Poker Day 463: Sitting in the Club

"If you can get to final 3 in this one, you are probably among the best players in Wichita area."  This statement was on Facebook at midday today, inviting us to the "Sunday Showdown" at Arrowhead Poker.  The post also said:

..all complimentary, all day...Join us today as my guest and see if our little club is a place you would like to be a part of,.

Given what's happened with Wichita poker in recent weeks, we wondered if we might get to play for free today. So we went, saw the outline of state poker laws on a bulletin board near the pay window, and were told the entry fee was still $75.

"I thought I might get to play for free."

"You can," the woman behind the counter said. "But you have to stand."

"Stand up?"

"Yes, the entire time."

So yes, there was still an unofficial "chair rental." The food was the "complimentary" part. But we brought our ATM card exactly for this possibility - and succumbed to withdrawing some money and sitting at the table, since the table's height had not been raised.

But the possibility of winning had been raised, as only five players showed up for the tournament. One organizer assured us the poker attendance had not gone down, with the recent police crackdown. Perhaps the lack of Sunday afternoon football made a difference?! Whatever the reason, there still would be moments of drama....

BLINDS: 1,000/2,000

IN THE POCKET: A-3 offsuit

The start of this five-handed game was slow for us. Our starting stack of 62,000 chips was draining slower than a leaky waterbed (trust our experience on that). Sitting in second position, we call and no one raises. As we recall, three players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 7-3-3

Three times three, a delight to see! And since we effectively have button position, others can lead right into us. The Small Blind man at mid-table bets 5,000. The Big Blind folds. We modestly call.

ON THE TURN: 2

A harmless-looking card. The Small Blind checks. We shake our head no to that, and offer our own 5,000. Our opponent ponders, then calls.

ON THE RIVER: 5

We didn't jot down the suits, but this may have put three clubs or spades on the board. The Small Blind checks again, and now we bet big - 20,000. This gives our opponent an anguishing decision.

"You're not in the blind," he says as he tries to figure out our hand.

"No. In fact, you are."

After several more seconds of puzzlement in which Mr. Small Blind wonders if we might have hit a straight or flush, he folds. We don't show a thing - unless he finds this blog.

We dealt that man a crippling blow a bit later, in a raising contest with a 3-Q-Q flop.  We went all-in for 50,000 with Q-10. He called with Q-8! That moved us to 133,000 chips. But then we lost a lot of that trying in vain to put a second player out.

Finally things looked bleak with three players left and the blinds at 10,000/20,000. We were all in twice for the Big Blind. Once with A-Q, the other players folded. The second time we had a lowly 2-9 - but a 2 came on the flop, and that turned out to be the only pair!

A comeback which can only be described as miraculous led us to the final two, earning prize money. A woman was ready to chop the money with us - and a manager noted that's technically not allowed under the newly-emphasized state law. But he decided to make one last tournament exception. The least we could have won was $100, but we wound up with $150 - double our entry fee!

We're told Arrowhead Poker will have "affordable" fees to join its "private social club," which it now advertises. No details have been finalized yet. But there might be a couple of freerolls every month. We hope so - because $75 still is a steep price to play poker in our city.

But we made money by spending money. We left thankful for whatever help God provided (probably a lot) - and with that "best players" title, which we're not really sure we deserve. 

MINISTRY MOMENT: "A packet of salt, huh?" a man in his seventies said as he reached for our card protector.

We repeated the statement we've made at other times about that - Jesus has told us we're to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). "What does everyone think of Jesus?" we asked the remaining table of four plus a dealer.

"I shouldn't do that," a man across from us replied, "but I'm going all in."

Translation: no one wanted to talk about Jesus. But we noticed practically every player cursed at one some point in the game - several times invoking the name of God in the process. The Bible clearly warns about that:

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. - Deuteronomy 5:11

We were reminded during a weekend Bible study that the ancient Jews took this verse to an opposite extreme. They were reluctant to say the name of God at all - even writing it in Hebrew shorthand as YHWH, with no vowels. Yet Jesus showed no reluctance at all....

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him.... - John 8:58-59

Why did critical Jews do this? Because Jesus invoked an ancient name for God:

God said to Moses: "I AM who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exodus 3:14

Long before Popeye the cartoon sailor, God called Himself "I AM" - and Jesus did, too. Jesus thus revealed Himself to be God. If you're not comfortable with that, we suggest reading through the gospel of John from the beginning. You might be surprised by what it says about Jesus's relationship with God the Father.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 175 final tables in 463 games (37.8%) - 33 cashes.  Since Thanksgiving 2015, we have cashed in four out of six tournaments for more than $320. Thanks be to God!