Poker Day 571: H.O.R.S.E. Play

"All I need is your card and $200."

That was easy for the cashier to say. The $200 buy-in Sunday at Hollywood Casino Indiana was the biggest buy-in we've ever made. But it was our least inexpensive and most convenient way of being part of the Heartland Poker Tour, which was making its first-ever stop in Lawrenceburg.

The buy-in put us in an unusual tournament - a "seven-game mix." Five kinds of poker spell out the word "H.O.R.S.E.," then Pot Limit Omaha (with no high/low) and No Limit Hold' Em are thrown in. The version changed after every eight hands, in a rotation.

About half of the table had played H.O.R.S.E. before. We never had, and finding places to practice online proved impossible. So we took our chances, learning as we played. It was admittedly confusing and a bit dangerous, but we had plenty of company.

GAME: Omaha 8 (high/low)

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: Kc-Qs-10s-5h (fourth card not precise)

We've already won our first hand, by making a full house of Kings and 10's (never shown) in Seven-Card Stud. Now we have several high cards - but by rule, we can only use two of them (and we must use two of them) to make a winning hand. We call, and no one raises. About four players at the table of six get in.

ON THE FLOP: Jh-7d-Ks (Suits on first two cards not precise)

We have top pair. But if everyone has four cards, the chances of someone making two pair go up sharply. We bet 200 to gauge interest, and two players (as we remember it) call.

ON THE TURN: As

This is a hopeful sign, because we now have a draw for the best flush. We check, and a man bets 200. We call, and we're heads-up.

ON THE RIVER: 7s

Victory!? Well, maybe not. We could be burned by a sneaky full house. We bet a cautious 500. Our opponent raises to 1,000, and we call. Our old line for this moment is revived.

"You can call me Planters, 'cause I've got the nuts."

The nut flush wins, because our opponent could do no better than Jacks and 7's! It's a healthy pot for us.

But the first 90-minute segment had more down moments than up. Mandatory antes for some games became a drain, and feeler bets failed. We were concerned with our 6,500 chips (from a starting 12,000) at the break. The drain continued in Segment 2 - and we finally were first to make an all-in bet, with 575 to go. But we had A-K, made two pair on the river in Seven-Stud and jumped back to 9,000!

A "low win" or two in Stud and Omaha proved handy after that, and we stood at 9,050 at the second break. But then we missed a few hands of Razz while the casino "Eatery" forgot about our simple order of a cold chicken sandwich while focusing on bringing out pizza slices. Yet we won a couple more pots, to hit a high of 13,800.

A critical moment came in Segment 3 when we had pocket Aces in Seven-Stud, and a man down the table made three Jacks. That loss left us with only 1,200 chips, entering an Omaha hand with blinds at 600/1,200. We were dealt 5-6-7-8, but our hope of a low hand failed when another man had a 3 for something lower.

Our final result: about 40th place in a field of 58. At least we can say we tried it - but we plan to find a place to practice those unusual games, before daring to enter that kind of tournament again.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Breaking news occurred as the tournament began, as the U.S. Attorney General provided Congress with a summary of "The Mueller Report" on President Trump and possible connections with Russia.

"There's Someone who knows everything that happened there," we said as the table assembled. "And when Jesus comes back, He's going to judge the world."

A player across the table from us seemed shocked that we brought up that name. He said nothing, but the dealer discussed it further with us.

"What do you think of Jesus?" we asked him.

After a moment of thought, the dealer answered, "I believe in Him."

"Is He your Savior?"

Another thought moment for the dealer. "Yes, He is."

"I can't count on any politician to save me," we continued. "Only Jesus can do that."

The dealer quickly agreed on that point. We hope you can, too. If you're counting on political leaders to save this world from destruction, your faith is in the wrong place. And if you think things are bad now....

Immediately after the darkness of those days "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." - Matthew 24:29

These are words of Jesus Christ, after disciples asked Him for a sign of "the end of the age" (verse 3). Things will become so bad that....

If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. - Matthew 24:22

That's "the elect" - not necessarily the "elected" office-holders. A time of what some Bible translations call "great tribulation" will lead to the Lord's dramatic intervention:

At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. - Mark 13:26-27

Jesus is coming to the rescue, for his "elect!" But what do we mean by that word? We'll explain in a future post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 217 final tables in 571 games (38.0%) - 46 cashes.

All Work, No Pay?

You may have wondered how we've been able to play weekday poker tournaments over the last few weeks. Here's the reason - we've been on furlough.

Our current regular employer is the U.S. government. And for five weeks, we were "on the rail" due to a partial shutdown. Our job was not one requiring us to work without a paycheck. We could only empathize with those who do - and in fact, the rules of the shutdown barred us from going in voluntarily and patriotically to help them do the daily work.

But then it hit us - isn't poker a lot like those furloughed workers? You could play for hours, either in a tournament or a cash game, and not get a penny for it. In fact, you could lose a bundle in a cash game. All that "work" - for nothing!

Well, hold on. Maybe it's not all for nothing. Maybe we need a different perspective....

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. - Colossians 3:23 (NLT)

The apostle Paul admittedly wrote this to first-century "slaves". But they were slaves connected to God's Church, by their belief in God and Jesus Christ. You may feel like you're "slaving" at times, in a poker room or on a regular job. But the apostle advises....

Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.... Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. - Colossians 3:22, 24 (NLT)

Furloughed federal workers are going back to work this week, and withheld back pay will be restored. Poker players who fall "off the bubble" don't often have that promise. But a much bigger payday is coming:

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. - Matthew 16:27 (KJV)

Other parts of the Bible describe that reward in terms of "cities" or responsibilities (Matthew 25:21; Luke 19:19). And with the gift of eternal life....

For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. They will not work in vain.... For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed. - Isaiah 65:22-23 (NLT)

One famous sermon of the 20th century called it "Payday Someday." May it come very soon - and may you "work" loyally for God until it does, even if that work is in a poker room.

Poker Day 565: Six-Packed

The gambling this week actually began on Monday morning - simply by getting in the car. We decided to take advantage of a partial government shutdown by traveling west to see relatives. But we knew if a shutdown was announced at any point, we'd have to turn around immediately and hurry back to our regular job.

But by midday today, there was no settlement. So we drove to Harrah's Casino in North Kansas City, where the midday "Fat Stack" poker tournament costs $60 - a bargain, compared to our home area. Would the successful risks continue?

BLINDS: 600/1,200

IN THE POCKET: 6-6

We made good early gains, advancing from a starting 12,000 chips to about 20,500 at one point. We reached the first break at 16,400. Now we're at level 7, still above "sea level" at about 14,500 chips. Sitting one off the button at a table of seven, we limp in with a medium-small pocket pair. A couple of people call.

ON THE FLOP: K-K-6

WOW! We hit it big, with the underside of a full house. The opponents check to us. But we'll wait on them to jump offsides, and check as well.

ON THE TURN: 6

DOUBLE WOW!! Now we have quads! But a man to our right bets 1,200. For a moment, we realize he could be slow-playing pocket Kings. That would be an awfully bad beat. But we see absolutely no reason to fold.

"I can do 12," we say matter-of-factly with a nod. We soft-sell a call, putting us heads-up.

ON THE RIVER: 4

A worthless card for a moment like this. It all depends now on what our opponent does. Will he bet bigger, perhaps to attempt to scare us away?

No.... he simply checks. So now it depends on us. How much can be bet to encourage a call and maximize our gains?

"How about..... 2,300?" we ask as we bet.

If our opponent really had pocket Kings, he'd bet them now. Instead, he thinks things over for about a minute. Then he softly folds.

"Very good decision," we tell him - and show the quads we had. It's actually the second quads hand at the table today, and others are impressed.

"You could do 12," a man to our right says in an imitation of our line.

"I really could," we say with a big nod. It's still a good and much-needed win, getting to 18,400.

But then came level 8 - and when a man across the table pushed, we saw A-K and took him on. His pocket 5's won the race, and threw us onto the ropes. A couple of all-in wins on our part brought a recovery to 10,000 at the second break.

With added antes and higher blinds in Hour 3, we dropped to 2,600. "Final table" was called as we looked at Big Blind cards of A-10. We decided they were too good to wait. We pushed into two callers. But the board didn't pair for us, and a man with K-9 hit a King on the river. We finished tenth out of 24 players, but missed the final table because we never played a hand there.

MINISTRY MOMENT: The pre-game talk turned to the partial government shutdown, which today reached Day 19.

"The problem is that both sides think they're God," one man said.

"That's why I'm praying to God," we replied, "that He'll show both sides the right end to this."

There's been a lot of debate about the main issue in the shutdown. But we haven't heard anyone call for the country to appeal to God about it through prayer. Perhaps that's because many people want "their side" to prevail. Yet shouldn't we do this?

This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." -Matthew 6:9-10

We've heard some preachers combine verse 10 into one phrase - asking for God's Kingdom to come to Earth. That's a proper thing to seek in prayer. But the NIV puts a comma after "come", making the part about God's will a separate thought.

Maybe that's what scares some people. They don't really want God's will in their lives, because it might require making some major changes. Yet Jesus took the concept all the way to the end of His life...

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." - Matthew 26:39

Jesus repeated that prayer twice, in the moments before His arrest (verses 42-44). Yet God the Father did not intervene. It was His will that Jesus endure mocking, torture and crucifixion.

This leads us to ask a hard question. Are you willing to accept God's will for your life - even if that will is not what you want? If, perhaps, He doesn't want you to play poker anymore? Dare to pray it, then trust God for whatever answer He provides.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 213 final tables in 565 games (37.7%) - 45 cashes.

The Mouth, the Kid and the Finger

Let's say it upfront: We are not taking sides in the U.S. Presidential election. We'll explain why in a moment.

But of course, many other people are taking sides. And this week, there's been a curious combining of poker and politics.

A lawyer and "free speech activist" asked on Twitter if Hillary Clinton was giving signals to the moderator during this week's first debate, by pointing her finger toward her face. He specifically asked for comments from "poker pros like The Mouth Matusow." Mike Matusow has been tweeting against Ms. Clinton a lot, so he was happy to respond:

Wow ive watched the debates 3 times & never noticed!! I felt the whole time she had the questions but after watching that i she def signals

(We'll open the floor for your comments right here: Do you agree with Matusow? Why or why not?)

Considering moderator Lester Holt was found to be a registered Republican and Donald Trump's campaign manager called him "brilliant" before the debate began, we're not sure why he would have suddenly switched sides. But anyway....

We move on to Daniel Negreanu - who declared on Twitter Ms. Clinton won the first debate, while admitting he's biased in her favor. Considering Negreanu is Canadian and can't vote in the U.S. election, his endorsement may hurt in U.S. voting as much as it helps.

Then there's Phil Hellmuth, who's apparently become a political analyst in his spare time. He gave both Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump "A" grades for this week's debate - and in other commentaries has compared Mr. Trump to a "loose aggressive" poker player.

So the poker world is watching the election closely - and they're certainly free to comment about it. So why are we not taking sides? Because several months ago, we handed over our vote to a higher authority....

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. - Romans 13:1

These words were written when the Roman Empire was in charge, and voting for leaders was unheard of. The apostle Paul accepted the fact that, like them or not, God had put the Roman authorities in charge - or at least allowed them to be there.

Some people wanted Jesus Christ to overthrow the government during His time on Earth, and become "King of Kings" on the spot. But instead....

"Do you refuse to speak to me," Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given you from above...." - John 19:10-11

The Lord could have called down angels and begun to "fight the powers that be" right then. But He didn't. Jesus came to Earth for a different purpose about 2,000 years ago. But someday soon....

"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." - Acts 1:11

Jesus will come back to Earth in a powerful way, to establish the Kingdom of God upon this planet:

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. - Revelation 19:16

That's the leader we're waiting to see - and Jesus is the One who has our ultimate vote. Can you think of anyone who would do a better job?

One Task Only

They'll return to the table October 30, but the World Series of Poker "November Nine" are now settled. The Main Event final table has players from several countries, no real superstars - and one man who's already guaranteed himself a record payoff.



Courtesy CardPlayer.com

Fernando Pons is a native of Spain who works in retail sales. The WSOP website indicates his grand total winnings in live poker tournaments are $10,589. But what intrigues us about Pons is that the Main Event is the only tournament he went to Las Vegas to play. That probably makes him like a lot of poker players, who consider the Main Event a "bucket list" item with nothing else mattering.


What matters most in your life? If it's poker, we have some news that might surprise you or even upset you. Believe it or not, there's more to life than poker.

Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see... - Ecclesiastes 11:9a

 Sounds great so far, doesn't it? But that Bible verse isn't finished yet....

...But know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. - Ecclesiastes 11:9b

Yeah, we went there. We believe there is a God, and He's appointed Jesus Christ to judge all that we do in our lives.

The U.S. political campaigns have reminded us that lots of people judge others. If you vote, you might pick one candidate over another based on how they've conducted themselves, or what "sins" they've committed. But have we forgotten....

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor? - James 4:12

Jesus will have the final word on which people are saved and which will be destruction (Revelation 20:12-15). So how can you get to the saved side? That's where we come back to the example of Fernando Pons:

But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. - Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

Our lives need to have one main goal - seeking God's Kingdom by developing His righteousness. If you focus on that, bonus blessings will come. Maybe not a seat at the WSOP Main Event final table, but blessings of different kinds.

So again we ask: what matters most in your life - and should?

Buy the Numbers?

Poker is a game where numbers can matter.  For instance, having two Aces before the flop is good.  A hand with three Aces is better.  And four Aces are awfully hard to beat.

But "trip 6's" come with a bit of a notorious reputation.  We asked in a recent post for your thoughts about 6-6-6.  Revelation 13 calls it "the number of the beast."  And at the end of this age, beasts will be dangerous characters.

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth.  He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.... Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.  He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. - Revelation 13:11, 14

First of all, did you realize the Bible talks about two beasts - not merely one?  The first beast is described in the first part of the chapter.  Many religious groups believe this refers to an end-time superpower on Earth, especially in Europe.  The second one will order everyone to pay tribute to the first one....

He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. - Revelation 13:15

The link speculates the second beast is the United States -- but really now.  When has a President ordered U.S. citizens to worship statues of the Pope, or some other European leader?  That certainly didn't happen in World War II.  And the current U.S. Presidential campaign seems to be boiling down to a non-denominational Christian against an L.D.S. member (what some call a Mormon).

We think it's better to look at 6-6-6 in terms of yet another European government.  And we agree that the number's meaning isn't as clear as some "prophetic experts" make it out to be.  We don't know who has the winning numbers in poker until the end of a hand -- and so we have to wait until the end of man's reign on Earth to know what "trip 6's" means.

So what should we do in the meantime?  We recommend the guidance given elsewhere in the New Testament:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. - James 1:5

That applies to wisdom about playing poker well, or living life in general.  Ask God, and trust Him to provide.

Poker, Politics and the Truth

Happy National Poker Week to you. Or did you even know about it?

A more fitting time for this might have been last week or the week before, as the World Series of Poker Main Event was in full swing. But this designated week seems to have another purpose.

The National Poker Week web site is focused on a petition drive "to help keep America's most popular game legal...." The home page has been revised since we first saw it a few days ago, to make clear what that means. It's a drive in opposition to the seizure of accounts from big-time poker web sites.

But the way this web site words the issue is quite misleading. In fact, it's in the "editable text" of a petition you can send Washington:

I am not aware of any federal law that restricts my right to play poker online....

In fact, the seizure of those accounts has not restricted that right. People still can play poker online in the U.S. Only they do it at sites which are free, with no entry fees. Readers of this blog know we've done it at two different locations. The payouts and prizes may be smaller -- but hey, we won $20 on Sunday.

We're not going to take a stand on the bill being promoted by the National Poker Week web site. But we will take a stand against how this venture is worded. It's misleading hyperbole -- as poker remains legal in free games across the U.S., and many web sites as well.

The promoters do what Acts 20:30 warns against, in the context of the Church. "Even from your own members men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." (We noticed the National Poker Week web site allows you to sign up for an "action e-list.")

At the surface, the effort exaggerates the truth about poker in the U.S. We're even tempted to say it acts like many poker players in a game -- making a big-time bluff. Issues can be pursued without going to such an extreme.

"I speak the truth in Christ -- I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit...." - Romans 9:1.