Poker Day 442: Gladly 4-A?

Some people have such busy lives that a three-day weekend turns into a "day on, not a day off."  So it is with us.  A Friday off from work allowed us to take care of several errands -- and also make a trip to Kansas Star Casino for a "High Noon" poker tournament, hoping to win extra money.

The buy-in for a seat was $45.  We turned down an extra $5 "dealer appreciation fee" for an extra 1,000 chips.  Looking back, perhaps that was our problem....

BLINDS: 25/25

IN THE POCKET: A-4 offsuit

We started with the Dealer button.  We now have it again, as the table has made a quick "lap around the track" with seven seats occupied and three empty.  A small venture for us pre-flop failed, so we're now at 2,375 chips from a starting 2,500.  No one's raising, so an Ace seems worth playing.  We're in, as is about half the table.

ON THE FLOP: K-K-4

Two pair plus top kicker seems like good mathematics for us - especially with the table checking around to us.  We bet 100.  The Small Blind next to us calls; the others get out of the way.

ON THE TURN: 6

Our opponent checks.  We have no idea what he has, but we want a clue.  We bet 100 again, and he calls.

ON THE RIVER: 9

Our opponent isn't checking now. Instead, he throws out 500.  We ponder this a moment, and conclude he's trying to test the "newbie" at the table (we haven't played in a tournament there since December 2013).  Will we be cowardly and run off when the heat's on?

With two pair and a top kicker, we say no.  We call - and he shows K-2!  He had three Kings on the flop, and let us bet into a trap.

Looking back, we probably should have folded when the river bet came out.  If he had a pocket pair, odds are it was better than ours.  But we played on the theory that casino poker players are crafty.  We were right, but in the wrong direction.

The cards went that way throughout the tournament for us.  We folded 7-5 right away, watched a straight land on the turn -- but were glad we folded when a 5 on the river gave someone a full hour.  We played A-K, and bet when an Ace came on the river -- only to find a man with 9-8 had made two pair.

Then we were dealt A-10 (yes, like in 2013), and a man bet big with an Ace on the flop.  We had no choice but to go all-in for our last 300.  The river brought a 10, giving us two pair.  But it gave that other man a winning flush.  Our tournament day lasted only 30 minutes -- and out of 36 players, we finished a lowly 33rd.

MINISTRY MOMENT: The dealer dealt cards to empty chairs at the table, to keep things fair.  At one point, he overlooked an empty seat for a moment.

"Maybe that's Elijah's chair," we said. The dealer seemed puzzled, so we explained.  "The Passover tradition - leaving an empty seat for Elijah."

Where did the Jews get that tradition, anyway?  It doesn't come from their "Torah," the first five books of the Bible.  But that section of Scripture does say this....

On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn.... I am the Lord.  The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.... This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord - a lasting ordinance. - Exodus  12:12-14

The great Passover event of ancient Egypt is to be remembered for "generations to come" - but by whom?  Simply by Jews?

..For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. - I Corinthians 5:7b (KJV)

Other translations refer to Jesus here as the "Passover lamb."  Just as Israel was supposed to kill a lamb and put its blood on its doors as a mark to the "death angel" (Exodus 12:1-8, 13), Jesus came to be "the lamb of God" sacrificed for our sins.

So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast. - I Corinthians 5:8 (CEV)

Huh? you may be asking.  The apostle Paul wrote this to Christian believers - yet he talked about keeping a Passover festival?!

Yes, he did.  And we think Christians today should as well.  We'll have more to say about that in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 159 final tables in 442 tournaments (36.0%) - 26 cashes.  This broke a string of four consecutive final tables for us - although admittedly almost all of them were one-table games.

A Pair of Elijahs

Let's return to the poker table conversation we had about Elijah.  An elderly woman told us Jesus cannot return until Elijah "comes back from heaven."

This admittedly is a complicated Bible puzzle to address.  For starters, it apparently was a common idea 2,000 years ago as well, when Jesus walked the earth....

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" - Matthew 17:9-10

Elijah was one of the greatest Old Testament preachers and prophets.  His "departure" was as unique as hitting a royal flush on the flop....

As they were walking and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.... And Elisha saw him no more. - II Kings 2:11-12

Many believers, then and now, take these verses to mean Elijah currently lives in heaven with God.  But is there a verse of Scripture they're overlooking?

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven -- the Son of Man. - John 3:13

This verse is so contrary to mainstream Christian teaching that many ministers jump over it, never quoting it.  But the Lord who came from Heaven to Earth declared no one has ever gone to Heaven!  This would have to include Elijah.  So if he disappeared in II Kings 2, he may have landed elsewhere on Earth and eventually died there; the Bible admittedly doesn't provide that detail.

Wherever Elijah went, notice how Jesus answered the disciples' question about him:

Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.  But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished...."  Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. - Matthew 17:11-13

An angel explained to the father of John the Baptist his son would go "in the spirit and power of Elijah...." (Luke 1:17) The angel never said John WAS a second coming of Elijah; that would be a form of reincarnation, which is a concept the Bible does not support.

(Some Christian groups think the "Elijah" in verse 11 refers to still another person - not the Old Testament prophet, but someone at the end of our age.  But that's very speculative, and also lacking in complete Biblical support.)

So to sum up all this: an ancient Elijah went to heaven.  Some teachers (past and present) say he has to come back before the Messiah comes.  But Jesus said a "type" of Elijah came, in the form of John the Baptist -- born six months before Jesus was born to Mary.

Jesus already has fulfilled what the teachers of the law predicted.  It's the second coming of the Messiah (Christ) which should have our attention.  Are you watching for that - and ready to see it?

Poker Night 354: A-J Vu?

After a church convention road trip, we returned to the local poker circuit tonight.  Compared to a Harrah's casino, The Red Barn doesn't require a "rewards card" to enter.  The soft drinks are not free.  And the poker playing is as wide-open as the Nevada desert....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: Ace-Jack of hearts

We sat down at this table to begin the tournament with 7,000 chips (2,000 extra for buying a soda).  Other players sat down with 30,000 or more, because they paid for food or tunes from the jukebox -- and they're already betting like big spenders, with raises in the thousands.

Realizing this, we want to pick the right moments to play.  We also realize this exact same hand didn't work for us in Kansas City last week.  So we try to get in small, by calling.  But no -- a man across the table raises.  Not to 1,000, but 5,000.  He gets a caller, while other players fold ahead of us.

"I pretty much have to call this," we say -- and reluctantly take the 5,000-chip dare, committing about 70 percent of our stack.

ON THE FLOP: 5-5-4 (one 5 is a heart)

What an ugly-looking flop, especially for us.  We check, but the big bettor doesn't slow down.  Now he bets 20,000 -- and we have less than 2,000 left!

"I missed the flop," we confess as we fold.  Apparently everyone else did, too; they fold, and the pot-winner graciously turns over his dominating pocket Kings.

Trying to join this party was expensive, and the loss handcuffed our play for the rest of the night.  Potentially good hands such as A-8 and A-3 had to be folded to big raises -- although to be honest, they also would have lost.  We endured to the one-hour break, but then were forced to go all-in with 9-6 in the Small Blind early in the second hour.  We missed a straight draw, and lost to a pair of 7's to finish 22nd.

MINISTRY MOMENT: An elderly-looking woman sat to our left tonight.  We showed her our "Lord's Supper" card protector and asked, "Do you think Jesus Christ is coming back?"

The woman said yes, but added something had to happen first.  "Elijah has to come back and die, and he was taken up to heaven."

"What if I told you," we responded, "the Bible indicates Elijah has died already?"

This was news to the woman, as we suspect it would be to a lot of casual Bible readers.  So we suggested she review the book of Hebrews -- but when we got home, we discovered we had our E's mixed up:

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. - Hebrews 11:5 (KJV)

The key word here is translated.  The Revised Standard Version substitutes the phrase "taken away."  The New International Version says Enoch "was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death."  Bible resources we reviewed indicate translated originally meant in Greek "transfer" or "transport."  (The same word appears as "removed" in Galatians 1:6).

But we've heard some ministers say Enoch is part of a list of ancient Bible heroes, which leads up to this:

All these people were still living by faith when they died.... - Hebrews 11:13 (NIV)

Based on this verse, those ministers claim when "God took him [Enoch] away" in Genesis 5:24, Enoch "disappeared" (as the Moffatt translation puts it) -- only to die later.  It might be compared to kings who "took Lot" in Genesis 14:12; that was a case of hostage-taking.

Yet after reflecting on this, a lot depends on when the author of Hebrews actually starts his list of those who were "living by faith when they died."  Does it begin with Abel in Hebrews 11:4?  Or Noah in verse 7?  We'll leave the issue open for your comments.  In the meantime, we apologize to this woman for getting Enoch and Elijah mixed up -- and we'll explore what really happened to Elijah in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 123 final tables in 354 nights (34.7%) - 19 cashes.

The Empty Chair (or One Down)

Our starter table had an open seat at a tournament the other night -- so we brought up the Jewish Passover custom of leaving a chair empty for Elijah.  As we've thought about this, we've wondered if the Jewish symbolism might need some changing in a New Testament era.

Three disciples joined Jesus one day atop a mountain, and watched the Lord talk with Elijah and Moses.  Several Bible translations indicate this was a vision, and not real (Matthew 17:9 in KJV and NASB).  But it led the disciples to ask a question.

The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"  Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.  But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.  In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." - Matthew 17:10-12

Some preachers claim "Elijah" is a modern-day sect leader -- but after considering these verses, we don't think so.  We think the disciples figured out the correct answer....

Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. - Matthew 17:13

This symbolic "Elijah" named John died in prison from beheading (Matthew 14:3-11), preceding the crucifixion of Jesus -- something 20th-century sect leaders never experienced.

All four gospels mention the last Passover (Lord's Supper) before Jesus died.  None of them mention an "Elijah's chair."  But have you considered how a seat became open during the course of that meal?

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.  "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him.... As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out.  And it was night. - John 13:27, 30

You may have played in poker tournaments where someone was eliminated and the dealer announced, "One down!"  When Judas Iscariot "went down" on this fateful night, he went into the depths of Satanic influence -- as he betrayed Jesus, leading to the Lord's arrest (verse 2).

This leads to a probing question for all of us.  Where are your loyalties?  Is your life closer to Satan's way or God's way?  Have you pushed "all in" with life to the point where you've abandoned God, leaving an empty chair at the Lord's table?  Or are you leaving a chair open in your heart and mind, for Jesus to fill?

Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. - Revelation 3:20-21

Let Jesus have a place in your life now, and you'll have a special place alongside Him when the Kingdom of God comes.  Look up, instead of being "one down."

Poker Night 333: Think and Grow Rich

The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. to start our Wednesday.  Then we were on a day-long road trip of almost 300 miles round-trip.  In classic Southern-speak, we were a bit "tuckered out."  But with Lil Kim's Cove calling off Thursday night poker again this week, we decided to give Soho Bar and Grill another try Wednesday night -- and hoped we wouldn't fall asleep in mid-hand, to our ruin.

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: 8-7 of spades

We began the evening with 8,000 chips -- a 1,000-chip bonus for a stay-awake diet cola, and 2,000 more from the Tournament Director for reasons unknown.  (Well, it was Nelson Mandela's birthday.)  We've dropped a few hundred, but mid-range suited connectors look inviting to us.  We call; no one at the table raises.

ON THE FLOP: 2s-10s-4c (third card may not be exact)

We have a hopeful flush draw, but a man to our immediate left who's dead-serious about playing poker to win.  After we check, he bets 400.  That's actually relatively small for "chasing," so we call.  About four players are still in the hand.

ON THE TURN: 9d

That's not a spade -- but it's a card which opens even more possibilities.  Now we also have an open-ended straight draw.  We check, then try to count quickly in our head the "outs" for making a big hand.  But before we can figure out the answer (15), the man to our left throws an even larger number at us.

"Nineteen hundred," he announces -- nothing less than an "I dare you" bet.  The other players between us fold, leaving a huge decision.

"I have to think it over, the way he's been thinking," we tell the table -- a reference to a lengthy decision our opponent made earlier about calling 3,000.

"No one thinks the way I think," the bettor says dryly.

"I'm wondering whether or not that's a good thing," he respond in an attempt to lighten the mood.  It brings a laugh or two, and an extra moment of thinking time.  At least we decide to make the significant investment, and call.

ON THE RIVER: 6h

Close enough to perfection for us!  There's not much to think about now.

"So why not.... 1,500?" we say.

"I'll raise.  All in," answers the man to our left.  We're not sure why he'd make that sort of move, so we conclude he's attempting more scare tactics.

"All I have left," we say after a count," is 2,950."  We call, show our straight -- and our opponent seems stunned, then throws in his cards face-down.  We still don't know what he had.

"He made a gutshot," the loser mutters.  Well no, it was open-ended; we let a woman across the table point that out to him.

"I knew he had a straight," a man out of the hand says moments later -- suggesting our opponent should have realized that, too.  The only way he could have beaten us is with a higher straight (perhaps Q-J).  But he didn't, and we make a massive chip gain to the 14,000 range.


We split the next pot as well, then waited for the right moment to come.  That happened in the second hour, when A-A came in the Small Blind.  A third Ace on the flop allowed us to go all-in, which brought folds and a 12,000-chip gain.  Another pot came our way later in the hour -- then we held on valiantly from there, to scrape our way to the final table.


But with rising blinds, 20,000 chips at the final table was the small stack.  Forced to go all-in with K-10 in the Big Blind, 8-9-8 on the flop and 10 on the turn gave us two pair.  But 6 on the river gave an opponent with 9-7 a winning straight.  We drove home in ninth place -- but the satisfaction of knowing we made the final table despite tiredness, at the most competitive poker venue in our area (five tables played).


MINISTRY MOMENT: What do you do when a tournament begins with seven players at a "table for eight"?  At our table, chips were set up for all seats -- with cards dealt even to the empty chair, and blinds removed as they came around.


That led us to an idea.  "That's Elijah's chair," we told the table.  "In the Passover tradition."


A couple of players seemed puzzled by that reference, which probably shouldn't be surprising.  In Jewish tradition, a chair intentionally is left empty at the annual spring Passover "seder" dinner.  Some rabbis explain families long for Elijah to come, to report the Messiah has arrived.  Let's see how Biblical that custom is....

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.  And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." - Luke 22:14-15

Many churches have "Christianized" this meal through the centuries, turning it into "communion" or "the Lord's Supper."  Those titles appear in the New Testament and have merit, but Jesus called it a Passover.  And since Jesus was born through the lineage of Judah (Luke 3:23-30), He had no discomfort about calling it Passover.  So what about Elijah?

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fie and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.  Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father!  My father!  The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"  And Elisha saw him no more.... - II Kings 2:11-12

Many Christians and Jews take these verses to mean Elijah went to heaven without really dying, and he's living with God in heaven today.  But is there a verse they're overlooking?

Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet.... - II Chronicles 21:12

This note refers to a king also mentioned in II Kings 8 -- seemingly well after Elijah's whirlwind moment.  Some believers cite this as evidence Elijah simply disappeared from Elisha, landed somewhere else and eventually sent Jehoram the letter.


What do you think of this?  It's admittedly a complex topic, so we'll develop it farther in an upcoming post.


UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 118 final tables in 333 nights (35.4%) - 19 cashes.  We broke a run of six consecutive final table misses.


NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 249 point wins in 1,050 games (23.7%), 78 final tables, 7 cashes plus 3 other wins.  No-River Hold -em - 7 point wins in 38 games (18.4%), 6 final tables, 1 cash win.


POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $82,127, down $860.

February Senior Championship: Thanks, But No Thanks

In January, we almost made the final table at the monthly National League of Poker Senior Championship.  Tuesday night brought another opportunity -- and things looked great for awhile....

:06 IN: After pocket 10's were overshadowed by an Ace on the flop and a Jack on the turn, we have 7-10 of spades.  A player doubles the blind, and we accept.  The flop is 6-A-A, the first two cards spades.  Everyone checks.  The turn is Qs, and we bet 150 with a flush.  One player calls.  The river is 8c.  We check to "defer," but our opponent checks as well.  He has A-Q!  Our flush wins $525.

:15 IN: We have K-K, limp in, then see two players go all-in for more than 800.  We hold our breath and call -- to find we face A-3 and 9-6!  The flop is 10-9-J.  The turn is 7.  The river is 3!  We dodge the stray rocket, eliminate one player and grab a $3,990 jackpot.

:19 IN: We have A-10 in the big blind -- and since no one raises, we go up 200 and attract a couple of callers.  The flop is 2-A-Q.  We make a power bet of 700, the table folds, and we win $880.

We miss a few flops after that, doing a little chasing -- but reach the half-hour break at a comfortable $2,705.  We sit in 58th place, with 342 players still competing.

:45 IN: We have Q-10.  The flop is 2-4-J, and offer a bluffer's bet of 200.  A couple of players call.  The turn is 3, and another player makes a big bet.  We fold -- and when the river is J, a man to our left shows J-J for quads.

:48 IN: We have 5-8 of diamonds in the big blind.  The flop is 7x-6d-Ax, giving us a two-way straight draw.  Everyone checks.  The turn is K.  An opponent bets 200, and we dare to call.  But the river is 3, and we bail out with a loss. (The winner has A-9.)

:49 IN: We have 7s-7c in the small blind  The flop is 6-8-5 -- all hearts!  An opponent bets about 200, and we dare to call.  The turn is 7h, and our three of a kind never looked more grim.  A player bets 200, and we fold.  Good thing - because amazingly, the man who hit quads four minutes before shows 4h, to make a straight flush!  Do any math experts know the odds against that?

:58 IN: We have J-8 of diamonds in the big blind.  The flop is 5d-Qx-Jx. An opponent goes all-in for 755.  What would you do with middle pair?  We take a chance and call -- and we're rewarded when the big bettor shows a mere 4-7!  The turn is 3, the river is 4, and we capture $2,470.

1:00 IN: The next hand brings us 6-6 in the small blind, and accept a doubling of the blind to 600.  The flop is 8-3-3.  An opponent bets 900, and we fold -- only to see 6 on the turn.  Our "triple six" would have beaten is winning "triple three."

We have $1,735 at the second break -- and that's when the trouble starts.  Our computer is noisy enough for us to hear a McAfee update approaching.  We'd moved our weekly McAfee scan time to Tuesday morning, to avoid any interruptions in the evening.  We paused the scan at the start of the game -- but we can't interrupt McAfee at update time.

The McAfee entry suffocates our browser, even before announcing its presence.  Google Chrome freezes, and NLOP tells us our log-in has been lost after eight minutes of lost playing time.  But the computer doesn't let us log in again for five more minutes -- and under NLOP rules, ten minutes of inactivity gets us eliminated!

McAfee didn't even announce on the screen its update was ready until 25 minutes after entry.  (The update itself took 64 minutes to complete, in part because we restarted the weekly scan along side it.)  So with all that waiting time, we had plenty to think about -- and we admittedly spent plenty of time stewing.  We had prayed before the tournament for God's blessing upon our actions and comments.  So why here?  Why now??

But the more we thought about it, the more we concluded we were to blame.  That pre-game prayer was in the car, before going inside a restaurant for dinner.  It was relatively short -- and we determined that was the problem.  Why?

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. - Revelation 8:3

"Beat your prayers fine," we've heard ministers preach over the years.  They've claimed incense burns better when it's ground into tinier particles -- so therefore, God wants detailed prayers instead of broad generalizations.  Based on that reasoning: we did not specifically ask God to block McAfee interruptions; thus, God used that loophole to eliminate us from the tournament and teach us a lesson.

But here's the strange twist -- only as we wrote this post did we discover the claim about incense-burning may not be entirely accurate.  And we can think of a few short prayers in the Bible which wound up having a big impact.  Here's one; perhaps you can think of more....

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."  Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. - I Kings 18:36-37

Even at a slow pace, we read that prayer of Elijah aloud in 25 seconds.  Yet God heard it, answered it and gave the prophet victory in a dramatic showdown with Baal worshipers at Mount Carmel (people who pleaded conceivably for hours for Baal to show himself -- pleading in vain).

So did we beat ourselves up too much, for not "beating our prayers" enough?  We'll leave that open for your comments.  In the meantime, our finish at the poker tournament still wasn't that bad: 103rd out of 950 players.  But who knows what might have been?!?!


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