The buy-in for a seat was $45. We turned down an extra $5 "dealer appreciation fee" for an extra 1,000 chips. Looking back, perhaps that was our problem....
BLINDS: 25/25
IN THE POCKET: A-4 offsuit
We started with the Dealer button. We now have it again, as the table has made a quick "lap around the track" with seven seats occupied and three empty. A small venture for us pre-flop failed, so we're now at 2,375 chips from a starting 2,500. No one's raising, so an Ace seems worth playing. We're in, as is about half the table.
ON THE FLOP: K-K-4
Two pair plus top kicker seems like good mathematics for us - especially with the table checking around to us. We bet 100. The Small Blind next to us calls; the others get out of the way.
ON THE TURN: 6
Our opponent checks. We have no idea what he has, but we want a clue. We bet 100 again, and he calls.
ON THE RIVER: 9
Our opponent isn't checking now. Instead, he throws out 500. We ponder this a moment, and conclude he's trying to test the "newbie" at the table (we haven't played in a tournament there since December 2013). Will we be cowardly and run off when the heat's on?
With two pair and a top kicker, we say no. We call - and he shows K-2! He had three Kings on the flop, and let us bet into a trap.
Looking back, we probably should have folded when the river bet came out. If he had a pocket pair, odds are it was better than ours. But we played on the theory that casino poker players are crafty. We were right, but in the wrong direction.
The cards went that way throughout the tournament for us. We folded 7-5 right away, watched a straight land on the turn -- but were glad we folded when a 5 on the river gave someone a full hour. We played A-K, and bet when an Ace came on the river -- only to find a man with 9-8 had made two pair.
Then we were dealt A-10 (yes, like in 2013), and a man bet big with an Ace on the flop. We had no choice but to go all-in for our last 300. The river brought a 10, giving us two pair. But it gave that other man a winning flush. Our tournament day lasted only 30 minutes -- and out of 36 players, we finished a lowly 33rd.
MINISTRY MOMENT: The dealer dealt cards to empty chairs at the table, to keep things fair. At one point, he overlooked an empty seat for a moment.
"Maybe that's Elijah's chair," we said. The dealer seemed puzzled, so we explained. "The Passover tradition - leaving an empty seat for Elijah."
Where did the Jews get that tradition, anyway? It doesn't come from their "Torah," the first five books of the Bible. But that section of Scripture does say this....
On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn.... I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.... This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord - a lasting ordinance. - Exodus 12:12-14
The great Passover event of ancient Egypt is to be remembered for "generations to come" - but by whom? Simply by Jews?
..For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. - I Corinthians 5:7b (KJV)
Other translations refer to Jesus here as the "Passover lamb." Just as Israel was supposed to kill a lamb and put its blood on its doors as a mark to the "death angel" (Exodus 12:1-8, 13), Jesus came to be "the lamb of God" sacrificed for our sins.
So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast. - I Corinthians 5:8 (CEV)
Huh? you may be asking. The apostle Paul wrote this to Christian believers - yet he talked about keeping a Passover festival?!
Yes, he did. And we think Christians today should as well. We'll have more to say about that in a future post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 159 final tables in 442 tournaments (36.0%) - 26 cashes. This broke a string of four consecutive final tables for us - although admittedly almost all of them were one-table games.
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