BLINDS: 50/100
IN THE POCKET: Ace of hearts-Queen of hearts
A couple of early efforts have not worked, and we come to the Small Blind with about 13,500 chips out of a starting 15,000. These big suited cards are worth a raise, and no one else at the full table of nine has done it.
"Three hundred more," we announce. Then the dealer corrects us, because we only put out 300. As Small Blind, we also must add 50 to match the Big Blind. OK, we'll do that. "What's 50 chips among friends?" we joke. But the serious matter is that three players call.
ON THE FLOP: 3h-4s-5c (last two suits may not be precise)
A flop from the wrong end of town, as far as we're concerned. But we're first to act, and realize we should to avoid looking weak. We bet 500. A man across from us calls.
Then a man at the far end of the table raises to 1,200. Huh?!?! What part of that flop led to a raise? Perhaps he has a low pocket pair, and made three of a kind?! We're not sure, but decide not to be bullied. We call. The other man calls, and three are left in the hand.
ON THE TURN: Jh
This is a bit better, because now we have a draw for the nut flush. This time we check - but the man down the table bets 3,000.
A lot of river cards are potentially good for us here: any 2 for a straight, any heart for a flush, and even an Ace or Queen to secure top pair. That adds up to 18 outs, with a 39 percent chance of success. But we think the man is trying to stop people on draws, and bet big to prove it.
"Nice block," we say - and fold. But the other man in the hand calls.
ON THE RIVER: 5s
We missed all the options, and feel better about our decision. The big bettor goes all-in, and the other man folds. Then the winner of the pot is nice enough to show what he had - A-2! He hit a straight on the flop, and defended it well.
That's the sort of night it was for us - a night when potentially big cards simply didn't work. While pocket 9's turned into a full house for a nice win (we never showed it), A-10 lost to a straight. Pocket 6's lost to pocket Jacks, when a man went all-in. Finally we were forced to go for it all in the Big Blind with K-Q - but a man with pocket Aces beat us. No final table tonight; we finished in 24th place out of 36 players.
 |
| Courtesy Twitter.com/DwightC87 |
"The good news," we told players around us, "is that he'll live again. There will be a resurrection."
Those players said nothing. Perhaps they didn't understand how we could we say that. Perhaps you've presumed Clark went to heaven immediately after he died. But the Bible tells us something else....
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.... - Hebrews 9:27
The sad news about life is that it ends. Our physical bodies will stop functioning, due to an endless number of reasons. But this "judgment" does not occur right away.
...So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. - Hebrews 9:28
Jesus will bring salvation. People don't have it in heaven now - not even believers in God. They're waiting for the second coming, in their graves.
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. - Revelation 20:6
First?! Yes - the Bible indicates there are multiple resurrections, based on your relationship (or lack of it) with God and Christ. Eventually....
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.... The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. - Revelation 20:12
That point is when the real judgment takes place. We will not attempt to guess whether Dwight Clark will be in a first or second resurrection; that determination is up to God. But we offer sympathies to his family, and hope you'll consider carefully what the Bible really says about what happens when loved ones die.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 197 final tables in 540 games (36.5%) - 40 cashes.
No comments:
Post a Comment