BLINDS: 1,500/3,000
IN THE POCKET: A-Q offsuit
If we're playing with blinds this high, things probably are going well - and they have all day long. We won four of the first five hands (losing to and winning with pocket Aces), and five out of seven. There was a mix of good cards and timely betting, to put us at 6,600 chips at the first break - then building farther to 36,000 at break 2, removing a few opponents along the way.
Now indeed, it's happened - we've made the final table! We arrived with 43,500. Eight players are winning money, and players are betting like they've had enough for one day. Two players on either side of us go all-in. Seeing these big cards, part of us wants to get out of the way and let them fight. But the day's gone so well and we think the opponent are so desperate, we choose to call for 21,500.
The man to our left shows J-J. Oops. The woman to our right has Q-Q. Double oops. We need something big.
ON THE FLOP: A-6-7
"Yes!" we say with happiness. Aces are high. Now if the cards will stay low....
ON THE TURN: 6
We didn't say it, but yes again....
ON THE RIVER: 5
That's the kind of day it was for us - the best possible day ever at Kansas Star. We knock out two final table foes, and advance to 69,500.
We wound up in the final four, with a big-stacked man across from us refusing to even consider a four-way chop of the money. So we kept playing - and faced another big decision when a woman to our right pushed. We went all-in in response with pocket 10's. But she had pocket Jacks. Even though 10's were good to us often during the tournament, they didn't rescue us this time.
A four-way split could have earned us more than $400. But fourth place still paid $210 - substantially more than the $50 it cost to enter. And that was fourth, out of 86 entries (some of them admittedly players re-buying) - at the place that's become the prime location for top poker in our part of the country. We were thrilled, and thankful to God for a successful breakthrough!
MINISTRY MOMENT: One man folded his hand late in the tournament by lifting his cards high above the table. We sat next to him, and could see one of his cards was the Ace of clubs.
"Now will you accept that I'm not lying?" the man asked.
We've played poker long enough to know better, so we gave a Biblical response. "To borrow from a book I read: 'Put your trust not in mortals, for in them is no help.' From a hymn, actually."
That's a line from a hymn in our church movement. And it comes from a psalm:
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. - Psalm 146:3Poker players should know this principle better than most. After all, part of the game involves bluffing - to get your opponent to think you're weak so they raise, or to run your opponent away by pretending to be strong. But the reminder about "mortals" doesn't stop there....
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. - Psalm 146:4Many national leaders have had dreams of great conquest - but when they die, they can't take territorial gains with them. In fact, an old church line is that hearses don't tend to have U-Hauls attached. So where should our trust be?
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them - the Lord, who remains faithful forever. - Psalm 146:5-6
The rest of the psalm describes some of the things God can do for you - benefits both physical and spiritual. Our point is that God ultimately is trustworthy. Humans are not - whether they play poker or not. So where are you putting your long-term trust?
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 178 final tables in 479 games (37.2%) - 34 cashes. It's our third cash of 2016, and the first since the end of January (as the poker rooms were going out of business.)
No comments:
Post a Comment