Poker Day 433: Waiting for the Moment

Our tournament performances recently haven't been very strong.  So we went to Arrowhead Poker today thinking this could be the day the odds turn around.  Sooner or later, they have to turn around - right?!?

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: Ah-Kd
.
We're trying to play cautiously early in the tournament.  A couple of small attempts have missed the flop.  Now we have good starter cards, and a man at our full table of ten raises to 1,200.  A call is only natural; about four players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 10-5-J

We have a "belly-buster" straight draw.  But the raiser is making other people pay for it, with a continuation bet of 2,200.  Holding about 18,000 chips, we dare to call.  So does one other man to our left.

ON THE TURN: 2

It's hard to believe that helped anyone - but as we recall, three hearts are now on the board.  Mr. Raiser now tosses out 5,000, and we stop to do some math:

Three Aces + Three Kings = top pair.
Four Queens = straight
Nine hearts = flush (a miscount on our part; the Kh and Qh repeat).

In short, we have a lot of outs - 17/46, or about 37%.  We conclude this is worth the risk.  We call.  The man to our left does as well.

ON THE RIVER: K (not a heart)

Knowing the way people tend to play at Arrowhead, top pair gives us some comfort.  The fact that Mr. Raiser checks does as well.  We bet 2,000.  The man to our left folds - but not the better across the table.  He calls.

"I hit the river," we say as we show.  But our opponent quietly turns over K-J!  He made a second pair with that river, and we take a big loss.

That was the way play went in general for us.  A few minutes later, we entered with J-10.  When the flop showed 10-9-5, we pushed for our remaining 3,600.  Two speculative players called.  The turn brought a Jack, making us feel good about two pair.  But after the river, a man to our left pulled out K-Q!

His straight made us the first player out at the table - and since there was only one table, we finish 10th.  We think.  The poker room manager filled our spot and played for awhile, and it looked like someone came in late to join the game.  So technically, it's a "final table" -- but not one which feels very good.

MINISTRY MOMENT: A couple of people seemed edgy at the start of the game.  "Must be a full moon," a man to our right commented.

"Actually, it's a new moon this week," we said quietly.  "The Rosh Hashanah moon."

We're not sure if the man heard us, but that's what the calendar shows for this coming Wednesday night and Thursday:

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.  Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the Lord by fire.'" - Leviticus 23:23-25

For some reason, the start of the seventh month in God's calendar has become known as "Jewish New Year."  But more importantly, the Bible shows it's been kept as a time to remember the Law of God:

So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly.... They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being said. - Nehemiah 8:2, 8

Perhaps we should stop here and ask: do you know what the "Law of God" is?  Just as poker games have rules which must be followed, God set laws over society.  And while some people say that Law is now a thing of the past, society still follows much of that law -- such as commandments against killing and stealing.

The first five books of the Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy) are known as "the Books of the Law."  This might be a good time of year to review the instructions in those books.  You might be stunned by some of the things you see.  Then ask God in prayer to show you what He would have you do about them.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 153 final tables in 433 games (35.3%) - 25 cashes.  Yes, we're counting it.

The First Part

A recent post noted a tax lien placed on professional poker player Phil Laak, because he owed back taxes in California.  We checked news websites this morning, and there's no update on whether he paid off or not.

But we noted a statement of Jesus that people should "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" (Matthew 22:21).  What should poker players (and, for that matter, everyone else) give to God?

Jesus was talking in Matthew 22 about money -- and the Bible challenges readers to give some of that to God:

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." - Malachi 3:10

Some poker players put together or compete in charitable tournaments, and there's nothing wrong with that.  But God expects a tithe to go to him -- a donation of ten percent.

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.  But you ask, "How do we rob you?"  In tithes and offerings. - Malachi 3:8

God's talking tough here -- saying if you don't pay Him a tithe, you're robbing Him.  Yet He also says you're robbing yourself of blessings.

So where is this storehouse where the tithe should go?  In ancient days, the "house of our God" had storerooms for grain and other offerings (Nehemiah 13:4-5, 12).  Since there's no main house for worship in our world today, we think it's acceptable to pay the tithe to the place where you're worshiping.

But of course, this assumes you are worshiping God.  If you're not.... well, you're robbing God there as well.

But the Lord, who bought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship.  To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices.... and do not worship other gods. - II Kings 17:36, 38

Why worship God?  Because without Him giving you life, health and a working mind, you can't play poker in the first place.

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.... - Deuteronomy 8:18

Note also God expects an offering over and above the tithe.  The amount of that is up to you -- but ask yourself: how much has God done for you?  How much has He blessed you in poker, and other areas?

One fringe benefit of paying tithes and offerings is that in the U.S. (and perhaps other countries), many ministries allow you to deduct the gifts at tax time.  It's too late to make such gifts for your 2013 taxes -- but it's not too late to give God His share of your poker success.

Poker Night 341: Early to Raise

"The tradition continues" is what we traditionally write when someone goes all-in during the first hand of an online tournament.  At least one player pushes right away, more often than not. At live tournaments, that doesn't tend to happen -- but some people aren't afraid to turn up the heat early in the evening.  Take this case from The Red Barn tonight....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: 9 of hearts - 9 of diamonds

This isn't the opening hand, but it's one of the first.  An early missed flop has left us with about 6,750 chips.  We're content to limp in with a mid-range pocket pair -- but another man raises the stakes to 550.  Since we do have a pocket pair, we don't plan to back down pre-flop.  So we call, and about four players are in the hand.

ON THE FLOP: 8h-8d-10h

So there's a pair lower than ours on the board, and we also have 60 percent of a straight flush.  But we choose to lay low and check -- and sure enough, the bet from across the table is 500.  Hoping more for a 9 (to make a full house) than a medium-high heart, we call.  We don't recall anyone folding.

ON THE TURN: 6s

This blows up the dreamiest hand.  And a player across the table now raises the stakes to 1,500.  But consider our options now -- as any 7 would give us a straight, and any 8 or 9 would still provide a full house.  Even a 10 would provide us a sneakily higher two pair.  After weighing all this, we call.  Three players remain for the river.

ON THE RIVER: 2h

Yuck -- we missed it all.  Thankfully, the other players check so we don't have to fold.  But not so thankfully, one of them turns over an 8.  He had three of a kind from the flop, and takes a sizable pot.  We take a sizable loss, down to about 4,175 chips.

So dreams don't always come true in poker.  But one did for us later in the hour, as K-9 brought two pair at the river for a "Rodney" bonus hand of 5,000.

Then in the second hour, K-9 came our way again.  A flop containing K-J led to us calling a big bet of 3,000.  Then at the turn, a woman to our left bet 15,000 -- while we had only 1,000 remaining.  We called in hope again, but she had K-J.  Her two pair put us in an unwinnable position, and she knocked us out in 20th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Rodney the Tournament Director at The Red Barn professes faith in Christ, and he was in a mood to share that faith tonight.

"This is a man of God," he told a man at the one-hour break -- referring to us.

That's a title we seldom hear mentioned in our direction.  In fact, we almost wanted to quiet Rodney down when he said it!  It's quite humbling to us, and we don't really feel deserving of it -- especially considering the Biblical characters who received that title:

Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God.... - II Chronicles 30:16

And the leaders of the Levites were.... prescribed by David the man of God. - Nehemiah 12:24

I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God.... - Jeremiah 35:4

Wait a minute -- Ig-who?  We admittedly never thought of that person as a "man of God" until we wrote this post.  In fact, he's only mentioned in the Bible in that one verse.

Igdaliah is an embedded example of how someone can be a man (or woman) of God, without gaining a lot of prestige or publicity.  You may be living a Christian life, not thinking anyone notices or cares.  But Rodney reminded us tonight some people with careful eyes do notice.  And most importantly, God cares -- and He'll ultimately reward the faithful.

But you, man of God, flee from all this.... Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. - I Timothy 6:11-12

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 121 final tables in 341 nights (35.5%) - 19 cashes.

Going By the Book

When we play in live poker tournaments and bring up the things of God, we often encourage players to read the Bible. One recent night, we mentioned you might find some surprising things there.

What kind of surprising things? We could list many -- and in fact, one journalist did in a recent eye-opening book. One item on Joe Kovacs's list admittedly threw us for a moment -- the claim that "God ran lotteries."

Plenty of people who gamble in poker cash games also play lottery games, especially at bars. But lots were used in Bible times for more serious matters -- such as who would replace Judas Iscariot among the 12 disciples.

Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. -- Acts 1:26

The followers of Jesus did this to seek God's will in a matter -- a little different from the purpose many modern gamblers have for playing a cash game.

Other examples of lot-casting can be found in I Chronicles 26 and Nehemiah 11. But we won't quote those in detail here. Read those sections of the Bible for yourself. As we say, you might be surprised.