Poker Day 411: A-A Charger

A player in the Big Blind begins with a slight disadvantage, as he's "pot committed" before any cards are dealt.  But sometimes the Big Blind can be dangerous, as playing "any two cards" can leave people guessing.  Here's an example of that from Arrowhead Poker Sunday:

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: A-A

We've seen Aces a lot early in the game -- in combinations such as A-Q and A-9.  Some of them worked; some of them didn't.  But this pair is likely to work -- and yes, we're in the Big Blind with them.  A man across the full table raises to 600.  But when we see these cards, we know it's not enough.

"Raise - 1,700," we say as we pick a number out of thin air.  A couple of players take us up on it, and call.

ON THE FLOP: Qc-7s-Js (suits may not be exact)

So far, so good -- except two spades are showing.  Neither of our Aces are spades.  So when the Small Blind checks to us, we know it's time for a cross between a continuation bet and a block.  We offer 2,500.  Our opponents aren't scared; they call.

ON THE TURN: 6c

This still seems good to us.  The Small Blind checks again, and now we raise the stakes to 3,000.  The man across the table who raised initially is puzzled by this.

"You were on a flush draw and now...."  After pondering a moment, he calls.  The Small Blind folds.

"I could have all sorts of thing," we tell our opponent.  He agrees with that.

ON THE RIVER: 4d

If he was on a flush draw, he just missed -- but part of us wishes the board had paired with that card.  What if he has something like Q-J, for two pair?  We decided not to back down, and bet 4,000.  This puts about two-thirds of our total stack in play.  This time our opponent says nothing -- he simply calls.

"I've got rockets in my pocket," we say as we show.  The table is impressed.  Our opponent shows a Queen -- and nothing else to top it.  Aggressive play allows us to double our stack, to more than 36,000 chips.

We won a few more pots after that, climbing above 50,000 in the first hour.  But then we overspent to make a flush on the river, when three Aces were showing.  An opponent with J-J proved he wasn't bluffing, and scored a big win over us with a full house.  Yet we fought back, going all in with 10-10 when a third 10 came on the flop and getting another double-up.

We reached the final table with about 60,000 chips.  But rising blinds and a lack of quality cards did us in.  Forced to finally go all-in for our last 10,000 in the Small Blind with K-2, the board didn't pair for us while it did for another man.  On a day with two full tables, we finished seventh -- out of the money, as only the top three were paid.

MINISTRY MOMENT: For a chance, the ministry did not happen in the poker room.  It happened during our trip to and from it.

"OUT OF WORK/ ANY HELP/ GOD BLESS" read the cardboard sign held by a man standing in the median at a traffic light near our home.

We learned several years ago how to prepare for moments like this.  We pulled over the car, reached into our trunk and pulled out a "beggar bag" -- a paper bag containing a small container of meat (we use chicken vienna sausages) and a pouch of juice.  But there's something else in the bags, added only recently -- little tracts about God and Jesus Christ.

The man accepted our bag, and we went on to the tournament.  Yet on the way home, we found a second man at that same intersection -- holding the very same sign.

We pulled over again, and asked a question before reaching.  "How many are in your group?"  Clearly this was some kind of organized "tag team" effort.

This man said there was only two of them.  "I hold the sign for awhile, then he holds the sign for awhile."

We only had one bag left in the trunk, so we gave it to that second man.  The humorous side of us wants to say we hit a "two-bagger."  But we think it's important to provide aid in such cases -- not simply throwing money, which beggars could misuse to feed dangerous addictions, but something which meets a specific need.

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. - Hebrews 13:2 (NASB)

The context of this verse seems to refer to bringing them into your home.  We've done that from time to time, but our current living situation doesn't really allow for that.  Yet our new city seems to offer plenty of opportunities to help "strangers" looking for whatever aid and assistance they can find.

Share with God's people who are in need.  Practice hospitality. - Romans 12:13 (NIV)

You may say street-corner beggars aren't really "God's people."  But unless you know their full life stories, how can you truly be sure?  We choose to err on the side of giving -- keeping in mind God gave us the promise of eternal life through Jesus His Son.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 144 final tables in 411 days (35.0%) - 23 cashes.  Our final table percentage climbs back to 35 percent for the first time in almost a year!