Canadian Cash Game: The River Rat

The World Series of Poker had a Main Event champion from Canada a few years ago. But that doesn't mean it's easy to find a poker room in that country.

We searched online before going to a church convention in Ontario, and found only a couple of casinos with anything more than slot machines. The only open poker room in Toronto exists only during the Canadian National Exhibition, that country's version of a national summer fair.  The other options require driving and commitment.

The best-known place may be Casino Rama, a secluded place with a lot of tour bus space. We drove to it on a weekday afternoon, and found the poker room doesn't have tournaments very often. The cash games are your only chance to make money. So we withdrew $100 Canadian from our home bank account, to see what we could do.

BLINDS: 2/5 (Limit Hold 'em)

IN THE POCKET: K-J offsuit

This is a limit table, with strict rules about how much you can bet or raise. We won the very first hand after we sat down, with a 6 in our pocket bringing a pair on the flop. We were up $15, but now we're down a bit after some chasing. These cards look promising, so we join most of the table in getting in.

ON THE FLOP: Q-Q-K

Lots of faces look like good graces for us.  We bet the $2 minimum, and several players get out of the way. But a man who's apparently from New York state (based on his St. Francis University hat) calls.

ON THE TURN: 6 (as best we recall)

We know for sure this was not a face card, so it seems harmless. The man across from us now bets the $5 minimum. We call and are wary. If he's sitting on a third Queen....

ON THE RIVER: J

It's not the face we wanted, but we'll take it.  We let our opponent bet again, and call when he offers $5.

"Three pair," we say with good humor.

"I've got a straight," he says.  WHAT?!?!  Yes, he turns over A-10!  The river card was exactly what he wanted, to steal a nice pot.

We're reminded here of the perils of a limit hold 'em game. So-called "river rats" can hang around waiting the right card to come, without having to invest a lot of money. If the table was no-limit, a big bet on our part might have pushed him aside - but it wasn't.

Few other good cards came for us, and we wound up surrendering $85 after about an hour. Casino Rama has no table for Ultimate Texas Hold 'em, and only a couple with low-price blackjack.  It's big on baccarat, but that's a game we don't know. So we took our losses and left - our fourth consecutive loss in a cash game, going back to 2010. You'd think we'd learn.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Hal-le-lu-jah!" a man on our side of the table halfway-sung several times after winning a nice pot. Since we wore a WWJD wristband on the trip, we of course brought up God.

"He's not a gambler," the man who hit that river card said to us.  We responded by pointing out the arrival of Jesus on Earth was God's ultimate all-in moment for us.

Yet during the church convention, we saw some Bible verses which admittedly made us do some deep thinking....

For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority. - I Corinthians 11:10 (NLT)

What does this have to do with gambling and poker? We pondered about the "angels are watching" part of that verse. The Bible shows angels can fall into sin, every bit as much as humans can....

For if God did not spare angels who had sinned, but, committing them to pits of the nether gloom in Tartatus, reserved them under punishment for doom.... II Peter 2:4  (Moffatt)

Most Bible translations show "Tartarus" as "hell". That Greek word only appears in this verse, referring to a place where fallen angels are kept. Some of them apparently are there now, even though a time of final judgment doesn't come until later (Revelation 20).

The Bible indicates Satan led many angels into becoming demons long ago (Revelation 12:8-9). God's Word does not say whether or not angels have sinned and fallen since that time.  But we wonder: could the things "believers" in God and Jesus do set a bad example for them? Could this be what is meant by another verse....

And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live.... - Ephesians 4:30 (NLT)

Fellow church members might not see your trip to a casino. But angels can, while God and the Holy Spirit certainly do. Are we doing things there which might cause them grief (as the KJV puts it)?  We'd welcome your comments on this deep spiritual matter.

UPDATED CASH GAME SCOREBOARD: Three gains in 10 games; total loss $242.