Poker Night 340: Power Points

"You're playing a little different tonight," the man to our left said at Lil Kim's Cove.

"Sometimes you have to dare to be different," we answered -- recalling a religious radio broadcast we heard the other day.  The preacher actually encouraged people's praise to get a little wild.  And there were times when we did the same thing, by taking on a couple of players known for big bets....

BLINDS: 50/100

IN THE POCKET: A-A

Who wouldn't go wild at the sight of that?  And we're in the Small Blind, so we're very late in the betting order.  But the players ahead of us only call.  Our circuit's version of the Notorious BIG (as in big raiser) sits in the Big Blind -- so what will he do in response to us?

"I'll raise this time," we say -- and add 1,000.  That's relatively modest for some of these players, and we really don't want people to run away from the hand.  Most of the table calls, including Mr. Big.

ON THE FLOP: Q-10-8

So far, so good.  Now we're first to act, and we make a continuation bet of 1,000.  In a surprise move, Mr. Big folds.  Two players call, including the dealer.

ON THE TURN: J

Uh-oh.  That's potential trouble, because anyone with a 9 now has a straight.  But we decide to be as "bold as a lion" (to borrow from Proverbs 28:1) and bet 1,000 more.  Our opponents aren't fazed, and call again.

ON THE RIVER: Q

"Now what are you gonna do?" the dealer asks.  That's a touch trash-talky, since a pair of Queens is showing.  Is someone hiding a third one?

We quietly check.  "That's what I thought you'd do," the dealer responds.  The woman in order between us checks.  The dealer hesitates, perhaps looking for a sign from us.

"I'll check," he decides.

"I have Aces," we say as we show.  The woman doesn't show her cards, but concedes.

"I've got trips," the dealer says -- turning over 10-4.  Uh, no he doesn't.  He was joking, and we are winning a big pot which puts us close to 19,000 chips.

"I should have gone all-in," Mr. Big mumbles to himself.

"He would have folded," the man to his left says about us.  "Because he's a good player."  A third-hand compliment is still a compliment, and we thank him for it -- but the way the table was playing, we're not so sure about his conclusion.

We took on that big pre-flop raiser twice, after he added thousands.  In the first case, we had A-9 which led to both cards pairing by the turn.  A 5,000-chip bet at that point ran him off.

But at the end of the first hour, we re-raised him 5,000 with pocket Kings.  He called, talking about having a pocket pair.  Then he checked after an ordinary-looking flop, only to go all-in on the turn.  We considered it a bluff, called for our last 9,975 chips -- only to discover he had A-2, and the board included 3-4-5.  His big gamble paid off, and eliminated us in 12th place.

Bottom line: fighting fire with fire can be a dangerous thing.  We waited for good moments with potentially big hands to take on the big bettors.  But high rewards also carry high risks, and our opponent simply caught the cards he needed.

MINISTRY MOMENT: The betting was so large that at one point while we were dealing, a man offered 6,000 at a pot.  We announced the bet as matching "man's time on the earth before Jesus comes back."

No one responded to that statement -- and we think it was because they didn't understand it.  Some religious  groups say the Bible clues point to a 7,000-year plan of salvation for man.  Take this verse...

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. - II Peter 3:8

A common understanding of this verse is that time means nothing to a God who has no beginning or end of days.  But some believers in a seventh-day Sabbath see a deeper meaning, when they compare this verse with others.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.... Let is, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. - Hebrews 4:9, 11

The idea is that after man's free will (influenced largely by Satan) runs Earth for 6,000 years, Jesus will return for the seventh 1,000 years:

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.  And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.  They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.  They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4

This thinking admittedly can be dangerous, because some ministers have used this formula to jump to conclusions about the exact date for the second coming.  One minister predicted Jesus would return in late May of this year -- but He did not, and that minister now awaits sentencing for tax fraud.

We refuse to set any dates here for Jesus's return.  After all, the traditional Jewish calendar indicates we're only in the year 5772.  Could the Lord's second coming really be more than 200 years away?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 121 final tables in 340 nights (35.6%) - 19 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 258 point wins in 1,097 games (23.5%),  81 final tables, 10 wins, 9 cashes.

The point percentage at NLOP may be misleading for awhile, because the big-money daily midday game we often play is now a "freeroll."  You don't pay points to enter, and you don't get points for finishing well -- it's all about making the final table and winning money.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $81,598, up $1,020.