We went to Players for the first of two weekly Sunday tournaments. And for the first time in our city, we paid a buy.... oops; the proper wording under city regulations is cover charge. The fee was small, at five dollars. The potential payoff was large, as enough players showed up to fill six tables.
Unlike other local tournaments, everyone starts at Players with the same amount of chips: 5,000, with nothing extra for buying sandwiches or Jell-O shots. The chances are even for all - and the drama maybe was a little higher....
BLINDS: 500/1,000
IN THE POCKET: A-9 of diamonds
Our game started with a slow decline -- losing several times to players hitting winning hands on the river. But K-J turned into a timely pot with a winning pair of Jacks, so we reached the one-hour break at 5,050. Now after a failed round of blinds, we have 4,000 and little margin for error. We call; most of the table of seven gets in with no raises.
ON THE FLOP: Ax-8d-5x
That's top pair and a big moment. When the table checks to us, we go all-in for our last 3,000. We'd be happy to buy the pot right now, but a man across the table from us calls. Everyone else folds. He shows A-2, so we have a comfortable lead.
ON THE TURN: 10d
Good, good. Let's dodge one more....
ON THE RIVER: 2d
"Noooooo!" we cry aloud. Our opponent hit two pair on the river to take us....
"He wins," a woman next to him points out -- but gesturing toward us. "He made a flush."
"Ahhhhhh!" we now declare. We didn't notice three diamonds on the board. We're glad she did. Our opponent gained his second pair -- but in the only wrong way possible.
That restored us to 10,000 chips, but rising blinds and a couple of missed chances with promising cards were our downfall. Forced to go all-in again in the Big Blind, we had a lowly 2-9. It didn't pair for us, and a man with three 7's took another player out with us.
The scorekeeper at the door to the Players "poker room" noted we were the 28th player eliminated. That means 28 points for us, if we want to press on toward a quarterly championship. That number would sound great at other local venues -- but on this day, we barely missed the semifinal table by finishing (by our eyes) tied for 18th place.
MINISTRY MOMENT: We took our Lord's Supper card protector, which a woman sitting down to our left found interesting.
"Is Jesus your Savior?" we asked her.
She said yes - then explained one recent blessing. "I had brain surgery recently."
You'd never know that from looking at her, except perhaps for a scar near her right forehead. That woman apparently believes in a God with great power....
O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. - Psalm 30:2
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sin and heals all your diseases.... - Psalm 103:2-3The medical profession can do wonderful things. But ultimately, life and death are in the hands of God. And even when difficulties occur in hospitals, such as the spread of dangerous infections, we can look to the Lord:
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. - Psalm 32:7Has God ever performed a healing miracle in your life, or perhaps someone you know? Leave a comment with your "testimony" if He has.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 124 final tables in 358 games (34.6%) - 19 cashes.
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