  We said nothing, but quietly hoped that suggestion would be accepted.

After some long thought, the man across the table checked.  The entire table checked, and our Jacks were good enough to win.

"Thank you for following the rule, 'Thou shalt not steal,'" we told that man as we dragged away the chips.  "You went by the original rule book."

A couple of players laughed a little at our words.  We'd like to think they knew what "rule book" we meant:

Thou shalt not steal. - Exodus 20:15 (KJV)

A four-word command from God which seems simple and to-the-point.  But He expanded on it as the Bible unfolded....

Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.... - Leviticus 19:13

Can robbery through fraud occur at a poker table?  Many players watch the action closely, to make sure no one tries to put in less than the required number of chips.  But it can happen in other ways - for instance, when a player claims to have a straight to run people away from a pot, then shows cards to the contrary.  No wonder the New Testament warns:

....And that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.  The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. - I Thessalonians 4:6

Have fun on your poker nights - but play fair.  "Stealing a pot" with a big bet (even if it's misleading) is part of the game, and we understand that.  But saying things which bear false witness (as another commandment puts it) is something else.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 131 final tables in 379 nights (34.6%) - 20 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 279 point wins in 1,316 games (21.2%), 89 final tables, 11 cashes, 10 wins.  No-River Hold 'em - 21 point wins in 86 games (24.4%), 16 final tables, 1 cash win.

We had two strong showings in large evening tournaments again this week - finishing 20th out of 1,218 players Sunday night, then 27th out of 664 in a "Turbo Tuesday" tournament.  Casinos would have paid off; NLOP only rewarded players making the final table.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $89,594, down $1,577.