Poker Night 344: Over-Confident

The opening night of college football season distracted a few poker players at Lil Kim's Cove tonight.  At one point while they discussed South Carolina and Vanderbilt on, we sat with our back to the TV screen and borrowed a line NBC's Mike Emrick used during the Stanley Cup Final in June: "In the game you're watching...."

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: 8-8

They can have six-point touchdowns and three-point field goals.  We have a middle-of-the-road pocket pair, and haven't won a hand so far.  This is a limping hand for us, and most of the table gets in with no one raising.

ON THE FLOP: 3-3-5

An ugly flop for some people -- but a hopeful one for us.  We have an "overpair" for two pair.  So when the table checks to us, we bet 250.  A couple of players fold, so about half the table remains.

ON THE TURN: 7

Our overpair remains exactly that -- higher than anything showing.  The table checks again, and this time we offer 350.

ON THE RIVER: 5

Hmmmm -- now two pair are showing.  But the cards are low, we still have an overpair and no one's made a move to challenge our betting yet.  The table checks to us again.

"Don't do it," the player to our immediate left says as we reach for chips.  Why is he saying that -- because we're about to scare him off?  We want to be firm, so we bet 500.  The man to our left calls.  But then a player across the table raises to 1,000.  We still don't think it's trouble, and we're "pot committed" anyway.  So we call, as does the man to our left.

"I've got a boat," that man to the left declares.  He shows 3-J for a full house.  Trouble is, the man across from him shows 7-7!  It's a larger full house to take a big pot.

Bottom line: we took the lead in betting -- and wound up getting burned.  We doubted anyone was playing with a 3.  But in free tournament poker, gambling with little is easy -- and sometimes the payoff is big.

We turned things around on the next hand, when 10-9 of hearts turned into a winning flush (and almost a straight flush).  Then came a split pot with K-9.  Then at the semifinal table, 8-7 of diamonds in the Big Blind turned into a victorious "triple-eight."

That provided enough chips to bring us to the final table -- where we went all-in with J-J, and they held up to improve us to 40,000 chips.  But after the two-hour break with huge blinds, we tried to push again with A-J of spades.  The board didn't pair, and a man with pocket Aces prevailed.  He took out two players, leaving us tied for fourth place -- but that's still our best finish at Lil Kim's since late June.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "I found God in rehab," a man said at our table tonight.  That led to a three-way discussion, in which we remembered the moment when we surrendered to God.

"I lost my job, then needed a thousand-dollar engine overhaul on my car," we recalled.  In fact, this year marks 30 years since that double-whammy drove us to our knees on a cold Friday night.  It was a time similar in some ways to what an early apostle experienced.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground.... Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.  So they led him by the hand into Damascus.  For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. - Acts 9:3, 8-9

Read this entire chapter and you'll see it was Jesus who struck down Saul, then scolded him for persecuting the Lord while raging against the early church.  God could have gone even farther and killed Saul.  But God had bigger plans for him.

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.  He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.... At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. - Acts 9:18-20

He went from persecutor to preacher, from annihilator to apostle -- and in the process, his name changed from Saul to Paul.  Much of the New Testament is a testimony of God changed his life.  Has he changed yours?  And if you're going through difficulties now, is He trying to tell you something?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 122 final tables in 344 games (35.5%) - 19 cashes.  Tonight marked our first live-tournament final table since 7 August.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 264 point wins in 1,125 games (23.5%), 82 final tables, 10 wins, 10 cashes.  No-River Hold 'em - 9 point wins in 44 games (20.5%), 8 final tables, 1 win.

We squeaked into a final table in No-River play Monday, finishing tenth out of 118 players.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $82,340, down $646.

Poker Night 323: Anniversary Present

Several people were amazed at Lil Kim's Cove tonight, when we mentioned it was our fifth anniversary of live poker tournaments.  They couldn't believe we remembered the date.  But what happened during the first hour may have seemed even more unbelievable....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: J-J

We've already had a roller-coaster ride, even though the table is playing relatively tight.  We made a straight on the flop holding 5-6 -- but only 150 at first, allowing two players to stay in and make flushes on the turn.  Their big betting cost us thousands, but we were wise to fold on the river before going all-in.  We've taken a couple of pots since then, including the Big Blind with 8-3.  Now we're in the small blind with this, and choose to limp in.  Most of the table gets in.

ON THE FLOP: 5-J-7

Triple J's look quite OK!  So in lead position for action, we offer 600.  That's too much for most of the table, but the dealer to our immediate right calls.

ON THE TURN: J

Whoa!!  J now stands for jackpot -- but we know we can't claim a 5,000-chip bonus for quads unless the hand goes all the way to the river.  So we check.  The dealer checks as well.

ON THE RIVER: 7

We play innocent and check again.  The dealer is in no mood for that -- and gives us even more than we expected.

"Four-thousand," he says.  Now it's time for what they call in TV poker "Hollywooding."

"Four-thousand?!?!?" we ask with mock astonishment.  We start counting our chips, because we're honestly not sure how many we have.

"Don't do it, man.  Don't do it," the dealer advises.

"That might put me all in," we say while we count.

"You don't want to do it."

"I shouldn't do it?!" we ask with an added measure of uncertainty in our voice.

"Don't do it."

Nope.  Our mind is made up.  "I'm going to do it," we say with a hint of resignation.  "I'll call."  Our count totals 3,875, slightly below the dealer's bet.

"But I've got a boat," our opponent says.  He flips over a 7, to show a full house.

"But I've got to call, when I've got quads."

We turn over the Jacks, and the table is stunned.  One man guessed we might have pocket Aces, but nobody saw quads coming.  We win a double-up and that 5,000-chip bonus.

"I had to bet.  I had a boat," our opponent says in frustration -- not once, but several times.  We can't really blame him.  But he ran into an unexpected buzz saw.  At least he was able to joke about it minutes later.

"You didn't have to call," he said.

"I know, but something told me I should call there."

"But you didn't have to listen to that something."

"I think it's called The Idiot's Guide to Poker," we said with a smile and a giggle.

That was the middle of three hands in a row which we won -- the following hand coming when we dealt ourselves Q-Q, and they prevailed.  We reached the one-hour break with more than 20,500 chips.  Trouble was, we lost half of them early in the second hour to a woman who made two big hands.  A comeback with Queens returned us to 15,500.  But a final push with A-Q and an Ace on the flop lost to a man who made three of a kind.  Our anniversary night ended in 16th place - at least better than five years ago.

MINISTRY MOMENT: A young man walked over to our table during the one-hour break, and told some players about a couple of habits he's given up recently.

"I've stopped drinking.  In fact, I gave up smoking pot."

One person described him as "clean and really sober."  Then he continued.

"Several months ago, I made a promise to the man upstairs that if he'd help me give up pot, I'd quit.  The man upstairs has given me the strength."

"God's helped you do it," we said -- making sure of which "man upstairs" he meant.  Indeed, he gave God the credit.  And he went on from there, to mention which church he attends every week -- a church which was familiar to a couple of people at the table, but not to us.

Two thoughts come to mind here.  First, we're glad God has helped the man overcome those habits.  If you have weaknesses or addictions in your life, God can help you as well.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. - Psalm 73:26

How does this happen?  How does God become your strength?  It begins by confessing your weak areas to God -- and admitting you need His help.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.... I can do everything through him who gives me strength. - Philippians 4:6, 13

Our second thought may seem a bit nit-picky -- but it involves the wording that young man used.  We think some people use the phrase "man upstairs" to avoid possibly offending people with a direct mention of God.  The apostle Paul took a similar approach when he addressed a crowd in Athens....

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.  He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. - Acts 17:30-31

Paul never named the name of Jesus Christ in this mini-sermon -- but that's clearly the "person" he was describing.  A few men followed Paul after that address, and believed in God (verse 34).  Perhaps this young man's testimony (even posted here) will help others do the same.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 114 final tables in 323 nights (35.3%) - 17 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 236 point wins in 992 games (23.8%), 76 final tables, 7 cashes plus 2 other wins.  No-River Hold 'em - 6 point wins in 34 games (17.6%), 5 final tables, 1 cash win.

We mentioned the qualifying tournament we won last Friday.  In addition, we came in seventh out of 203 players in a No-River tournament Wednesday.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $78,791, down $630.