Poker Day 429: Bama Jammed

What does an occasional poker player do on his vacation?  He plays a little poker, of course - so this afternoon found us at Winners Cardroom.

That place now has a Sunday freeroll for $500.  But it starts at 4:00 p.m., and our all-night work schedule has made us hesitant for us to play since we didn't know how long the tournament would last.  Vacation week means no work concern, no money to play -- so would everything else go right for us?

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: A-J of spades

We scored an early big gain with pocket Aces, when a third Ace landed on the turn.  Then we gave a big chunk of it back.  It's been that kind of up-and-down day.  Now we've just been knocked down again, with 8,500 chips out of a starting 10,000.

The man sitting to our right is wearing a University of Alabama cap, reminding us of where we used to live.  He raises to 1,000, and gives us a challenge.

"I'm probably asking for it," we say, "but I'll call."  A couple of other players at the table of 8 call as well.

ON THE FLOP: 6-4-8 (third card may not be precise, but it didn't pair)

Was anyone really looking for that flop?  Apparently not, because the table checks.  We check as well, with no flush draw.

ON THE TURN: 3

Is there a jackpot card now?  Perhaps not, because the table checks again.  Suddenly we wonder about the value of our Ace.

ON THE RIVER: J

Too bad - our Ace missed.  The man who raised pre-flop finally takes a plunge, tossing in 5,000.  Only at that moment do we realize something - we still have a Jack!  We have top pair and top kicker!  And even though we only have 7,500 left, we have to give it a try.  We call; the other players fold.

"I hit the river," we admit.

"With an Ace?!?" Our opponent sees our cards, barely flips over his (we think he had Q-J) - and he leaves.  Only then do we realize something else: he was all-in.  He never said so.  But our kicker card kicks that Alabama fan packing like a last-second kick return by Auburn - and we regain to nearly 20,000 chips.

We reached the second hour of play with 18,000 chips.  Then a few minutes into hour 2, we saw J-J with 14,000 chips and pushed.  That pair had brought us one of those big gains earlier.  But this time a man called and showed K-K.  The board didn't come to our rescue, and our not-so-big pair sent us to the rail.  We finished in about 90 minutes, in 30th place on a day with four-plus tables.

MINISTRY MOMENT: For the first time since moving to our new home, we pulled out the "Lord's Supper" card protector with a depiction of Jesus on the flip side.

"What do you think of Jesus?" we asked a man to our left.  "Is he your Savior and Lord?"

The man gave a very indirect answer.  "I haven't been to church in a couple of years.  My mom keeps trying to get me to go."

We think Mom is on the right track - because that's what the early New Testament church did:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... All the believers were together and had everything in common... Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. - Acts 2:42, 44, 46

We heard a church message this weekend along those lines.  The theme was community -- people joined together by a common interest and belief.  But we think you have to be careful about which church community you join.

"It's important," we told the man, "to attend a church which really preaches the word of God."

The man agreed: "It's not about a man, but about the word of God."  But how will you know if a man is really preaching Bible truth?

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. - Acts 17:11

The people in Berea double-checked what the apostle Paul preached, against the Old Testament Scriptures they had -- and scrolls of the Old Testament were valuable items in those days.  In our day, you can read the Bible online or on a smartphone.

However you do it, it's important that you do it.  Make sure church pastors, radio preachers and even poker bloggers are accurately presenting truth from the Bible.  If they are, be thankful and learn from them.  If not.... well, if we're off-base in something, please let us know.  We don't claim to know everything about the Bible, much less victorious poker.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 151 final tables in 429 games (35.2%) - 25 cashes.