A change in our weekly routine meant an adjustment in this week's poker schedule. We traveled to Soho Bar and Grill Wednesday night for the first time since "pressure busts pipes" night in April. The table was filled with different players, but the pressure came early anyway....
BLINDS: 25/50
IN THE POCKET: J-9 offsuit
We're in the Big Blind, at a table where two women have won the first four pots of the evening -- one of them a woman who apparently is playing for the first time. Some players are taking so much time gabbing that it almost has the feel of a quilting bee. A veteran player to our left is so rattled by this that he's asked the Tournament Director for a move. But we've taken our time, not playing any hands yet. And since no one checks ahead of us, we join most of the table in this hand.
ON THE FLOP: 9-7-7
The betting has been tame up to now -- but the Small Blind sitting to our right quickly changes that. He bets 1,000. We have two pair and admittedly suspect he has a 7, but we call in hopes of a full house. A couple of other players call as well.
ON THE TURN: K
That high card didn't help our cause much. The Small Blind tosses out another 1,000. But something tells us to call again -- even though the "better judgment" usually would presume we're topped and fold. The female newcomer calls as well.
ON THE RIVER: A
Ugh. If the Small Blind fires a big "third barrel" now, we'd surrender. But instead he waits a moment, then checks with a sound of resignation. Hmmm -- maybe he thinks we hit one of the big cards. But we play it safe and check, as does the woman to our left.
"I have a 9," we say showing our two pair. The Small Blind flips over.... 6-10! He had a "belly-buster" straight draw and missed.
The woman then turns over Q-10! Her overcards missed as well, and we capture a big pot we didn't really expect to win.
A man out of the hand (who later called that woman a "patsy") can't understand what the Small Blind was thinking. "You bet with 6-10?!?!" he says.
"I didn't know what he had," the Small Blind answers. He put us to the test -- and we passed.
That started a huge three-hand roll for us. Pocket Kings came in the Small Blind, and they turned into big winners which put that newcomer woman out of the game. Then we dealt ourselves J-J, with a third Jack coming on the flop. The rattled man went all in with only one pair, and we eliminated him as well. In only a few minutes, we jumped from 5,000 starting chips to more than 32,000!
We won a couple of nice pots after that, reaching a high of 42,500 (as best we recall). We cruised through the first hour, then played carefully in the second. Holding 30,000 after the two-hour "color-up" allowed us to reach the final table. Then A-A came under the gun with 15,000 left -- and we tripled our chips to 45,000.
But one lap around the table later, we went all-in again with A-10 -- risking a very short stack after a man pushed ahead of us with 105,000. The board didn't pair for us, and that man threw down pocket Queens. And we mean threw down those cards -- with such an overpowering rush of emotion that one Queen fell off the table twice!
We had to wait for him to finish dancing in his chair before shaking his head. It was a funny finish to a wild evening -- yet we drove home satisfied. Seventh at Soho was our best finish there since a tie for fifth, which came a year ago this week.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We had several during the evening, including one at the final table when a bystander asked about the little nine-volt battery we used as a card protector.
"I bring that to remind me," we said amid interruptions from other talkative players, "that I receive power from the Holy Spirit. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?"
We didn't catch the man's answer, as he stood on the other side of the table from us and the moment was noisy. But another man standing behind us seemed to get our message.
"But," he pointed out, "that only provides a spark." That's true of the battery. What about the Holy Spirit? Does it work the same way? Offer a comment with your thoughts; we'll share ours in a future post.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 111 final tables in 314 nights (35.4%) - 17 cashes.
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