BLINDS: 50/100
IN THE POCKET: A-Q offsuit
We split an early pot with a full house, but haven't done much else so far. Yet these are cards that could spark a comeback. We start the hand with about 3,000 chips from a starting 3,500. When a player across the full table raises to 250, we call. Four players are in.
ON THE FLOP: Kd-8h-Qd
We have a piece of the flop, but not the best piece. That man across the table makes a continuation bet of 250. We sense this is a "feeler" bet and he doesn't have a lot. Considering our kicker, we want to stay in - so we call. It's still a four-horse race.
ON THE TURN: 8s (suit may not be precise)
Now we have two pair - and if that bettor is using the King as a "kicker" card, we have him topped. He offers 250 again. Of course, he could have a King - but he's not betting big like he does. So we call in hope. It's still a four-horse race.
ON THE RIVER: 10d
A third diamond potentially complicates matters. That bettor tosses out another 250. We've committed this far, so we're prepared to go all the....
But wait a minute. A man wearing red ahead of us goes all-in - for 1,250. That extra 1,000 is too steep for us.
"We were doing fine, until you did that," we joke as we fold. The other three players fight on.... only to see the man in red turn over Ad-Jd!!! It's not merely a flush. He made a royal flush!
He wins big, of course - but because it's a tournament, he doesn't win a "high hand" or "bad beat" jackpot. He tells us later that was the first royal flush he's ever had.
That loss hurt, but we mounted a comeback near the first break. An all-in bet for 925 with two pair helped. Going all-in again with A-K and winning a race with J-10 thanks to three Aces helped even more. We reached the break back at the starting line of 3,500. But a third all-in try with J-7 and a Jack high on the flop lost to A-J. We wound up betting our last 300 on the Big Blind and failed, finishing about 37th on a day with 75 players.
"I brought it to remind me," we explained, "that I need to be a light for Jesus Christ."
"Sounds like a plan," the dealer said.
"It's a very good plan," we assured him. We should have clarified that remark. Our candle may not have been a good plan - but God's plan involving being a light is.
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. - II Corinthians 4:6
This verse speaks of a plan that goes all the way back to creation. The world was a dark place then....
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.... - Genesis 1:2
There's one school of thought based on the original Hebrew that the earth became that way, because Satan rebelled against God.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness." - Genesis 1:3-4
Much later, Jesus Christ came to Earth to be "the light of the world" (John 8:12). And until Jesus comes back, believers are to be "lights" in their own right. That means having "knowledge" of God's glory through Christ. And we think it means sharing that light with other people.
For you were once darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)... - Ephesians 5:8-9
Feel free to read on in that section of Ephesians; we plan to come back to it in future posts. But that little candle opened a way for us to share the light of God with others in a poker room on Friday. What can you do when you play poker, to be a positive light to others?
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 180 final tables in 487 games (37.0%) - 35 cashes. Our next live tournament probably won't be for several weeks; we'll explain why in an upcoming post.
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