Poker Day 463: Sitting in the Club

"If you can get to final 3 in this one, you are probably among the best players in Wichita area."  This statement was on Facebook at midday today, inviting us to the "Sunday Showdown" at Arrowhead Poker.  The post also said:

..all complimentary, all day...Join us today as my guest and see if our little club is a place you would like to be a part of,.

Given what's happened with Wichita poker in recent weeks, we wondered if we might get to play for free today. So we went, saw the outline of state poker laws on a bulletin board near the pay window, and were told the entry fee was still $75.

"I thought I might get to play for free."

"You can," the woman behind the counter said. "But you have to stand."

"Stand up?"

"Yes, the entire time."

So yes, there was still an unofficial "chair rental." The food was the "complimentary" part. But we brought our ATM card exactly for this possibility - and succumbed to withdrawing some money and sitting at the table, since the table's height had not been raised.

But the possibility of winning had been raised, as only five players showed up for the tournament. One organizer assured us the poker attendance had not gone down, with the recent police crackdown. Perhaps the lack of Sunday afternoon football made a difference?! Whatever the reason, there still would be moments of drama....

BLINDS: 1,000/2,000

IN THE POCKET: A-3 offsuit

The start of this five-handed game was slow for us. Our starting stack of 62,000 chips was draining slower than a leaky waterbed (trust our experience on that). Sitting in second position, we call and no one raises. As we recall, three players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 7-3-3

Three times three, a delight to see! And since we effectively have button position, others can lead right into us. The Small Blind man at mid-table bets 5,000. The Big Blind folds. We modestly call.

ON THE TURN: 2

A harmless-looking card. The Small Blind checks. We shake our head no to that, and offer our own 5,000. Our opponent ponders, then calls.

ON THE RIVER: 5

We didn't jot down the suits, but this may have put three clubs or spades on the board. The Small Blind checks again, and now we bet big - 20,000. This gives our opponent an anguishing decision.

"You're not in the blind," he says as he tries to figure out our hand.

"No. In fact, you are."

After several more seconds of puzzlement in which Mr. Small Blind wonders if we might have hit a straight or flush, he folds. We don't show a thing - unless he finds this blog.

We dealt that man a crippling blow a bit later, in a raising contest with a 3-Q-Q flop.  We went all-in for 50,000 with Q-10. He called with Q-8! That moved us to 133,000 chips. But then we lost a lot of that trying in vain to put a second player out.

Finally things looked bleak with three players left and the blinds at 10,000/20,000. We were all in twice for the Big Blind. Once with A-Q, the other players folded. The second time we had a lowly 2-9 - but a 2 came on the flop, and that turned out to be the only pair!

A comeback which can only be described as miraculous led us to the final two, earning prize money. A woman was ready to chop the money with us - and a manager noted that's technically not allowed under the newly-emphasized state law. But he decided to make one last tournament exception. The least we could have won was $100, but we wound up with $150 - double our entry fee!

We're told Arrowhead Poker will have "affordable" fees to join its "private social club," which it now advertises. No details have been finalized yet. But there might be a couple of freerolls every month. We hope so - because $75 still is a steep price to play poker in our city.

But we made money by spending money. We left thankful for whatever help God provided (probably a lot) - and with that "best players" title, which we're not really sure we deserve. 

MINISTRY MOMENT: "A packet of salt, huh?" a man in his seventies said as he reached for our card protector.

We repeated the statement we've made at other times about that - Jesus has told us we're to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). "What does everyone think of Jesus?" we asked the remaining table of four plus a dealer.

"I shouldn't do that," a man across from us replied, "but I'm going all in."

Translation: no one wanted to talk about Jesus. But we noticed practically every player cursed at one some point in the game - several times invoking the name of God in the process. The Bible clearly warns about that:

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. - Deuteronomy 5:11

We were reminded during a weekend Bible study that the ancient Jews took this verse to an opposite extreme. They were reluctant to say the name of God at all - even writing it in Hebrew shorthand as YHWH, with no vowels. Yet Jesus showed no reluctance at all....

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him.... - John 8:58-59

Why did critical Jews do this? Because Jesus invoked an ancient name for God:

God said to Moses: "I AM who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exodus 3:14

Long before Popeye the cartoon sailor, God called Himself "I AM" - and Jesus did, too. Jesus thus revealed Himself to be God. If you're not comfortable with that, we suggest reading through the gospel of John from the beginning. You might be surprised by what it says about Jesus's relationship with God the Father.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 175 final tables in 463 games (37.8%) - 33 cashes.  Since Thanksgiving 2015, we have cashed in four out of six tournaments for more than $320. Thanks be to God!

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.