Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. - Isaiah 5:20We don't want a woe pronounced upon us -- but sometimes good starting cards in poker can turn out to be bad ones. We learned this during today's big monthly tournament at Arrowhead Poker, not once but several times....
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: J-J
We've won a couple of modest pots. But we've lost a good bit, as we pursued marginal hands with a starting stack of 50,000 chips and relatively small blinds. Our stack has tumbled to the 40,000 range, and a high pocket pair like this gives us hope for a rally. So we raise to 1,000.
"I'd better call," says a man across the table from us. "He might be bluffing." We'll see; about half the table of eight is in.
ON THE FLOP: A-4-3
One of those cards was not what we wanted to see. But we decide to "man up" and make a continuation bet of 1,000.
"Now I know you're bluffing," says that man across the table. He calls; the other players fold. But the way he's talking has us wondering -- is he bluffing?
ON THE TURN: Q
Ugh. The board goes from potentially bad to worse. Now we check. So does our opponent.
ON THE RIVER: 2
Unless our opponent was chasing a wild-guess straight, that card seems harmless. But the higher cards compel us to check again. Now he bets 3,500, and we realize the worst.
"Too many ways to beat me," we say -- and we fold. He's polite enough to turn over A-2, proving we were right.
To borrow from a former TV news anchor in Canada, that's the kind of day it was for us. Pocket 10's brought a big raise against us with an Ace showing, forcing us to fold. We took pocket Queens all the way to showdown, but lost to a man with K-J who gained two pair. We even had pocket Aces and tried to slow-play them into something big, but made only a modest gain when we had to throw a "block bet" on the flop with two spades showing.
Finally we had A-K -- and when an Ace came on the flop, we check-raised all-in for our last 20,000. A man called, showing A-7. But of course, the turn card was a 7! The 6 on the river didn't save us, and we had a relatively early collapse -- finishing 21st on a three-table day.
MINISTRY MOMENT: The players were so focused and scattered at our table that we couldn't do much in the poker room. But on the way home, we saw a familiar sight - a man standing on an island in the middle of an intersection two blocks from our house. We've come to call it the "Beggar's Corner," because someone seems to be there every weekend with a cardboard sign.
"FOOD" is all this man's sign said. We're ready for these moments, as we parked the car and pulled a "Beggar's Bag" out of the trunk with a can of Vienna sausage and a juice pouch. We added a small tract we found at a religious bookstore, walked to the intersection and gave it to him.
"I'm Les," he said. "God bless you," he said shaking our hand -- not once but twice.
We admitted to him how sad it is to see beggars constantly at that corner. In fact, we're now up to 29 beggars we've encountered this year -- most of them at that very corner. It's easy to get frustrated and weary of this constant demand for help. But then, we realized, we must remember the example of Jesus:
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died -- more than that, who was raised to life -- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. - Romans 8:34Jesus comes to the aid of all who call on Him, before the throne of the Father. And on a typical day, thousands (if not millions) are asking for His help.
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. - Hebrews 7:25The demands (as in prayers) reaching heaven are constant. God doesn't always answer them the way we might like. But Jesus is serving as an intercessor on our behalf, at any hour of the day or night. If you're a believer in Jesus, are you ready to serve in the same way?
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 151 final tables in 427 games (35.4%) - 25 cashes.
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