This weekend at church, our pastor said too many ministers "soft-pedal the gospel" these days. Then last night, we heard a sermon on Christian radio which recalled how Dwight L. Moody tried to witness to someone every day.
So this Sunday when we played in a 10:30 a.m. ET online tournament, we wrote this comment: "So is everyone here like me, and went to church yesterday?"
Only one person responded with a "rofl" (roll on floor laughing)
To which we answered, "No really. Seventh-Day Sabbath, you know."
That person then wrote something like, "I hear ya. I'm just yanking your leg."
No one else at the full table commented at all. Perhaps we started them thinking a bit. But then again, maybe this started you thinking a bit. Good.
"Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other...." - Hebrews 10:25, CEV
Is meeting at a poker table really worship? Especially if you're not making comments along the way?
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
If it was real VI (90 games)
One of our college hall-mates liked to say: "Close, but no cookie." That sums up our last ten live tournaments pretty well. Would two final tables have been enough to improve our record, if real money was on the line? Let's check, using our usual standards....
BUY-INS: 90 nights x $50 = $4,500
We only finished in the top five once in the last ten, and that was a fifth-place showing. Presuming a payoff of $500 for first, $400 for second and so on:
First -- 4 ($2,000)
Second - 4 ($1,600)
Third -- 4 ($1,200)
Fourth - 5 ($1,000)
TIES for fourth:
one two-way ($150)
one three-way ($67)
Fifth -- 6 ($600)
TIE for fifth: 1 ($50)
TOTAL -- 22 for $6,667.
The return on our pretend "buy-in investment" is dropping -- but still stands at 48.2%.
Looking at it another way: we'd finish "in the money" at live events 24.4% of the time. At NBC Sports online tournaments, we're getting "top ten percent" finishes (good for money most of the time at a casino) 22.9% of the time. That's a closer percentage than we expected.
BUY-INS: 90 nights x $50 = $4,500
We only finished in the top five once in the last ten, and that was a fifth-place showing. Presuming a payoff of $500 for first, $400 for second and so on:
First -- 4 ($2,000)
Second - 4 ($1,600)
Third -- 4 ($1,200)
Fourth - 5 ($1,000)
TIES for fourth:
one two-way ($150)
one three-way ($67)
Fifth -- 6 ($600)
TIE for fifth: 1 ($50)
TOTAL -- 22 for $6,667.
The return on our pretend "buy-in investment" is dropping -- but still stands at 48.2%.
Looking at it another way: we'd finish "in the money" at live events 24.4% of the time. At NBC Sports online tournaments, we're getting "top ten percent" finishes (good for money most of the time at a casino) 22.9% of the time. That's a closer percentage than we expected.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Poker Night #90: Resistance is Futile
Sometimes at the poker table, an opponent will make a bet that's awfully hard to turn down. Reject it, and you could miss out on a big pot. Take it.... well, and the same thing could happen. It did tonight at Lil Kim's Cove:
BLINDS: 500/1,000
IN THE POCKET: K-Q offsuit
Blinds are high, so not many people are calling before the flop. Yet a man to our immediate right goes all-in, with 9,000 chips. What would you guess he has?
"This is very hard to throw away." We show our cards to a man at our left who folded. (This is free informal poker, where you can do that.)
"I agree," that man says. Yet if the opponent bet big with pocket Aces, we'd be in big trouble -- and we've been burned that way before.
"I have to play this," we finally decide -- and call the all-in bet. We have only 8,500 left.
"Good call," we hear our opponent say. Well, maybe not. We show our K-Q. Our opponent has A-6. It's an old-fashioned race, and he leads.
ON THE FLOP: A-9-3 (don't recall the third card exactly).
Our opponent hit it big. We're in that big trouble.
ON THE TURN: 5.
With no way of making a straight or even two pair, the river card (8) doesn't matter. We're out in about 21st place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: The man who sat to our left tonight is built big, and likes to talk big. Yet he provided our best Christian discussion on a poker night in some time. The man joked (we think) about being all for himself in a tournament.
"Esteem one another better than yourself," we said. "I read that in a book once."
"That sounds real pretty," the other man said somewhat dismissively.
Several minutes later, we returned to that quote between hands. "Do you know what book I read that in?" The other man didn't know. "In the Bible." It's from Philippians 2:3, in fact (slightly adjusting the King James Version).
"Do you read the Bible?" we asked the man.
"Every now and then."
"The more you read it, the better it will become," we said to encourage him.
"But I've got a problem with one word," he answered. "Better than. I say we're all equal." Hmmmm -- how would you respond to that? We'll share our thoughts in a later post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 37 final tables in 90 nights (41.1%) - 8 cashes. After a good run for a few weeks, we've suddenly blanked in our last five.
YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $13,295 - unchanged (didn't play).
NBC SPORTS POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-goes - 26-31-5-4-8. Full tournaments - 14 final tables in 105 games (3.5%), 2 cashes. We're earning points (equivalent to finishing "in the money" at a casino) almost 23 percent of the time.
BLINDS: 500/1,000
IN THE POCKET: K-Q offsuit
Blinds are high, so not many people are calling before the flop. Yet a man to our immediate right goes all-in, with 9,000 chips. What would you guess he has?
"This is very hard to throw away." We show our cards to a man at our left who folded. (This is free informal poker, where you can do that.)
"I agree," that man says. Yet if the opponent bet big with pocket Aces, we'd be in big trouble -- and we've been burned that way before.
"I have to play this," we finally decide -- and call the all-in bet. We have only 8,500 left.
"Good call," we hear our opponent say. Well, maybe not. We show our K-Q. Our opponent has A-6. It's an old-fashioned race, and he leads.
ON THE FLOP: A-9-3 (don't recall the third card exactly).
Our opponent hit it big. We're in that big trouble.
ON THE TURN: 5.
With no way of making a straight or even two pair, the river card (8) doesn't matter. We're out in about 21st place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: The man who sat to our left tonight is built big, and likes to talk big. Yet he provided our best Christian discussion on a poker night in some time. The man joked (we think) about being all for himself in a tournament.
"Esteem one another better than yourself," we said. "I read that in a book once."
"That sounds real pretty," the other man said somewhat dismissively.
Several minutes later, we returned to that quote between hands. "Do you know what book I read that in?" The other man didn't know. "In the Bible." It's from Philippians 2:3, in fact (slightly adjusting the King James Version).
"Do you read the Bible?" we asked the man.
"Every now and then."
"The more you read it, the better it will become," we said to encourage him.
"But I've got a problem with one word," he answered. "Better than. I say we're all equal." Hmmmm -- how would you respond to that? We'll share our thoughts in a later post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 37 final tables in 90 nights (41.1%) - 8 cashes. After a good run for a few weeks, we've suddenly blanked in our last five.
YAHOO POKER TOTAL: $13,295 - unchanged (didn't play).
NBC SPORTS POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-goes - 26-31-5-4-8. Full tournaments - 14 final tables in 105 games (3.5%), 2 cashes. We're earning points (equivalent to finishing "in the money" at a casino) almost 23 percent of the time.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Poker Night #89: Bigger Isn't Better
Maybe it's just as well that the poker room in north Florida was closed when we stopped there. We wound up losing our proverbial shirt in free poker at Lil Kim's Cove tonight -- never winning a hand, and dropping out in about 16th place in only one hour of play.
We should have known it wasn't our night when we were dealt A-Q early, raised accordingly -- only to find they didn't show up on the board at all. Then there was a show of strength which blew up in our face:
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: Q-J of clubs
We're in the big blind, so we ought to play "for free" -- except the dealer with a huge stack of chips decides to raise 2,000. Our chip stack stands at 4,250, so this is a big decision. After pondering a moment, we call. The small blind player between us calls as well.
ON THE FLOP: Qh-10h-2d
The "small blind" man playing first checks. We have top pair, and decide it's time to take a stand.
"I'm all-in," we say pushing in 2,250.
"You started this," other players at the table say to a slightly puzzled dealer.
"But I had the wrong suit," the dealer answers. A few seconds of thought later, he slams down his cards to fold.
"725 is all I've got," the small blind man quietly says.
"That's OK," we assure him as he calls. At least we'll stay in the game one more hand -- and we could get a 5,000-chip "bounty" by taking him out.
ON THE TURN: 9
These cards are flipped quickly, with neither of us showing.
ON THE RIVER: 5
"I've got a pair of Queens," we say.
"I've got a straight," the other man says. Sure enough, he has K-J -- and caught his open-ender on the turn. Ouch.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We took an Orlando souvenir for a "card protector" tonight, but never could get around in the table talk to our ministry point about Walt Disney World. Perhaps tomorrow.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 37 final tables in 89 nights (41.6%) - 8 cashes.
We should have known it wasn't our night when we were dealt A-Q early, raised accordingly -- only to find they didn't show up on the board at all. Then there was a show of strength which blew up in our face:
BLINDS: 200/400
IN THE POCKET: Q-J of clubs
We're in the big blind, so we ought to play "for free" -- except the dealer with a huge stack of chips decides to raise 2,000. Our chip stack stands at 4,250, so this is a big decision. After pondering a moment, we call. The small blind player between us calls as well.
ON THE FLOP: Qh-10h-2d
The "small blind" man playing first checks. We have top pair, and decide it's time to take a stand.
"I'm all-in," we say pushing in 2,250.
"You started this," other players at the table say to a slightly puzzled dealer.
"But I had the wrong suit," the dealer answers. A few seconds of thought later, he slams down his cards to fold.
"725 is all I've got," the small blind man quietly says.
"That's OK," we assure him as he calls. At least we'll stay in the game one more hand -- and we could get a 5,000-chip "bounty" by taking him out.
ON THE TURN: 9
These cards are flipped quickly, with neither of us showing.
ON THE RIVER: 5
"I've got a pair of Queens," we say.
"I've got a straight," the other man says. Sure enough, he has K-J -- and caught his open-ender on the turn. Ouch.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We took an Orlando souvenir for a "card protector" tonight, but never could get around in the table talk to our ministry point about Walt Disney World. Perhaps tomorrow.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 37 final tables in 89 nights (41.6%) - 8 cashes.
Playing poker on the road
We wondered if it was possible on a quick getaway to Orlando -- and it was. Billboards along Interstate 75 advertised two poker rooms.
One was in Ocala, but we forgot which exit it was and passed by it Tuesday night too late to turn.
Another one is near exit 451, between Interstate 10 and the Georgia line. But when we stopped there this morning (after turning the wrong way at the exit; no signs help you), it wasn't open yet. Not until 11:30 a.m., it said.
Oh well -- their loss. Potentially.
One was in Ocala, but we forgot which exit it was and passed by it Tuesday night too late to turn.
Another one is near exit 451, between Interstate 10 and the Georgia line. But when we stopped there this morning (after turning the wrong way at the exit; no signs help you), it wasn't open yet. Not until 11:30 a.m., it said.
Oh well -- their loss. Potentially.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
NBC Sports Championship #4: Stay a Little Longer
We accomplished one goal tonight in the weekly championship game at the NBC Sports poker room. We made it to the one-hour break!
Trouble is, we went bust in the first hand after that break -- improving nonetheless to 185th place out of 691 players. It's a top-30% finish, but only the top three players win money.
Here's a summary of how our evening went:
Hand 1: A-10 leads to a double-up bet right away, and we take the lead with a $430 pot.
:15 IN: We have A-A, then a third Ace comes on the flop! We go all-in, and double-up to the tune of $1100.
:22 IN: Our Ace pairs on the flop, then we gain a diamond flush draw. But the flush doesn't happen, and we lose to a player with three 2's.
:23 IN: The very next hand finds us with Q-4. It becomes Q's and 8's on the flop, and we gain a $425 recovery pot.
:35 IN: We're dealt A-K, and an opponent with fewer chips goes all-in on the flop. We call -- only to discover he has J-9, and the board shows 8-7-10. He flopped a straight, and 5-5 following don't help us.
:36 IN: Next hand again, and we have A-4. Lowered to about $215 in chips, we're forced to go all-in with blinds coming up next hand. Yet a 4 comes on the flop, and our pair of 4's somehow holds up. "Alleluia," we say.
:39 IN: Another nice deal, with A-J. With A-8-10 on the flop, we go all-in -- and a third Ace comes, for a $1365 double-up.
:43 IN: We have J-10, and a player with $400 ahead of us goes all-in. We call, then another player behind us goes all-in with more. We're concerned and bail out -- only to find 7-A-9-8-5 hit the board. We would have won it all with a straight.
1:00 IN: BLINDS: 150/300
IN THE POCKET: J-10
We're in the big blind with $645. The man in the small blind doubles the bet to $600, and we feel compelled to go all-in. Another player joins the small blind in calling.
ON THE FLOP: 6-6-6
"Revelation flop," we write. If you're not sure why we wrote that, check the last few verses of Revelation 13.
We watch helpless, as the other two players in the hand check.
ON THE TURN: A
That's trouble. Someone must have an Ace, we figure, to put more than $600 into the hand originally. The small blind bets, and the other remaining player folds.
ON THE RIVER: 9
Sure enough, the small-blind had an A. His full house dooms us -- but we consider it an evening of improvement.
Trouble is, we went bust in the first hand after that break -- improving nonetheless to 185th place out of 691 players. It's a top-30% finish, but only the top three players win money.
Here's a summary of how our evening went:
Hand 1: A-10 leads to a double-up bet right away, and we take the lead with a $430 pot.
:15 IN: We have A-A, then a third Ace comes on the flop! We go all-in, and double-up to the tune of $1100.
:22 IN: Our Ace pairs on the flop, then we gain a diamond flush draw. But the flush doesn't happen, and we lose to a player with three 2's.
:23 IN: The very next hand finds us with Q-4. It becomes Q's and 8's on the flop, and we gain a $425 recovery pot.
:35 IN: We're dealt A-K, and an opponent with fewer chips goes all-in on the flop. We call -- only to discover he has J-9, and the board shows 8-7-10. He flopped a straight, and 5-5 following don't help us.
:36 IN: Next hand again, and we have A-4. Lowered to about $215 in chips, we're forced to go all-in with blinds coming up next hand. Yet a 4 comes on the flop, and our pair of 4's somehow holds up. "Alleluia," we say.
:39 IN: Another nice deal, with A-J. With A-8-10 on the flop, we go all-in -- and a third Ace comes, for a $1365 double-up.
:43 IN: We have J-10, and a player with $400 ahead of us goes all-in. We call, then another player behind us goes all-in with more. We're concerned and bail out -- only to find 7-A-9-8-5 hit the board. We would have won it all with a straight.
1:00 IN: BLINDS: 150/300
IN THE POCKET: J-10
We're in the big blind with $645. The man in the small blind doubles the bet to $600, and we feel compelled to go all-in. Another player joins the small blind in calling.
ON THE FLOP: 6-6-6
"Revelation flop," we write. If you're not sure why we wrote that, check the last few verses of Revelation 13.
We watch helpless, as the other two players in the hand check.
ON THE TURN: A
That's trouble. Someone must have an Ace, we figure, to put more than $600 into the hand originally. The small blind bets, and the other remaining player folds.
ON THE RIVER: 9
Sure enough, the small-blind had an A. His full house dooms us -- but we consider it an evening of improvement.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Face the Ace
We confess -- we completely forgot about the opening night of this new poker show on NBC until the last few minutes.
Our only comment: did they need someone reminiscent of a New York mobster serving as emcee?
If you watched, what did you think?
Our only comment: did they need someone reminiscent of a New York mobster serving as emcee?
If you watched, what did you think?
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