Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Poker Day 509: Jack for the Pot

Today marked the start of a poker experiment for us. We'll explain what we mean in a moment - but first, let's get to the action on our first-ever Wednesday midday tournament at Kansas Star Casino:

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: J-9 of spades

The midweek tournament moves a little faster than the others, with 15-minute blinds. Not many good cards came our way in the first hour - but we won a couple of pots, including a desperation all-in chop at the first break with A-Q. That put us at a high for the day of 4,300 chips.

Now we're in our second hand at a new table, in the Small Blind with 3,300. No one has raised. It seems safe to speculate here, with relatively high suited cards. We call. The Big Blind checks, and about five players are in.

ON THE FLOP: K-Q-J

Ughhh.... this smells like trouble. We have a pair, but it's bottom pair. We have a straight draw, but it's a very risky straight draw. We're first to go, and we check. Much to our surprise, the entire table checks.

ON THE TURN: J

A third Jack for us looks like a jackpot card! It's a potential big winner - but we decide now is the time to strike.

"I'm all in," we say for 3,100. Trouble is, the woman in the Big Blind calls. Everyone else bails out, and we wonder - did she have a straight all along?

She flips over.... A-J! She has three Jacks as well, and her kicker has us topped. Our only real hope is for the river card to be a King or Queen, to chop another pot.

ON THE RIVER: 10

The very risky straight happens instead. Ours is K-9; hers is A-10. Hers is the pot; ours is the door. On a day with 63 players, we wind up 39th - but we don't think we would change our tactics, if we had a second chance at it.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "How are you today?" a man asked as we sat down next to him.

"Recovering," we said. Then, of course, he asked for an explanation.

"I was let go from my job Monday," we admitted. That's why this tournament was the start of an experiment. Can we make money playing poker, while we're between jobs?

A former co-worker happened to be in the poker room, at a cash game table. Based on his chip stack, he seemed to be doing well. But he's a self-described "grinder," ready to spend hours at tables. That's not what we've historically done.

Yet whether we strike it rich at poker or take a more regular job, we're trying to be optimistic. The Bible offers these words....

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. - Psalm 37:25


Yes, we know - some don't consider playing poker in casinos something "righteous" people would do. But the tournament format allows us to win a good bit of money for a relatively small entry fee. Midweek games will permit us to avoid the pricier Sunday tournaments for a while. And we always tithe on our winnings.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him.... - Psalm 111:4-5


Longtime blog readers will recall we were in a similar job predicament several years ago, in an area with no casinos at all. We could only play free tournaments at bars and online - yet we won money 12 times during a year-long layoff. We thanked God for each small win (and each prize was indeed small).

So we'll see what happens this time - although we admittedly tried to win back some of our entry fee at a blackjack table, and wound up losing a little more. We plan to follow this guideline:

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. - Philippians 4:5 (KJV)


We're not "betting the farm." Maybe a few bushels at a time. We'll see if God allows them to turn into a bumper crop.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 185 final tables in 509 games (36.3%) - 36 cashes. Experiment cost: Down $50.

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