"I consider myself warned," we said in response. For either of us to make the final table, we'd have to work through dozens of opponents - and face challenging hands like this one:
BLINDS: 50/100
IN THE POCKET: J-J
We've lost a pot or two, and start this hand with about 3,100 chips from a starting 3,500. We're also in the Big Blind - so when a player doubles to 200 ahead of us, we can call and try to hide. About four players get in.
ON THE FLOP: 2-4-6
Pickup sticks?! This is a second-grade flop in more ways than one. Sitting early in the betting order, we check to the raiser. So he makes a continuation bet of 400. A man across from us calls. We're not sure what they have, but we think they're fishing. We call with our overpair. Three players remain.
ON THE TURN: 8
The even-number trend continues. We check again. Now the raiser at the far end of the table does as well. But the man across from us senses an opportunity. He bets 700 - and now we're wondering. Did he get in with something weird like 5-7 suited, and hit a straight?
After thinking for a moment, something tells us to be daring. We call. And to our surprise, the man at the far end folds.
ON THE RIVER: 8
The board pairs, but we still don't feel too comfortable about this. We check. If our opponent bets 700 again, we probably bail out. But maybe he's unsure as well; thankfully, he checks.
"A pair of Jacks?!?" we say with uncertainty as we show our cards. We're delighted to see that's good enough! Our opponent had 4-5! A superior two pair wins us a huge pot.
Our stack reached a high of 5,400 in the first hour, but then started fading. We had 3,150 at the first break. But then in the second period after changing tables, we went all-in with A-Q and the board showing A-J-10-10. Trouble was, three of those cards were spades - and another player had two more to make a flush. No final table on this day, as we wound up 47th out of 81 players.
MINISTRY MOMENT: This was one of our best days in a long time for talking about maters of faith. It started when the successful player to our left saw our card protector - a small electric plug.
"I brought this to remind me that I receive power from Gods Holy Spirit," we explained. Then we asked the man what he thought of the Spirit.
"Real good," he said. "Part of the trinity."
"What's the Holy Spirit done for you lately?" we probed.
"I don't know," he admitted.
We think there are ways to know what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. For instance....
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23
These traits should be evidence of God's Spirit at work. Verses 19-21 list signs of the exact opposite - "the sinful nature" at work. Also....
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.... - Isaiah 11:2
It's a good idea to pray each day for God to renew His Spirit in you. We specifically ask for His wisdom to guide our decisions, whether they come at the poker table or the workplace. ("Wisdom" to us means applying knowledge at the right time and place.)
Can you think of other signs of the Holy Spirit? Offer comments with your suggestions; we'll get back to this table and the Spirit in our next scheduled post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 182 final tables in 496 games (36.7%) - 36 cashes.
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