There are no "second chance" buy-ins at our live poker tournaments. And unlike politics, the biggest spender doesn't always win the contest. Let's see if it worked for us....
BLINDS: 100/200
IN THE POCKET: 9-9
We claimed one early pot with Ace high -- but the way some players at our table of seven have been raising pre-flop, we have to choose our moments with caution. We've dealt ourselves this nice pocket pair. And since no one's raised ahead of us, we call. Most of the table is in.
ON THE FLOP: 3-3-J
These cards don't seem to inspire anybody. The table checks, and so do we.
ON THE TURN: 4
This card doesn't liven up the party, either. The table checks again -- but because we have two pair, we want to turn all those "checks" into cash. We bet 600.
"No, no! You can't do that," a man across the table advises. "You can't bet. You're the dealer."
This causes a moment of puzzlement, but then the woman to his right explains. "He's just messing with you."
"We're not in Biloxi," we wryly point out -- where dealers never play hands at casinos. But most of the table doesn't want to play this hand anymore. Everyone folds to our bet except the Big Blind; he calls.
ON THE RIVER: 6
The Big Blind checks. We bet 600 again. He ponders a moment, then calls. We show our pocket 9's, and he folds without showing. This is a case where position at the table made all the difference; by playing last as the dealer, we were able to take advantage of the obvious reluctance of other players.
We reached the one-hour break at 7,600 chips, a bit more than our starting 7,000. But a moment of truth came in the second hour, when we tried to limp in with A-Q of hearts. A player to our immediate left raised 5,000 -- exactly enough to put us all-in. We called, and eventually found we were outgunned by his A-K. A King on the board took the pot, and took us home. We played more than an hour, but wound up the first eliminated from our table.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Earlier in the day, we had to make a correction in an online poker chat -- but that moved things in a religious direction:
Me: Oops. U.N. Day is
Me: October 24. Apologies....
PhilMo78: tomorrow is yom kippur***..hows that
Me: Tomorrow night, yes.
Me: Eat now. :-)
Dealer: Longwell wins Main Pot ($240)
Me: Worship later.
"Yom Kippur" is the Jewish name for what English-language Bibles describe this way....
We also mentioned this day to a woman at our table during the one-hour break. "Isn't that what Jews do?" she asked.
"It's in the Bible, and actually was given to everyone," we answered. Admittedly Yom Kippur has become pigeon-holed as a "Jewish day" -- but check the Old Testament carefully and you'll find all 12 tribes of Israel were together when God gave this instruction, including Judah.
"Jesus was a Jew," the woman pointed out -- and despite what some white supremacists might try to tell you, that's Biblically accurate:
So why do we personally keep the Day of Atonement -- and why should Christians observe it? We'll answer that in our next post. Or if you don't want to wait, grab a Bible and study this complete explanation.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 123 final tables in 351 nights (35.0%) - 19 cashes.
The Lord said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God." - Leviticus 23:26-28"Denying yourself" refers to a 24-hour period of fasting (Leviticus 16:29-31).
We also mentioned this day to a woman at our table during the one-hour break. "Isn't that what Jews do?" she asked.
"It's in the Bible, and actually was given to everyone," we answered. Admittedly Yom Kippur has become pigeon-holed as a "Jewish day" -- but check the Old Testament carefully and you'll find all 12 tribes of Israel were together when God gave this instruction, including Judah.
"Jesus was a Jew," the woman pointed out -- and despite what some white supremacists might try to tell you, that's Biblically accurate:
For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah.... - Hebrews 7:14Since Jesus's ancestry was from Judaism (Luke 3:23-30), it only makes sense that He would keep "Jewish days" such as Atonement. And since Jesus is God (John 1:1) and God gave a command about those days, it's also only sensible that Jesus would keep them while on Earth.
So why do we personally keep the Day of Atonement -- and why should Christians observe it? We'll answer that in our next post. Or if you don't want to wait, grab a Bible and study this complete explanation.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 123 final tables in 351 nights (35.0%) - 19 cashes.
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