Good Reception

The National League of Poker gives, and then it takes away. Only days after we won two dollars in a cash freeroll, NLOP dropped the nightly freerolls again. Perhaps it was a limited-time offer.

So for the last few days, we've been trying out free PokerStars.Net tournaments for the first time in years. We're not in a U.S. state where we can win money, but the challenge is good and the "entry chips" are structured generously.

It was at a Poker Stars table that we met a player named "ReceiveJesus." We tried to strike up a  chat....

flopblogger: Good to see that name, "Receive Jesus"
flopblogger: Methinks everyone should

There was no response from that player. But the concept is a good one. It comes from Jesus Himself:

He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. - Matthew 10:40

Jesus was speaking here to His 12 main disciples, before He sent them out to the surrounding area (verse 5). It's humbling to think that disciples represent God the Father and Jesus the Son. But they do - and there's even a payoff for you if you accept them:

Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. - Matthew 10:41

Someone is "righteous" because of what Jesus Christ has done - not really because of anything you do:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.... - Romans 3:21-22

Jesus wants you to receive Him in faith, to gain the reward of the righteous which is eternal life with Him (Hebrews 10:35-38). But Jesus won't force His way upon you. You must willingly receive Him:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. - Revelation 3:20

If you catch the right card on the river, you can win a pot and survive in a tournament. If you "catch Christ" by receiving Jesus, the reward will be even better. Is it time for you to make the reception?

A Deal With the "Gods"

A recent post remembered a poker player we knew in the Southeast U.S. who went by the name "Buddha." Now in an unusual twist (we don't dare it "karma"), a real Buddhist has hit it big in a major poker tournament.

Canadian Scott Wellenbach finished in third place at a recent PokerStars event in the Bahamas. That earned him more than $670,000 - and he says he'll give it all to charity. In fact, he did it before. Wellenbach donated a $72,000 prize from a tournament in Spain to a Buddhist version of a convent.

Why is he doing this? Wellenbach says he made a deal with "the poker gods."

Uh-oh. That's where we feel compelled to come in. Not because he gave away all his prize money. Giving is a good thing....

...Freely you have received, freely give. - Matthew 10:8

No, it's the "poker gods" part that raised a red flag with us. You see, our quote about giving comes from Jesus Christ - and He's the "one God" who came to Earth in the flesh.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. - John 1:1, 14

Some Christian preachers explain this as "two gods." The Bible indicates that's misleading:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. - Deuteronomy 6:4

Is this a Bible contradiction? No, because Jesus clarified it:

I and my Father are one. - John 10:30

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. - John 17:20-21

Jesus was God on Earth. He said He was One with God the Father. Would Scott Wellenbach say Jesus is God? We won't put words in his mouth, but traditional Buddhism doesn't have such a belief. And "the Lord" of the Bible warns:

You shall have no other gods before me. - Deuteronomy 5:7

In the end, each of us must choose which god we serve - or if we serve any at all. We choose the God of the Bible and Christianity because it provides us hope beyond this life. It's a hope of eternal life with no sin, because God can forgive our sins through the blood of Jesus.

What do you think of this? Your comments are always welcome, and we might reply to them.

Who's Afraid of the Big Banned Bluff?

It's one thing for towns, states or countries to ban poker games. It's another for a specific ad promoting poker to be banned.... and not because it's X-rated.

Courtesy Casino.org

Yet that's happened in Britain to a TV commercial for PokerStars (where we've played for years for free). It shows a man going all-in and winning a pot with 8-3. Britain has a government branch which monitors advertising, and it ruled the ad "could lead to financial harm."

The Advertising Authority explained some viewers (apparently poker newbies) might conclude all you have to do to win in poker is outbluff everybody else. A statement from PokerStars contended bluffing is a regular part of poker, and "not a reckless act in itself."

After thinking it over, we've concluded an absurd example (this ad) is being taken to an absurd extreme (this ban). What should PokerStars show instead? Pocket Aces? They get cracked online on a regular basis. A big winner wheeling around town in a Ferrari? That's equally as unlikely to happen as an 8-3 push.

 Of course, people should use wisdom when they play poker - especially if they dare to risk losing money in it. That's true away from the poker table as well....

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. - Matthew 10:16 (NKJV)

The people at a poker table may seem as friendly as can be. But in a cash game, make no mistake - they're hungry wolves seeking a profit. And in a tournament, it's safe to assume most of them are playing to win. So whether you bet, bluff or fold, careful play matters. And away from the table....

So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. - Ephesians 5:15 (NLT)

That means not taking absurd poker commercials too literally. But it also can mean not being played as a fool by others who might go bluffing all-in themselves, hoping to scare you out of a good hand. Learning the balance takes time and experience - in poker and in life.

Let's open this up for your comments. If this PokerStars ad is out of bounds, have you seen other poker commercials that were even more misleading?

Our Real Story: 2017 Review

As 2017 by man's figuring ends, it's time to add up our poker score. The year began with time to play in live tournaments on Fridays, then with occasional time on Sundays - and ended to our surprise with all the time we wanted.

LIVE TOURNAMENTS: Our number went down from 33 to 29. Yet our final table count matched 2016, as we made eight of them (27.6%).

What makes this more impressive is that we only went one-for-seven playing in "free" tournaments at Wichita night spots. That makes the casino final table percentage a rather stunning 31.8% (7 for 22) - including two out of four in Oklahoma. We only earned money in three tournaments, but the total take increased from 2016 to more than $800.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER: Five "top-ten percent" finishes in 13 tournaments. Grand total: 290 point wins (top 10%) in 1451 games, 93 final tables, 10 wins, 13 cashes.

NLOP was sold to new ownership during 2017, and opportunities to play in freerolls dropped after that. We wound up with no final tables there, with a best result of 17th place out of 1,237 entries in February.

We also gained 108 "tokens" for tournament entry in NLOP cash games. But NLOP now bars us from using a desktop app for immediate entry; we can only play through the website, and connection problems have been very frustrating for us recently. We're looking for good alternatives.

POKER STARS: 938,206 play money chips - up 142,335 at the table.

Our pretend "chip stack" acted like the stock market, and went up by more than 500,000. Admittedly, 375,000 of them came by clicking a "free chips" every time we showed up. But we still increased our table gains by 69 percent!

In all, we spent $1,435 to enter live tournaments in 2017. We wound up losing $605 (not to mention about $58 lost in other casino games). But in our "experiment" with serious money-making which started November 1, we've made three final tables in eight casino tournaments - making money twice, and only missing the semifinal tables once.

As the cliché says, you have to spend money to make money - and right now, casino games are our best chance to earn money each week. But we remember some wise words....

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. - Matthew 10:16

Some poker players are skilled at setting traps. We admittedly have set a few ourselves. The keys are to be "shrewd" - which our old dictionary says can mean "having keen insight; discerning", but also "artful; cunning; tricky."

Can you spot the moments when other players might fall for the story you're telling? Can you be "harmless" (as the King James Version says in our verse) enough to know when others might have set a trap for you? If you can discern these things, we think you'll be well on your way to poker success.

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life to you, an ornament to grace your neck. - Proverbs 3:21-22

We hope you pray for godly judgment and discernment in the days and years ahead - not only in the poker room, but in every aspect of your life.

The Biggest Loser

When you hear about big-name poker players, the news is usually impressive and positive. Player A made a final table. Player B walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But then there's Player C - and we offer Dan Cates as an example of that. He calls himself on Twitter "one of the most successful online poker players of all time." Yet he made a poker news website this week because of how much money he's lost - nearly $500,000 since the start of the year on PokerStars. (He clearly plays for money on that site; we only use play money, and don't even buy extra chips.)

Perhaps more surprisingly, Cates seemed to call attention to his own losing streak by writing on Twitter:

for someone who has played games all over the world and on many stakes, I have to say @PokerStars has the WORST games by FAR (toughest)

The fate of Cates is a reminder of why some people warn against playing poker. in the first place. When someone when money, especially in a cash game, someone has to lose money. But believe it or not, sometimes losing a lot can be a good thing:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. - Philippians 3:7

The Biblical apostle Paul's resume didn't have poker tournaments on it. But for his day and his religious circle, it was impressive....

If anyone else thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee.... as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.... - Philippians 3:4-6

In other words, he was a Jew's Jew. But there's one item on the resume we left out:

...as for zeal, persecuting the church... - Philippians 3:6

And that was the problem. Paul (originally called Saul) thought he knew what God was doing, and thought the new "church" movement after the resurrection of Jesus Christ couldn't possibly be it. But God proved him wrong by striking him down.

"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." - Acts 9:5-6

Saul left that moment temporarily blind, and had to be led to Damascus. But once there, he was healed and began preaching Jesus "is the son of God" (Acts 9:18, 20). The success he had doing that led him to write later:

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I might gain Christ.... - Philippians 3:8

Maybe you're like Paul, or like poker's "Jungleman Dan.". You've lost a lot, at the table or in life. Maybe God is trying to tell you something. Ask Him in prayer to show you what that message is. Ask for His wisdom, which - pardon any offense - is far better than yours (I Corinthians 1:25). Serving God is the real path to victory, in this life and beyond.

Our Real Story: 2016 Review

The "year in review" reports aren't quite over yet. Since we last played live poker, we'll summarize 2016 for us now.

In live tournaments, we made the final table eight times in 33 games in the last year - not far from 25 percent. We earned money in five of those tournaments (more than $650 total), and would have earned cash in a sixth if Yvie's Bar and Grill paid money for second place instead of league points. That sixth would have matched our money-win count for 2015.

But 2016 was a difficult year for poker players in our area, as police moved to shut down all "card rooms" for not operating legally. Due to our work schedule, practically the only place where we can play tournaments now is a casino south of town, and the competition there admittedly is stiff.

Yet we made two final tables (winning money at both) in 17 tournaments at Kansas Star, coming close to a third this past Friday. It was a breakthrough year for us there.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER: One "top-ten percent" finish in 17 tournaments. Grand total: 285 point wins (top 10%) in 1438 games, 93 final tables, 10 wins, 13 cashes.

We were able to get into a regular Thursday night tournament habit with NLOP this past year. So far, it admittedly hasn't gone well. But NLOP has added "ring games", earning tokens in a cash-game format. In three tries there, we've gained 140 tokens; our best night was playing Omaha.

POKER STARS: 420,871 play money chips - up 84,159 at the table

We have to specify "at the table" because Poker Stars became a much more expensive place to play in 2016. Games with 1/2 blinds are gone; the minimum now is 50/100 with a 10,000-chip stack to start. But the site also became very generous in handing out free chips; we received 225,000 due to special promotions and a "free chips" button you can click simply for logging on.

MINISTRY MOMENT: As we write this summary, we're reminded of a question that sometimes comes up when we play. It came up again Friday: Isn't gambling a sin? Something believers in God shouldn't do?

If you look strictly from the accountant's view, you might say 2016 showed we're a gambling loser. The Kansas Star tournaments cost $850 to enter, and we only won $337. Yet what we're trying to do is more than that....

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." - Mark 16:15-16

In many ways, this is a big world. People have a wide range of interests. Jesus told His disciples to go into that world with a gospel (also known as "good news") message. Even poker players need to be introduced to that message - so we take it there, and talk about it here. We pray God will use what we do to bring people to Himself:

I planted the seed. Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - I Corinthians  3:6-7

We know what we can afford to do, and we keep a limit on our spending on tournaments at casinos. For instance, you'll notice no live statistics for 2016 cash games - because we didn't play any. We consider the tournament buy-in an "entry fee," much as someone would pay to enter a golf tournament or pie-baking contest. If we win something back, we thank God for it.

By the way, here's one final set of statistics: this blog had more than 700 views in December alone - which computes to perhaps more than 8,000 this past year. People searching for something about poker may be finding more than they expect. We pray it's a spiritual spark in their lives - yet not one person left a comment this past year. You're always welcome to offer some, either positive or negative. If we can bust out early at tournaments, we can take it. Really.

Cyber-Poker-Monday

For some shoppers, this day has become known as "Cyber Monday." So we might as well join in, by updating the online poker sites we visit.

PokerStars has raised the stakes in recent months. It's still for "play money" in the U.S., to stay legal. But the days of 1/2 tables are over. Now they start at 50/100, but the site hands out free chips every so often to keep you interested. Look at what happened to us there recently, in a "cash game" format:

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: 4-2 offsuit

We have small cards in the Big Blind, at a table with 4-5 players. No one raises, so we get in cheap.

ON THE FLOP: 4-4-4

Are you kidding me?!?! The computer hands us the ultimate jackpot of quads! But of course, we want to maximize our winnings, so we check. A player to our left offers a modest bet of about 200. We smooth-call (as best you can do that online); other players bail out.

ON THE TURN: 2

Whoa - now we have a full house! But wait; quads beat a full house!! Things are still ridiculously perfect for us, so we check again. Now our opponent bets around 500. Of course, we call.

ON THE RIVER: 9 (may not be precise)

A card which doesn't matter to us at all. If our opponent had 9-9, he still only has a full house. We rub it in by checking again - and this time, he goes all-in for about 1,300. Of course, we call. Then we stay silent during the showdown, while he has 10-10. We make a big gain, of about 2,000 chips.

In November alone, our total from playing cash games at PokerStars has jumped by more than 22,000 chips - and the website awarded 25,000 bonus chips on top of that.

National League of Poker has become our place for Thursday night play. There are several free weekly tournaments, with a $250 prize pool on Thursday nights. We have yet to crack the top 100 this year in any of them - but now NLOP has a ring game option, and we doubled our "token" count one night playing No-Limit Omaha.

If you want good clean poker fun without the worry of losing money or getting noticed inside a casino, online sites like these are perfect for you. But be advised: not everyone's chat language is good and clean. They're still "worldly" places - but we're reminded:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. - John 17:15

If you try hard enough, you really can come "out of the world". In 2016, that would mean turning off the TV, radio, internet and mobile devices. So much for online poker.

But Jesus did NOT ask God the Father to "rapture" His disciples out at this point. Instead, He prayed for the Father to provide them protection from the devil. He continues:

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. - John 17:16

Jesus was "out of this world" in part because He didn't indulge in the sinful ways of this world. For the rest of us, that's a daily battle - but it's one we need to fight:

Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will receive not of her plagues.... She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her." - Revelation 18:4, 8

This world is in for destruction. But those who come out of it and follow the example of Jesus can have protection from that final judgment. We hope you'll make the right decision.

If you've read to the end of this, we thank you - and invite your comments: What's your favorite place to play poker online? And why?

From One Sport to Another

It looks like the poker debate is over -- well, at least one of them.  Poker is not simply a table game. It's a sport.

We say that because of the former sports stars playing it, and succeeding.  Former Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo (left) finished deep in the money this week, on a PokerStars Caribbean cruise.  In fact, notice the logo on his shirt-sleeve.  He's apparently joined "Team Poker Stars," which includes tennis champion Rafael Nadal.

He's not the only former athlete who's made the transition.  Former big-league baseball players had their own poker tournament in Las Vegas this week.  And who can forget Orel Hershiser asking defeated poker pros to sign his baseball on TV several years ago, at the National Heads-Up Championship?

We don't know the complete motive for this movement.  But perhaps current and former sports stars play poker for the competitive thrill of it -- providing them another opportunity to be a big winner.

But you might not need to play poker to enjoy such a thrill.  Consider what one Biblical leader wrote:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. - I Corinthians 9:24

The apostle Paul called for a "race" -- and not between A-10 and K-J.  He urged believers to run for some other kind of "prize."  What's he talking about?

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. - I Corinthians 9:27

Paul wanted that "prize" so much that put himself under discipline.  He finally explains what that prize is later in this letter:

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, his Scripture will be fulfilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory...."  But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. - I Corinthians 15:54, 57 (NLT)

The ultimate prize is a body "that will never die" - a body with eternal life.  That's offered to you through Jesus, if you run a disciplined race in this life.  And here's the best part: you're not really competing against other people to get it.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 24:13 (NLT)

We think that means everyone who stands firm. Are you willing to make the transition to this sort of endurance contest -- a race with the greatest prize of all at stake?

No Que Bueno

Poker is a worldwide game.  And some online poker sites have players from all sides of the earth.  The other night at PokerStars.Net, we noticed most of the player around us were from Argentina -- so after one hand, we wrote "bueno."  Moments later....

Moderator136 [Moderator]: Hello players, I'm Carlo.
Moderator136 [Moderator]: Please use English chat here.
Dealer: Eduardo_Chia, it's your turn. You have 8 seconds to act
flopblogger: Hello.
Moderator136 [Moderator]: Thank you.
flopblogger: Trying to be cordial to Argentinians.
flopblogger: apologies.
CLAUSTYL44: lol
"Bueno" is a common Spanish word for "good."  The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires.  But that one solitary word from us brought a moderator's intervention.

Many U.S. poker rooms have "English-only" rules.  We think the reason is to prevent players from plotting strategy by speaking in other tongues, so that's understandable.  But our Poker Stars table wasn't a real cash game -- it was simply people playing for fun.

Yet rules are rules, and poker players should follow them.  In the same way....

Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. - II Timothy 2:5

Why would the Biblical writer Paul bring this up?  Because each one of us is in a "competition" even bigger than a poker tournament -- an endurance contest to stay close to God, and enter His Kingdom.

"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied.... "If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." - Matthew 19:17

Jesus (who apparently spoke both Greek and Aramaic, by the way) lists six of the Ten Commandments in the next two verses.  Read them for yourself.  Then rate yourself.  Are you playing by the Lord's rules -- so you can capture eternal life?

The Biggest Slick

"Any two cards can win," poker players like to say.  But only a few combinations of cards allow you to make the biggest hand possible.  Take what happened to us at Poker Stars.Net earlier this week....

We were dealt A-K of spades.  The flop brought out the Queen and Jack of spades.  And the turn -- the turn -- produced the 10 of spades, giving us the ultimate in royal flushes.

And to make things more fun, "1SlyPiggy" across the table did all the lead betting.  We called a bet on the turn.  Our dramatic screenshot comes from the river, where the Piggy tempted us (he thought) with a bet of 110.  We responded by going all-in for our remaining 639.  He called.  And we wound up going "wee-wee-wee" all the way home.

(Well, except we play on our home computer -- so we were at home already.)

We left that pretend cash game session with a $612 gain.  Too bad it was only pretend; at some poker rooms, we would have won a bonus in the hundreds of dollars.

A Rake's Progress?

Poker Stars continues to pull surprises on us.  As of this week, the pots at play-money tables are a little smaller.

The reason: the unseen dealer is withdrawing a rake from every round of betting -- at least one chip, but sometimes more depending on the amount of the bet.

When we saw this, a clear question came to mind: Why?  If it's all just for fun, why hold back a "tip" or commission for a dealer?

"Practice for the live tables," another player explained when we brought it up in a chat.  And admittedly, rakes are customary at casinos or poker rooms.

So what do you think?  Is this make-believe rake a little over the top?  Discuss....

Omaha, Anyone?

So we called up Poker Stars for a little late-night pretend cash game fun -- and saw this surprise:

We know Boston Celtics basketball player Paul Pierce has played in the World Series of Poker.  And former baseball pitcher Oral Hershiser had a nice "run" in National Heads-Up a few years ago.

But Rafael Nadal endorsing Poker Stars?!?  Does this say more about the current state of online poker?  Professional tennis?  Or something else?

Discuss....

The Game of Your Life

If you visit PokerStars sites, that title should look familiar; a current major tournament has that name. But those words can be examined in a couple of ways. For instance, what sort of a game are you playing with your life?

We promised to offer more details about a National League of Poker table where we deferred to a player who gets easily upset with "chatty" opponents. After we explained why we kept quiet, this exchange occurred....

Dealer: rocknelson wins Main Pot ($1260)
stanley: get a life
rocknelson: eat a d**k stan
Me: Thanks to God, I have one. :-)

It's not a plain old ordinary physical existence. This is something completely new.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and that life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. -- I John 5:11-12

If you want that never-ending life, you need Jesus. The book of Romans explains how to obtain Him.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.... In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. -- Romans 6:4, 11

So baptism is needed -- and Acts 2:38 adds you should repent "for the forgiveness of your sins" as well. Those two steps will start a new game for you. And while physical death might be a temporary adjournment, Jesus promises eternal life "in the age to come" (Mark 10:30). To borrow from Charlie Sheen, now that's really "#winning".

A Favor for Freerollers

7:30 pm UPDATE: We had our best showing in the Fox TV Challenge ever tonight! Our place was #2,167 out of 29,005 players -- a top ten-percent, which would have made us money at a casino. (But of course, only the top ten get paid in this freeroll.)

One more of these freerolls is on the schedule, 12 December. Well, actually TWO -- as PokerStars.Net had a 6pm and 8pm U.S. ET freeroll tonight. We found the same password works for both. But we have another commitment, so we're skipping a doubleheader.

= = =
First of all, the Poker Stars.Net Million Dollar Challenge Freeroll has been moved up two hours - to 6:00 p.m. U.S. ET.

And we're in a city which showed the Negreanu telecast early -- so here's the password: NAPT (all caps).

We might be able to play this after all. :-)

Poker Stars Freeroll: Outdeuced

Only 39,581 people stood in the way of our winning $20,000 tonight, in the Poker Stars.Net "Million Dollar Challenge" freeroll (based on the TV show). And things looked hopeful early....

:10 IN: We have J-8 of spades. A spade flush comes on the river, and we win a $960 pot.

:15 IN: We have K-9 of clubs. The flop is A-Q-10. Players check. The turn is J, and we call a lead player's bet of 400. The river is a 6, and the opponent bets $2,300 with three diamonds showing. We dare to call, and he has nothing! Our stack jumps to $6,735.

:29 IN: We have 7-3 of hearts. The flop is 2-2-A (with one heart, as we recall), and players check. The turn is a 3, giving us two pair. We call a fair-sized bet. The river is a 2, giving us a full house. An opponent bets $1,000. We call, skeptical of a bluff -- but the opponent has a 2, and hit quads! Our stack falls back to the $3,300 range.

:41 IN: Having been outmuscled with rising blinds when good pocket cards missed the flop, we push all-in with J-10 for $896. A player calls with 5-5.

ON THE FLOP: K-4-2

We're losing the race, but have over-cards.

ON THE TURN: 8

So much for straight chances....

ON THE RIVER: 7

The small pair wins the race, and we finish in 17,686th place. Another "top-half" finish, like two weeks ago -- but leaving us wanting more.

Return of the Challenge

We apparently missed the first episode of this season's "Million-Dollar Challenge" on Fox -- the poker show where Daniel Negreanu is star, coach and funnyman.

After watching this afternoon's program, we'll say this: losing heads-up to Vanessa Rousso is one thing. But losing to a Playboy Playmate -- wow, that has to sting a little.

Which leads us to ask: what's the most embarrassing poker loss you've ever had? (Take that question in any direction you wish.)

In the Top 100

Finishing in the top 100 of something doesn't sound too thrilling, does it?

But when you're in an online tournament with 10,000 players, that's different!

Tonight was our best showing yet in a big PokerStars.Net tournament - 83rd place in a Lamborghini freeroll. (Details will be posted another day.)

If we were at the World Series of Poker main event, we would have won six-to-seven times our buy-in -- tens of thousands of dollars!

But in this freeroll, only the top 18 players qualified for next Sunday's weekly championship. So our big finish gained us.... well, you're reading what it gained us. Bummer.

(P.S. Just checked this week's Lamborghini weekly championship. After eight hours, seven are left at the final table.)

Lamborghini Wednesday?

PokerStars.Net changed its rules for the Lamborghini freeroll, allowing players to enter only once a day. That allowed us to get in the 8:05 pm ET game tonight.

The hands came fast and furious, so notes were hard to take. But we didn't do that badly....

:10 IN: We have Q-7 in the small blind. The flop has three clubs (we have none), but one is a 7. We bet the minimum, and the table folds for a $90 gain.

:15 IN: We have Q-Q and limp. The flop is 8-A-Q, and the betting rises until we're all in. No one else has three of a kind, and K-2 follow to bump us up to $3,310!

:18 IN: We have A-8 -- and after a 7-2-4 flop, A shows on the turn. We bet and win, gaining $450.

:22 IN: After a big loss, we have A-Q. Challenged to raise with blinds at 125/250, we bet $750 - leaving only $15 in our stack. When the flop is 2-2-9, we throw in the last 15. Then come 8-6 - but our A-Q tops an A-J! We rebuild to $2,130.

:33 IN: We have A-K offsuit, and merely call when another player named "SatanCardz" doubles the blind to $600.

ON THE FLOP: K-3-J

Satan bets 900, and we're ready to give an answer (I Peter 3:15). With 1,380 left, we raise all-in. A third player raises even higher! What are they hiding?

ON THE TURN: A

Top two pair? We're feeling good about this....

ON THE RIVER: J

....but we shouldn't. The third player who took on Satan and us has a Jack, and his three of a kind overcomes us. Out of 10,000 players, we finish #2,911.

Only the top 18 players qualified for Sunday's big game, so the odds were awfully slim. At a casino, the payouts probably would have started at #1,000. But we think this is our highest score yet in a huge tournament like this -- so we leave a little satisfied. Even if Satan's cards finished ahead of ours.

Fastest Finger

I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to be learned; but time and chance happen to them all. -- Ecclesiastes 9:11

We don't know if King Solomon ever played poker -- but there's a lot of truth to learn from that verse he wrote. Yet in online poker, sometimes being swift is an advantage. There's an absurd example of that right now at PokerStars.Net .

Every two hours around the clock, there's "The Lamborghini Freeroll" - satellite tournaments leading to a big game Sunday afternoon to win a sports car, with perhaps some cash along the way. Registration for each freeroll opens 30 minutes before game time, with room for 10,000 players. So a few minutes ago, we were ready -- and clicked the "register" button almost as soon as it appeared.

Too bad for us. The field was filled with 10,000 players in less than one minute! And we apparently didn't click the follow-up "OK" button quickly enough.

Fast cars require fast mouse-clickers. Who knew?

Poker Night 130: The Kings and I

Poker is all about making decisions -- and that can include the way you make those decisions. We wonder if our method got in our way tonight, with a key hand at Lil Kim's Cove....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: 8-7 offsuit

We won the first two hands of the night in a big way, and had more than 11,000 chips. But at this point, we've been knocked down to about 6,300. Sitting in the leadoff spot, we call in hopes of making a straight. Standard calling occurs around the table.

ON THE FLOP: K-10-7

It's a pair, but only bottom pair. We're still first up to bet check. Other players are in a "Hollywood" kind of mood, and fake bets before checking.

ON THE TURN: 8

The play checks to us -- but we're not faking now with two pair. We bet 600. A man to our left thinks about this a moment.

"You've got two pair, right?" a man on the other side asks. We say nothing, and politely clap our hands to The Devil Went Down to Georgia on the jukebox. Finally the other man calls. Everyone else has folded.

ON THE RIVER: K

The board pairs, with just about the last card we want to see. Now we take a moment to ponder -- and then we check.

"I'm all in," our opponent declares. He has 2,900 left.

Now we take even longer to ponder this. Was our opponent betting with top pair, and now has three Kings? If we call and lose, we'd be down to less than 2,000 chips. We finally decide he means it.

"I'll fold."

"I didn't have nothing, man...." Sure enough, he has J-3 of hearts. He missed a flush draw, but bluffed his way into making us surrender a big pot.

Looking back in our mind, an immediate bet on our part at the river might have persuaded this man to fold. If he sensed a lack of confidence on our part, he made it work.

We never rebuilt our chip stack after that -- and while we reached the semifinal table, we eventually had to push with 8-8. But two 3's came on the board, and a man with a third 3 eliminated another player along with us. We finished in a tie for 14th place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: During the one-hour break, a man across the table from us talked about some sort of situation where "I was praying like a m****r f****r...."

"Praying is good," we said in response, "but I wouldn't recommend praying that way."

The man laughed at that -- but hopefully he understood our point. There's a much better way to word this in James 5:16. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (KJV)

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 51 final tables in 130 nights (39.2%) - 10 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-goes - 3-7-3-1-0. Full tournaments - 9 final tables in 114 games (7.9%), 0 cashes.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: One-table sit-n-goes - 0-1-0-1-1-4-0-0-1. Pretend cash game total: $1,650.

We finally figured out how to build our chip stack at this site -- by playing "fun" walk-in tables with small blinds. Starting with 1,000, we gained 55 dollars in a five-card stud room. Then at no-limit tables with blinds of 5/10 or 10/20, we gained 1,405 in a two-day rush! Since Tuesday, we've given up 810 -- but we're still ahead.

(After making this discovery, we admittedly might not play Yahoo poker anymore. The action is faster, with higher stakes and easier entry and exit.)