Poker Night 342: Diamonds or Junk?

Our Thursday night routine resumed tonight -- as Lil Kim's Cove has moved poker night back to where it's been for years.  That meant a short walk, a two-dollar can of soda, and careful play against a table filled with much larger stacks of chips.  But can you be too careful?

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: J-8 of diamonds

We won the first pot of the night, but the gain was small.  A large-scale missed flop later in the first hour left us with only 4,500 chips after the break.  We say "only" because bigger stacks abound; one man openly is boasting about having 100,000 in large denominations.

So at our table of six, we now sit one behind the dealer.  We're dealt these medium-high suited cards.  We have enough chips for only three "laps around the race track," as we like to call it.  Would you risk 18 percent of your holdings on this, simply to see a flop?  We decide the odds of hitting a flush are too steep at this point to take this chance, especially with other players calling.  We fold.

ON THE FLOP: 9d-10d-Qd

WHAT?!?!!?!?!!?  It's all we can do to keep a "poker face" when we see this.

"Here come the diamonds," one man says.  Well, not the ones he might want.  We slowly pull back our folded cards and show them to the dealer, who also folded pre-flop.  We say nothing.  He says quietly what we knew -- we let go of a straight flush.  But the hand continues without us....

ON THE TURN: 9c

As we recall, one player offered 5,000 at this point.  "One more diamond!" another says with optimism as he calls.

ON THE RIVER: 2c

"Good no-diamond," that man now says.  After a moment of stare-down, both players check.  The caller has Q-J, and top his opponent's Queen with a better kicker.

"Look at what I folded!" we now announce -- and show our folded cards.

The table is stunned at the one that got away.  "I would have called with two diamonds," a couple of players say.

"But my stack is so small," we respond as we pick up our five chips totaling 4,500.  Those players insist they still would have entered the hand -- easy for them to say, with much larger stacks.

This hand came down to how much of a risk-taker (some would flat-out say gambler) you are.  We tend not to be.  And in this case, it cost us a 5,000-chip bonus for the straight flush -- and probably 9,000 more, because the players with Queens for two pair were likely to call if we went all-in.

We dreamed redemption would come two hands later, when we had A-8.  We limped in.  A man raised 3,000.  We added 500 more, to go all-in.  But the board didn't pair for us; instead 3-4-5 appeared, and a man with A-2 made a winning straight.  We left with 13th place -- and dreams about what might have been.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Earlier in the day, we visited a local hospital.  One of the regulars on our poker circuit checked in about a week ago due to chest pains.  Harry told us doctors found "other stuff" -- including occasional involuntary shaking, which still can't be explained.  We promised we'd pray for his recovery.

This short visit really is the least we could do for Harry.  But in making the trip, we recall words of Jesus about a future time of judgment....

Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.... I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me." - Matthew 25:34-36 (NASB)

In the Internet era, a "visit" also can be accomplished in an online way.  Harry's relatives set up a laptop computer by his bed -- and of course, he's using it in part to play online poker.  The relatives also created a Facebook account for him.  So if you'd like to send him a message, click on this link -- but be patient; Harry admits he's new at using computers.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 121 final tables in 342 nights (35.4%) - 19 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 261 point wins in 1,112 games (23.5%), 82 final tables, 10 cashes, 10 wins.  No-River Hold 'em - 8 point wins in 42 games (19.0%), 7 final tables, 1 cash/win.

For the third time in August, we won money at NLOP!  It was a second-place finish Tuesday night, in a tournament with 398 players.  There's an interesting story behind that game, which we'll share in an upcoming post.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $82,986, up $1,388.