Three's Good Company?

Unless you're a newcomer, you probably know there are many ways to play poker. There's traditional Texas Hold 'em. There's Pot-Limit Omaha. But have you tried the version where you don't even need five cards to take a pot?

We've been trying Three-Card Poker online lately for free. It's a downright simple game. You're dealt three cards, then decide whether to bet or fold them. The dealer turns over his/her three cards - and the high hand wins.

We increased our bankroll pretty well online, so we went to a casino to see what would happen.... and of course, we lost money. Thankfully, we only bet $5 at a time compared with $25 on the web.

It hurt us that one aspect of the online game was missing at the casino - the "6-card bonus" bet. If your hand and the dealer's combine to form a big five-card hand like a full house, you can win big pretend dollars.

But some people might argue the three-card approach is more, well, Biblical. Here's why....

Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. - Genesis 6:10

Those original "My Three Sons" (you're showing your age if you remember that TV reference) repopulated the world after the flood. And while it's controversial, some say those three original the main races of humankind.

Three times a year you are to offer a festival to me. - Exodus 23:14

No, not Easter, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. God went on in that chapter to explain these "times" are festival seasons, while many Jews and some Christians still keep today.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - I Corinthians 13:13

New Testament writers practiced what some have come to call the "rule of threes." It's evident in founding documents of the U.S., such as the phrase, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - II Corinthians 13:14

Some believers use this verse and others to promote a "trinity" view of God, as three-in-one.

You can debate the validity of some of those beliefs if you wish - but here's our main point: God seems to enjoy doing things in groups of three. They're scattered all over the Bible. Can you find some we haven't mentioned? And is there a "three" that ranks #1 on your favorite list?

The Drought of 2016

We live in a state that's had a weather-related drought in recent years - but certainly not this year. More than seven inches of rain have fallen on our city already in July.

But 2016 is turning into a drought year, in terms of poker opportunities. We chronicled the police shutdown of local poker rooms early in the year. Then we mentioned a tribal casino giving up poker. And now we've learned a state-sanctioned casino has stopped its poker tournaments as well - in Dodge City, of all places.

An operator at Boot Hill Casino told us Wednesday night a "Three-Card Poker" tournament (a very different game) is planned there in August. But otherwise, the poker room with its five tables apparently is only for cash games now. If that's your preference, that's fine. But we tend to do better in tournaments - and they're drying up.

On top of that, our searching found a different tribal casino in northeast Kansas has closed its poker room. So to our knowledge, there are now only three places in our state offering legitimate poker tournaments: Yvie's once a week for free, along with casinos in the Kansas City and Wichita areas.

Could it be that the "poker craze" is waning? Casino tournaments we visit still tend to be full. But some of the neighborhood poker rooms we visited before they closed could be empty places at times.

Could you cope with a lack of in-person poker? We probably could - by playing online when time permits, or even applying this principle:

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water.... It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. - Jeremiah 17:7-8

We existed well for more than 45 years, hardly playing any poker at all. And if all the doors close for playing it again, we still could thank God for the years of opportunity and occasional success.

...The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. - Job 1:21b

It's easy to thank God when your poker games are going well - although ironically, some ministers say that's when we're least likely to be thankful. But when doors are sliding shut and opportunities are few, we should be thankful nonetheless for what God provides.

The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. - Isaiah 43:20-21

So if the neighborhood poker games are in a drought, or if your personal game is in a dry spell, thank God anyway. After all, showers of blessing may come when you least expect them.

Man Vs. Machine: Drugged Up

When a weekend road trip to see family members puts you only a couple of miles from a casino, it's only natural for us to pay it a visit.  So this morning, while many people slept in or went to church, we went to Hollywood Casino.

One stop was the heads-up Texas Hold 'em computer machine. We've played it before - sometimes for nice gains, other times for big losses.

BLINDS: 1/2

IN THE POCKET: K-2 of hearts

We put a $20 bill in the machine to get started.  After a couple of bad deals, we're starting with $15. The machine likes to raise pre-flop, perhaps to scare opponents off.  In this case, we dare to call a raise to 4.  We don't use "K-2," but we sometimes play it.

ON THE FLOP: 2-A-K

If this is "slot machine" poker, two pair might as well be a jackpot.  We check - and sure enough, the machine bets $2. We raise in this minimum-raise format, and in seconds we're all in for $11. (We tried to insert another $20 to heighten the stakes, but could not.)

ON THE TURN: 10

The computer shows A-7!  Our two pair beats its one.

ON THR RIVER: 6

The gamble pays off, and we're up $26.

But K-2 came again on the next hand, and we should have realized what was coming. We hurt ourselves by pressing the "bet/raise" button when we meant to call - and we wound up with nothing, while the computer made a 6-high straight.  We should have left well enough alone, as we wound up losing $17.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Before the computer challenge, we sat down for blackjack with a real dealer.  Only three players were at the table at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday - but the player across from us was in a gambling mood.

"Can I play your poker?" he asked us.  It took three times for us to understand what he meant.  The table had a small circle for placing bets in "three-card poker."  If your first two cards and the dealer's "up card" complete a poker hand such as a straight or flush, you get paid 9:1.

That man turned our spot into a jackpot a couple of times, while we chose to keep it vacant.  The man was kind enough to let us keep $5 of his $45 gain.

What an unusual way to practice giving -- doing it without our fully realizing what was happening.  But consider this verse:

All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing. - Proverbs 21:26

Admittedly taking this verse a bit out of context, the man across the table "craved for more" - seeking gain so much that he entered our "turf" and made money from it!  We gave him the opportunity to do it.  Then he gave us an 11-percent share of his winnings.

Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. - Psalm 112:5-6

We'll claim this as a promise from God, and try to be just in our conduct at the table - no matter where that table might be.

Is Anything Else Better?

The website that lets us practice Ultimate Texas Hold 'em for free also allows you to try out other casino poker-like games.  This weekend we did -- and here's what we found:

Caribbean Stud deals you five cards, then shows you one of the dealer's five.  You make one bet based on that -- and if you don't have much, we found you're likely to lose a good bit.

Let It Ride deals you three cards.  Then you bet on letting those three ride, or "pulling" bets on a fourth "community" card and a fifth similar one. The online game pays for a pair of 10's or better -- and in our brief play, we lost about 85 percent of the time (especially if our three didn't amount to much).

Three-Card Poker deals you three cards.  Then you make one bet about whether you can beat the dealer's face-down three cards.  We won a bit more there, but not much.

Mississippi Stud provides you two cards.  Then you bet on "community cards" one at a time, trying to make at least a pair of 6's.  Our winning record there was about the same as Let It Ride.... but with one notable exception:

We were dealt pocket 9's, bet the maximum three-times on every "street" -- and wound up with quad 9's!  It meant a big pretend payoff of $6,000.  We didn't come close to that in following hands.

There's a little skill involved in these games - but not a lot.  Perhaps that's why we win more often in Ultimate Texas Hold 'em.  And it's all about winning money - right?

Well, "hold 'em" a minute.  We've been reminded in our Bible study over the last few days that winning a big stack can be deceptive:

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.... Then he said, 'This is what I'll do.  I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods'.... But God said to him, 'You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then will who get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." - Luke 12:16-21

You can build a small fortune playing poker, or other casino games.  But you can't take that chip stack with you beyond the grave.

Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. - Psalm 39:6

Not even a well-written will can guarantee your wealth will go where you want it to go after you die.  So we think it's best to be "rich toward God" now -- giving to your church or worthy charitable causes.

The most common question of big winners on TV game shows is: "What are you going to do with all that money?"  Do you have a good answer ready - a godly one?