"You might learn all my secrets," we warned him. After all, we hadn't told any other players in our new area about this blog. This hand won't be a secret to him, either. It was all on display, and symbolic of our night....
BLINDS: 150/300
IN THE POCKET: A-Q offsuit
Things have been quiet for us so far, with few strong cards to play. But this hand potentially is different. Sitting two seats off the Big Blind, we limp in and wait for raisers. But even though this table is on the aggressive side, no one raises. About six players are in, at a table of eight.
ON THE FLOP: Jx-10x-7d (Don't recall suits of first two cards)
No pair for us, but a lot of hope - two overcards, with a draw for the top straight. The Small Blind checks, but the Big Blind offers 400. That's not too much; we'll call. Five players remain.
ON THE TURN: Qd
Now we have top pair, and a chance to make a move. Both blinds check, so we bet 1,000 - silently hoping that will run off other players who might be chasing flushes or straights. But only one man folds; three other players stick around.
ON THE RIVER: 9d
That's the last card we wanted to see! Our main concern is the three diamonds showing for a potential flush - but anyone hiding an 8 has made a straight. The Big Blind checks, and we decide we have to be firm instead of cautious.
"Thousand again," we say as we set out an orange chip. A man to our left folds. Good. A man across the table folds. Better! But Mr. Big Blind calls.
"Queens with an Ace," we say and show. The Big Blind turns over.... Jack-10! He made two pair on the flop, and refused to take our hints to run away. His firmness won him a big pot.
That's the kind of night it was for us. We won only one pot, never got above our starting stack of 15,000, and watched marginal hands we folded make it big on the flop.
We finally were forced to go all-in for 2,500 with 9-8 of diamonds. That Big Blind man from before had A-J for a big lead - but the flop was 7-8-9! The turn was a Queen, leaving us one card from a comeback. But, of course, the river was a Jack. His two pair were better, and we walked out in 19th place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Inspired by a weekend sermon, we brought a small connected packet of salt and pepper for our card protector.
"I brought this to remind me," we told a man to our left, "that Jesus said I'm supposed to be the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13).
The man liked that idea - and when we asked, he told us Jesus was his Savior. "I'm a Catholic," he noted.
"What's Jesus done for you lately?" we asked.
"Nothing right now," he answered. But then he entered a hand we folded, and won a big pot.
"Things went right for you there," we pointed out.
He didn't answer that. But come to think of it, maybe it's not all about God doing the right thing for you - even though He can....
Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. - Proverbs 10:6
To borrow from U.S. President John Kennedy and a Spike Lee movie, maybe it's really more about you doing the right thing for God. But we have to be careful in how we do that....
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. - Proverbs 16:25
....Such as some of the hands we tried to play tonight. But if you know what you're doing is the right thing (for instance, if the Bible verifies it), you should go forward with it.
And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. - II Thessalonians 3:13
Perhaps you're stumped by exactly what it means to "do right." We posted an article several years ago with our thoughts about that, based on Bible study and our own church experience. Perhaps what we discovered can help you.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 201 final tables in 547 games (36.7%) - 41 cashes.
2 comments:
Well written. Really enjoy reading about local poker adventures/adventurers, and you put a nice spin on them.
Keep it up.
J/10 guy.
Thank you! If you're the man we met at JACK, nice meeting you - and your thoughts here are always welcome.
Post a Comment