"I don't know," he answered. Cynn, a native of Indianapolis, won the World Series of Poker Main Event this week. He was not in Lawrenceburg for our tournament, so our chances for success jumped dramatically....
BLINDS: 100/200
IN THE POCKET: Ace-6 of hearts
We've won one pot with hidden pocket Aces, and split another with a Jack. Now this "turbo tourney" is near the end of its first hour, and we have about 10,800 chips from a starting 12,000.
A man at our table of eight raises to 500. We take the approach that any Ace is a potential top pair, and we call. Five players are in the hunt.
ON THE FLOP: A-4-3 (no hearts, as we recall)
There's the top pair - but are others thinking the way we're thinking? The only way to find out is to bet. After the lead player checks, we offer 500. Three other players call. They can't all have Aces.
ON THE TURN: 4
Now we have two pair - and we really doubt anyone else has a 4. Our bet on the flop would have run off those chasers. So we choose to keep the pressure on, with another bet of 500. That scares away one more players, but two others call again. Is our "rags" kicker good enough for this?
ON THE RIVER: 5
Ugh - that opens the door for trouble. Anyone on a straight draw just made it. The first man in line checks. We pull out chips, as if we're about to bet again - but then think better of it and check. The third player ponders for a few seconds. If he bets, he probably runs us off. But he checks.
"I have an Ace," we say as we show. The other players.... don't even show! They apparently missed their draws or had smaller pairs! We win a big pot of more than 4,000 chips, and reach the first break at a high of 16,125.
The trouble is, we never made it any higher. Good cards such as K-Q didn't convert into pairs for us in the second hour. Then when we saw pocket Jacks, we took on an aggressive woman across the table. She bet 2,200 on a meager-looking flop. We went all-in for 8,400, and she called.... with Q-Q! Her Queens held on to top our Jacks, and we missed the final table. We finished 13th out of 19 players.
MINISTRY MOMENT: A man two seats to our left won the first three hands of the night. That started jokes about whether he could win every hand and score a perfect game. One man suggested a sidebet on it.
"I would bet against me making it," the winner admitted.
"C'mon now," said the man between the winner and us. "You've got to have faith."
That was our opening. "I'd rather have faith in God, than have faith in him winning every hand."
The men smiled at that thought. But it reminded us of a line a well-known radio preacher said years ago: "Everyone has faith.... in something. The question is, what is your faith in?"
If you put all your faith in yourself or in other people, you're likely to be disappointed....
But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah. - Psalm 49:12-13
Sad but true - our bodies eventually wear down and die. But God promises to resurrect us, at least to a moment of judgment (Revelation 20:11-12). And if you put your faith in God and Jesus Christ now, that moment will be better than you might think:
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. - Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
Faith in God can lead to salvation and eternal life. And did you notice the amazing thing about it? It's not really our faith that does it. It's His faith, which God gives to believers through His Holy Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.... - Galatians 5:22
It starts by asking God for something the first disciples of Jesus requested when He was on Earth: "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5) If you'd like help in doing that, please leave a comment; we'll be happy to help you.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 201 final tables in 546 games (36.8%) - 41 cashes.
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