One Down

The big poker crackdown in our city may be over. But there's still an aftershock, as one of the more familiar poker rooms in town indicated this past week it's closing for good.

"As i lock the door , all i can think is how the city of wichita has failed me and my family," reads the latest Facebook post from Nikki's Poker Room (copied as written). "We gave you 13 years of are life and you couldn't give us a fair shake ?" 

The question of fairness surrounds the owner's decision. A Facebook post one day earlier added: "We gave it our best , but feel was set up for failure by the law not being enforced all at once on every place at the same time by the city."

This seems to be aimed at Nilla's Poker Room - which seems to be conducting business as usual, and is even adding midday games. How can they do it, while others receive tough scrutiny?

We haven't been to either Nikki's or Nilla's in several weeks, so we're left to guess what the reason might be. But we know what the city and local prosecutors should do - and that's be fair to all:

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." - Acts 10:34-35

You might pay tithes and offerings to God. But if you don't live in a righteous way, that will not "buy Him off" when it comes to judging you.

Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!... Your heart is not right before God." - Acts 8:20-21

Some may have wondered over the last several weeks if the operators of local poker rooms had their hearts right. But the going-away complaint from Nikki's leaves us asking: Do local law officers and prosecutors have their hearts right? Are they enforcing the rules in an evenhanded way?  Especially considering some of the things we've posted here about the crackdown?

Poker Night 462: Nilla Folders

"So what's the difference between this game and 'Cards for the Cure'?" we asked at one point during Saturday night's poker tournament.

"They haven't shut this one down yet," a woman down the table answered. Perhaps sarcastically - but perhaps with a grain of truth.

"You'd better show us your ID," another woman said jokingly.

But then she gave us a break, as we had admitted it was our first time at Nilla's Poker Room. It's close to a main highway in our city, but a bit hard to find - hidden behind a rather notorious nightclub.  We found a nicely set-up place, with a full bar and a few food items.  Room for cash games were secluded behind walls in corners, while the main tournament was out in the open.

We went to Nilla's this weekend, even though Nikki's Poker Room is open again.  Nilla's cost $30 to play, so we theorized the prize pool would be better than the Nikki's "totally free" approach. And as a side issue, we might learn more about the current poker crackdown by Wichita police.

One woman at our table put the two recent shutdowns together, declaring Nikki's led to the end of Cards for the Cure. "They applied to renew their liquor license, and said up-front: We are a poker room."

"They didn't have to be so honest," another woman said - and that's a topic for another day. Now let's get to the action....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: King of hearts-King of diamonds

Nilla's is easily the busiest poker room we've visited in Wichita - with four full tables playing in the tournament on a regular Saturday night. We haven't won a pot yet, despite a couple of feelers.

Now we have "the donuts" (K-K) in lead position, holding about 9,900 chips (starting with 10,500, including a newcomer's bonus) - so we limp in. A man across from us raises to 500, and we call. As best we recall, about four players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 10d-7d-6d

The jewelry store is open, but we're thinking more about our overpair. We bet 700 on it. That chases a couple of people away, but not the man who raised pre-flop. He calls.

ON THE TURN: Qc (may not be precise)

Not a diamond - but not a rib-sticking Ace, either. We increase the bet to 1,000, and get called again.

ON THE RIVER: Jd

We hit the diamond flush - but one card beats us. Does our opponent have it? We bet 1,000 again to find out. We're not really sure if he calls or not - but he flips over pocket Aces! Thankfully, they're both black Aces! The flush is a winner, and we gain more than 3,000 chips.

Another pot win brought us close to 14,000.  But then the third period of blinds brought disaster - as our A-K brought an Ace on the flop.  But 2-3 showed up, and a man with 4-5 hit a straight which severely hurt our stack.

We staggered to the one-hour break at 5,500 chips, and couldn't recover from there. We went all-in with A-Q of spades (as best we remember) - but the board brought only two spades. It also brought three clubs, which a woman used to make a winning flush.

While two players were "eliminated" at the table ahead of us, they took a re-buy option. We did not, walking to the bar to finish our soda in roughly 30th place - and wondering if we should keep going to a place which seems on the edge of breaking city law.

MINISTRY MOMENT: A couple of women at our table were quite talkative. One of them mentioned how "God gave me such good looks...."  We think she was making fun of herself, but we responded to it.

"You should be thankful to God for your good looks," we said. "We should be thankful to God for every blessing."

The woman didn't respond to that. But perhaps we made her stop and think for a moment.  The Bible describes several beautiful women, even in ancient history....

..The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. - Genesis 6:2

But there's a different kind of beauty that God ultimately is seeking:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. - I Peter 3:3-4

Outward beauty is "fleeting" (Proverbs 31:30) - but godly character from a proper spirit never goes out of style. If you're a woman who plays poker, what sort of beauty are you trying to develop?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 174 final tables in 462 games (37.7%) - 32 cashes.

Back in the Game

Well, that didn't take long. Look what was posted on Facebook today about the place where we had our last two poker tournaments:

10 hrs · 

We're not bluffing. We're re-opening our doors TODAY!

With our re-opening and with new city regulations, Nikki's will undergo a few changes.

As Nikki's is a family operated business, our mission is to always put our customers & staff first. Nikki's has and will continue to honor any card player's choice to play for free in our daily tournaments. Chair rentals are an optional charge to maximize a player's comfort during the tournament. As a courtesy to our players, we choose to donate the chair rental fees back to the players as a prize rather than keep the rental profit to our business. Our focus is our players.

Nikki's does not claim to be a gambling establishment. Our business focus is to serve our patrons beverages in a entertaining and safe environment.

Nikki's is currently in operation of scheduling upcoming tournament events.

As a family operated business, Nikki's would like genuinely thank those who showed support at our time of closing.

The "new city regulations" obviously are vague. The next time we visit Nikki's Poker Room, we plan to ask about that.

But based on what they're posting on social media, we're led to conclude people who want to "play for free" now will be allowed to do so. We somehow doubt those players will be eligible to win money; we've faced situations like that a few times in the past.

It all may boil down to what the motive of each player is.  Are you there simply for fun and fellowship? If so, let 'em play for free.  Are you there to build a "poker resume," getting ready to go after a WSOP bracelet? If so, that can be a different matter.

But keep one thing in mind: God in heaven knows your motives - and may well know them far better than you do:

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts... - I Chronicles 28:9

We think God is far more likely to bless your efforts if you do them for the right reasons.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. - Colossians 3:22

This verse could apply to a poker player, abiding by the rules of the game. It could also apply to a poker room, trying to avoid another police raid. God wants us to develop an obedient heart - not only for those we serve around us, but for Him.

We should note Nikki's has another game people can play for free. A big checkerboard with giant checkers sits outside the main poker area. But we don't think even the lesser cable sports channels have reached the point where they're showing "Championship Checkers" - and side bets on a game might get the poker room in trouble as well.

Aces Cracked?

Our background is not in poker, statistics or even theology. It's journalism - so when we see an interesting poker story, we can't help breaking the news. That's what we're doing here today.

It stems from Saturday night. We went to Nikki's Poker Room for our third tournament there, walked to the door - and declared, "It's locked."

"We know," one of three people standing outside said.

"Why?"

"We don't know." The "OPEN" light was on, but no one was home - well past the posted opening time of 6:30 p.m.

Since the night was cool, we went to our car and waited to see if someone would open the door for the other men. But no one did. Minutes later, one of them came to our car with stunning news: "They decided to shut down. Friday was their last day."

Wow - what led up to this?  That man learned the information from Facebook. So when we returned home, we checked Nikki's page:

The city of Wichita has begun shutting down all known gambling establishments. With heavy hearts we are sad to announce that Friday, January 15th, will be our final night of business.... With hope, we look forward to opening our doors again in the future....

In response to some comments, Nikki's added this:

...seems the city feels we hurt the casino.

Posts by Nikki's on Thursday and Friday seemed to reveal where the issue really is:

IT DOES NOT COST TO PLAY POKER . THIS IS A CHAIR RENTAL FEE. 

We wondered about this wording when we moved back to Kansas three years ago. It's how poker rooms justify how they operate and make a profit. But is it legal?

Another Wichita poker room has posted "legal links" on its website. One of them includes this noteworthy statement:

It is illegal to require any person to make a donation or contribution in order to gain admittance to "casino night" to play the games.

A poker tournament isn't really a "casino night" fundraiser. But let's face it: if you don't pay the "chair rental" at poker room, you don't get any chips or cards.

(The Kansas State Poker Championship was challenged on this a couple of years ago. It's a "Cards for the Cure" event with an entry fee, but organizers insisted they gained proper permission from the District Attorney's office.)

If other local poker rooms are receiving a "crackdown" by Wichita police, they have not said so publicly. But this blog can reveal a Wichita police officer sat at our table (plain-clothes) during our December 24 tournament; he told us so as he was eliminated. Whether or not he was checking the legality of Nikki's actions, we don't know.

There's a broad lesson in all of this - for poker tournament organizers, poker players and people in general. Looking for loopholes in the law can get you in trouble with the law.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. - I Thessalonians 5:21-22 (KJV)

Things that look a little strange or suspicious are bound to get investigated sooner or later. Ask any of this year's presidential candidates about that. It's far better to stay close to the law, and to the God who is the "lawgiver."

The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. - Proverbs 13:14 (KJV)

In the meantime, we can say we went two-for-two in tournaments at Nikki's Poker Room - both making final tables and winning money. We thank God for a nice touch on the poker resume.

Poker Day 459: Nikki's at Night

Unless you're specifically looking for it, you might not find it after dark. Nikki's Poker Room has no lighting, save for a neon "Open" sign. Yet that's where we went tonight for the first time, thanks to an off night from work for.... well, we may bring up that "holiday" another time.

We walked into a room unlike any other in our city - in part because it has a full bar with drink specials. We settled for a $2 diet cola. Nikki's also has the least expensive tournaments in town. We only had a $12 buy-in tonight for 15,000 chips with slowly rising blinds. In other words, this place reminded us of our old Thursday night habit of playing poker in a Georgia bar - but could we play well?

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: 3-3

We took a disciplined approach to this tournament, and it worked to our advantage. We didn't win a pot for more than an hour, and that first one actually was a split. Yet we reached the first break after 90 minutes on the "plus side," at 17,000 chips. Now we're in the Small Blind, and no one's raising at a full table.  We call; about half the players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 9-3-8

A perfectly well-disguised three of a kind for us! So we lay low and check. Trouble is, everyone checks.

ON THE TURN: 10

Sitting first in line to act, part of us wants to bet now - but we decide to check again. Sure enough, someone jumps in - as a man across the table who's showing a bit of an attitude bets 2,000. He gets called.

"Raise - 5,000," we say quietly. That man calls; the other players step aside.

ON THE RIVER: 7

That card may smell like trouble (as in a straight), but we're not looking at it that way. We want to make a big move, so we bet 10,000 (about half our remaining stack). Our opponent calls.

"I've got two pair," he says - showing 10-8. (He also was on a flush draw, which he missed.)

"Abdul-Jabbars," we like to say of 3-3. Our opponent looks pained, as we claim a huge pot.

As we recall, that put our chip stack at 72,000 - enough to reach the final table on a night with two full ones. Weak cards hurt after that, until we went all in for 23,000 with A-10. The board displayed two pair, Q's and 7's - and our Ace kicker allowed us to jump to 101,000!

"Bet you didn't expect that to happen," a man across from us said. Indeed, he was right. And we had another low tide in chips later - but playing tightly and carefully allowed us to hang on and reach the money!

Three players were paid on this night - and as better cards came, our chip stack reached a match-high 291,000. At that point, a man across from us proposed splitting the prize money. We had the lead and could have claimed $82 for first place, but we agreed to a three-way split: $53 per player, with $1 extra for a dealer tip.

"You wore me out," one of the finalists said as the night ended. It turned out to be a four-hour contest, and we played with only about three hours of sleep. But caffeine and M&M's can work wonders - along with blessings from God, of course.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Since it was Christmas Eve night, the holiday came up in the discussion. "I can't wait for the 26th, for the carols to end," the dealer admitted.

"What gets me," we admitted to the table, "is how some people demand you say 'Merry Christmas.' I want to tell them: Show me in the Bible where someone says 'Merry Christmas'."

Uh-oh - did that comment surprise you?  Perhaps you expect a blog about a poker-playing Christian to wholeheartedly endorse Christmas.  But the fact that we went to a poker room instead of a "Midnight Mass" should have tipped you off right away that our view is different.

In fact, we'll throw our challenge out to you. Can you find a place in the Bible where someone says, "Merry Christmas" - or even "Happy Holidays"? If you can, please leave a comment and let us know. If you can't, consider these words....

Every word of God is flawless.... Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. - Proverbs 30:5-6

A lot of people have added to the words of God, probably without even realizing it. We think one example of that is the "War on Christmas" - going to great lengths to fight for a holiday which is never specifically mentioned in Scripture.

This admittedly puts us in a camp with atheists - but we'd rather be true to what God says, than add myths and fables which give people wrong ideas. Yes, we're thankful for Jesus Christ and all He does for us. But we try to do that in a way which upholds the Biblical example. After all, that's what Jesus left for us to follow.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 173 final tables in 459 games (37.7%) - 31 cashes. This makes a record six cash wins in live tournaments this year, plus one online at National League of Poker. Our total earnings for 2015 now are above $1,200!