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.