We sang in the high school choir years ago -- and our director Mr. Wright liked to say, "Tenors are lovers." But if you fall in love with 10'ers too much at the poker table, you're asking for it. Consider what happened tonight at Lil Kim's Cove....
BLINDS: 100/200
IN THE POCKET: 10-10
We won the first hand of the night, but have been sliding ever since as big draws have fallen short. With about 5,400 chips, this could be the time to make a move. We "double up" the bet to 400, and several players call.
ON THE FLOP: A-7-9 (suits are not a factor)
The play checks to us. We offer a continuation bet of 300. A couple of people call.
ON THE TURN: 7
Hmmmm -- two pair with an Ace?! The trend at tonight's tournament has been for people to bet big if they have even two-thirds of a hand. So we bet 600, hoping to scare pretenders away. Only one man calls us.
ON THE RIVER: Q
We presume if our opponent had an Ace or a 7, he would have raised by now. This makes us feel cautiously safe -- but to avoid looking weak, we bet 600 again. The man calls.
"Tens and sevens with an Ace?!" we say uncertainly. Not good enough -- he hit a Queen on the River for two higher pair.
Amazingly, 10-10 came again on the next hand -- but again, it didn't bring good results. Yet when we dropped to 1,800 chips, 4-4 worked! A flop of 3-4-5 led us to go all-in, and everyone folded.
We reached the semifinal table, but with only 3,500 chips left. We dropped to 2,000 after being forced to fold weak big blind and small blind hands -- then went all-in with yet another pocket pair. Our 5-5 lost to Queens and 8's, leaving us in tenth place. We missed the final table by one little hand.
MINISTRY MOMENT: "You seem to bring something different every time," a man to our right said before the tournament began. We took our bottle of Dove soap for a card protector again -- and the man had no idea the phrase, "Wise as serpents, harmless as doves" came from Jesus and the Bible.
That verse from Matthew 10:16 happened to be in a Christian magazine article we read earlier in the day. If you're going through tough times in a down economy, this article could inspire and encourage you.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 52 final tables in 132 nights (39.4%) - 10 cashes. Had we reached the final table tonight, the percentage would have moved above 40 again.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER SCOREBOARD: Five-player sit-n-goes - 3-7-3-1-0. Full tournaments - 9 final tables in 126 games (7.1%), no cashes.
POKERSTARS.NET SCOREBOARD: One-table tournaments - 0-1-0-1-1-4-0-0-1. Pretend cash game total: $9,992 - up $8,342.
What's behind that amazing one-week gain? Careful play, since we start cash games with only $300! Suffice to say, we've doubled our money against wild all-in bets several times. Somehow we doubt that would happen at a casino.
Showing posts with label dove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dove. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Poker Night 131: All-4 Won
Ace is high in the game of poker -- yet some pros won't play an Ace unless the right card is alongside it. How many would have played the Ace we saw at Club Eighty-Five tonight?
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: A-4 of diamonds
We won an early hand to jump from a starting 6,000 chips to 7,950. But now we're down to about 5,500 chips and are looking to make a move. We call in the leadoff position. So do a few other players.
ON THE FLOP: Ac-4h-2h
One player is ahead of us, and checks. We notice two hearts are out there -- but we also realize top two pair are pretty good. We bet 900.
"I only need one card," a man to our left admits. But he folds. So does everyone else, except the player who checked in the beginning. He calls.
ON THE TURN: Ah
A third heart brings a moment of noisy regret from others at the table. Obviously, our full house leaves no reason to be sympathetic. So we stay deadpan, as our opponent checks again. Then we bet 1,500 -- enough to put the man all-in. He's tempted and thinks it over, but folds. We win the pot, but others want to see....
ON THE RIVER: 10h
With the hand over, the regret level increases. The man who only needed one card shows me the Queen of hearts.
"Did you have a King or an Ace?" someone else asks.
"I had something...." we say as we muck a hand better than any flush. We'll see how many of those players read this blog.
We held on to reach the final table for the third Monday night in a row, but then had our own moments of regret. We folded 8-10 of spades -- and three spades came on the flop. We folded 2-6 of spades, and 3-4-5 hit the board to allow a straight.
Finally we had to go all-in for a 10,000-chip big blind. Our 3d-10h looked promising when four hearts came out -- but another player made a full house with Aces and 2's. Final score: a tie for eighth place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We puzzled several players tonight with our latest card protector -- a small bottle of Dove soap. We assured one man it was not an attempt to mark the cards.
"This is a reminder to me," we explained, "that I should be wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove." Then we noted it was a statement Jesus made (Matthew 10:16, KJV).
"I don't think of serpents as very wise," the skeptical man said. What do you think of Jesus's words? We'll elaborate on them in an upcoming post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 52 final tables in 131 nights (39.7%) - 10 cashes.
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: A-4 of diamonds
We won an early hand to jump from a starting 6,000 chips to 7,950. But now we're down to about 5,500 chips and are looking to make a move. We call in the leadoff position. So do a few other players.
ON THE FLOP: Ac-4h-2h
One player is ahead of us, and checks. We notice two hearts are out there -- but we also realize top two pair are pretty good. We bet 900.
"I only need one card," a man to our left admits. But he folds. So does everyone else, except the player who checked in the beginning. He calls.
ON THE TURN: Ah
A third heart brings a moment of noisy regret from others at the table. Obviously, our full house leaves no reason to be sympathetic. So we stay deadpan, as our opponent checks again. Then we bet 1,500 -- enough to put the man all-in. He's tempted and thinks it over, but folds. We win the pot, but others want to see....
ON THE RIVER: 10h
With the hand over, the regret level increases. The man who only needed one card shows me the Queen of hearts.
"Did you have a King or an Ace?" someone else asks.
"I had something...." we say as we muck a hand better than any flush. We'll see how many of those players read this blog.
We held on to reach the final table for the third Monday night in a row, but then had our own moments of regret. We folded 8-10 of spades -- and three spades came on the flop. We folded 2-6 of spades, and 3-4-5 hit the board to allow a straight.
Finally we had to go all-in for a 10,000-chip big blind. Our 3d-10h looked promising when four hearts came out -- but another player made a full house with Aces and 2's. Final score: a tie for eighth place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We puzzled several players tonight with our latest card protector -- a small bottle of Dove soap. We assured one man it was not an attempt to mark the cards."This is a reminder to me," we explained, "that I should be wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove." Then we noted it was a statement Jesus made (Matthew 10:16, KJV).
"I don't think of serpents as very wise," the skeptical man said. What do you think of Jesus's words? We'll elaborate on them in an upcoming post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 52 final tables in 131 nights (39.7%) - 10 cashes.
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