Poker Night 498: Expecting the Unexpected

One phone call truly can change everything. A call we received Monday morning changed our work schedule so much that we spotted an opportunity to play Monday night "free" poker (we paid for a soda) at Yvie's Bar and Grill. We hadn't been there since mid-August. Could God have opened this window to keep alive our chances of making 37-percent final tables at 500 games? We went in faith to find out....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: A-5 offsuit

We folded the first two hands, then got moved to a fourth outer table away from the main room. We won the draw for dealer with a Queen, and now have dealt ourselves these opening cards. We call, and the entire table of six jumps in.

ON THE FLOP: 6h-7h-4d

Maybe we know how to deal cards after all. We have an open-ended straight draw. A young man to our right bets 600. We call, as does an older man to our left.

ON THE TURN: 3h

Yes sir - that's the jack.... well, wait a second. We've made a straight, all right. But three hearts are showing (we don't have any), and the man to our left wants to bet 1,600. The man to our right wants to call him!

We feel like there's something on the order of two pair to our left, and he's trying to chase people off - while the player to our right may have hit the same straight we have. So we call, thinking a split is coming.

ON THE RIVER: Js

Did that discourage flush-seeking "river rats" away? Not at all. The man to our left tosses out 1,600 more. The man to our right calls. Suddenly we have bad feelings about this - but we've committed so much to the pot, we feel forced to call.

"Do you have a 5?" we ask the man to the left as we show our straight.

"I've got a flush," he answers. Ouch - Q-10 of hearts! Our jackpot card was his as well. The man to the right doesn't even bother showing what he had. We both take a big loss.

It was that sort of night for us.... not a very good one. We won one pot with three 5's, but other attempts to succeed fell flat, such as Q-Q falling to a straight on the river. We finally had to push with A-4, but missed another straight draw. Our "500-game blessing" theory was dead wrong, as we were the first out at our table.

MINISTRY MOMENT: The main poker-playing area at Yvie's is crowded, with three round tables of eight players. The woman who sat down to our left made sure we didn't encroach. "This is my space," she said jokingly.

"Narrow is the way," we responded. "The way that leads to life. I read that in a book once."

The reference seems to go over the woman's head. But regular readers know at least which book we mean....

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it. - Matthew 7:14 (KJV)

Have you met religious people who come across as "narrow-minded?" They could be acting on these words - and they're the words of Jesus Christ.

Many people think one of Jesus's missions was to put strict-thinking Pharisees in their place. Indeed, He did that. But He also introduced his own narrow path to follow....

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6

This is what set Christianity apart from other world religions. You can't have Christianity without "Christ". You also cannot have something else without Him:

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12

If you're seeking salvation and a life beyond this one, that's good. But if you think you can achieve that by ignoring "Jesus Christ of Nazareth" (verse 10), the Bible says you're off-target. If you're willing to follow the narrow path that leads to Jesus and eternal life, leave a comment and we'll be happy to help you on that road.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 182 final tables in 498 games (36.5%) - 36 cashes. Even if we make the next two final tables, our percentage will only climb to 36.8%.

The Director's Cut

No, poker and blogging about it is not our full-time job. We do something else to make a living - and our work schedule has changed for the second time this year. A schedule that opened the door for us to play Monday night poker now has closed.

We miss Yvie's for the characters who tend to show up at its tournaments - from good players dealing with serious disabilities to eccentric men wearing hats that look borrowed from a costume shop.

One thing we may not miss so much is the Tournament Director. We've mentioned before how he can lay down the law before games begin. One recent Monday night, it happened again - with tough words to stop people apparently arguing too much over his rulings.

"I could be completely wrong," he admitted loudly to the room. But complaining too much about it, he warned, could get you shown the door.

We've never done it, but it's probably not easy being a Tournament Director. There are dozens of people to check in, point standings to manage, and sometimes new poker locations to negotiate. Add to that the job of referee over disputed hands, and you have a potentially challenging job.

So how do you treat the people in charge, at the places where you play? One very helpful guidebook suggests this:

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority... Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage for you. - Hebrews 13:17

Some people look at this Bible verse and think of Presidents or royalty. But think a bit more deeply about it. "Leaders" can be found in all walks of life - on your job, at the church you attend, on a sports team, and even at a poker tournament. Don't make things difficult for them. After all, they could turn around and make things more difficult for you.

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. - Titus 3:1-2

Yes, Directors' decisions can be wrong at times. But humbling yourself, being in subjection to those decisions and having a peaceful spirit sets the right example. It makes the game go better for everyone. And besides, the "poker brat" nickname already has been taken.

For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. - Romans 13:3

We throw in this last verse for those of you who might be tempted to cheat at the table. You're far less likely to get punished if you follow the house rules. In fact, if you follow all of our Bible-based advice, a strange thing might happen -- the Tournament Director might even become your friend.

Poker Night 467: All About Yvie's

"So did the police do something to the poker rooms?" a woman asked at the place where we played tonight.  If you have to ask, you're probably a part-time player.

To be fair, that woman probably is. Tonight we went to the opposite end of the poker spectrum from the Heartland Poker Tour - back to the amateur version of World Poker Tour, where we started playing in Kansas three Aprils ago.  It's now called "WPT League", and it's dropped from several weekly locations in our city to only one.

Yvie's Bar and Grill on the west side of town is much more "bar" than "grill." Signs with beer jokes abound. It's a throwback to the places where we played poker in Georgia and Alabama years ago - and police are unlikely to raid it, since the games are totally free to enter (no chair rental) and you can buy as much or little refreshment as you wish.

Two tournaments were going simultaneously at this small bar tonight. One was a "VSC" - Venue Series Championship, with top players from recent weeks competing for a trip to Las Vegas for a high-stakes contest. Then there was ours. The "open division" tournament had some distinct characters, reminding us more of a classic TV sit-com. It also had surprising twists....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: K-10

The open division has only two tables. We're at a table of six, and have won a nice pot followed by a fairly big loss to a flush.  Now we're in the Big Blind, and a player ahead of us has raised to 800. These cards are pretty substantial, so we call. As we recall, four players are in.

ON THE FLOP: Kc-Qc-10c

We make two pair, but we see potential trouble with so many clubs showing.  The Small Blind checks, and we offer a large "get lost" bet of 1,500. Our goal is to stop potential chasers, and two of them fold. But the Small Blind calls.

ON THE TURN: As

Well, at least that's not a club. But it's potentially more trouble, because now a Jack makes a straight. The Small Blind checks again. If he was waiting for an Ace, our two pair would still top his one - so we repeat the bet of 1,500.  He quietly calls again. Hmmm.

ON THE RIVER: Jc

Uh-oh - there's the fourth club.  That's such a big concern that only much later do we realize that card put a straight on the table. The Small Blind checks once more - and we don't dare risk any more. We check as well, and he shows.... the Ace of clubs! 

We led the hand all the way to the river - and then the Small Blind hit a royal flush!  This marks the second time we've lost a hand that way, although the prior case was much more of a bad beat.

But we recovered from that loss by winning more hands, eventually eliminating the royal flush man and another player when A-K of spades turned into a "nut flush" on the river. That led us to the open final table with 43,500 chips - and we gained from there to make the final two, heads-up!

We were behind in chips to a middle-aged woman, but rallied from 10,000 and a forced all-in to 70,000. We finally went all-in with J-J while she called with a measly 4-3 of spades.  You might guess what happened - she paired both her cards, with a 3 on the river giving her the match.

Second place would allow us to play in a couple of WPT League online tournaments for small prizes - but both weekly times don't fit our current schedule. Yet it was nice to "go back in time" for a night. Back to when the games were free, the players were more entertaining than serious and people actually talked about their lives - even if some brought up ex-spouses' divorces.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "You doing good?" a man asked as we waited in line outside the small men's restroom during the one-hour break.

"I try to do good," we told him. "But that's not always easy."

He nodded, and we continued. "It's like a man once said - the good things that I ought to do, I don't always do. And the things that I don't want to do, I wind up doing."

"The apostle Paul," the man responded.

How about that! At that small bar, a customer knew exactly what we were talking about, and where we found that quote....

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.... For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. - Romans 7:15, 19

The way many Bibles phrase this section makes it almost sound like a comedy routine. But we think Paul was very serious. He wanted to do good things....

....But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. - Romans 7:23

Every human has the innate ability to sin.  Some people, of course, are more concerned about that than others. Paul indicated he was quite concerned:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! - Romans 7:24-25 

If you're becoming aware of your "sin nature," that can bring bad feelings. But God wants to turn those feelings into a good life. It starts by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus as the sacrifice before God for them. If you need help doing that, leave a comment and we'll be happy to help.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 176 final tables in 467 games (37.7%) - 33 cashes. We've split our "vacation poker" so far, although our financial planner probably would prefer the order had been reversed.