Poker Night 388: To Your Boats

It was a dark and rainy night.  But that doesn't stop a die-hard poker player.  More than 30 of them joined us at The Red Barn -- and at our long counter-turned-table, the emphasis was on keeping things dry.  Coasters were put under our drinks, so the cards wouldn't get wet.  And the wet thinking didn't stop there....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: 7-7

We split an early pot, and now sit with about 7,900 chips.  Sitting in the Small Blind, no one has raised.  We see no reason to get overzealous at this point, so we check.  So does the Big Blind.

ON THE FLOP: 7-K-J

Now we can fire things up, as we've made three of a kind.  So we lead off by betting 500.  Three other players don't consider that too expensive, as they call.

ON THE TURN: 10

Another higher card -- and now the table shows two hearts and two diamonds.  We again try to run off "flush chasers," by raising the bet to 800.  Two other players call, including the dealer.

ON THE RIVER: J

We're rewarded with a "boat," as they say in poker slang.  We want to make a bigger bet, but not too big to run people off.  A lack of 100 chips makes our decision a bit awkward, but we finally settle on 1,100.  It's too much for an older woman across from us, as she folds.  But the dealer calls.

"Do you have a full house?" we ask.

"No, I have Kings," the dealer says.

"I do," we say as we show.  The dealer curses, and accepts his loss.

Another "boat" came ashore for us minutes later, when 3-3 brought a 3 on the flop.  Those wins eventually inflated our chip stack to the 30,000 range.  But the success ran out after that, as we lost an expensive hand with A-Q when we missed the flop and a big bet forced us to fold.

At the two-hour mark we felt forced to go all-in with our last 5,000 chips and A-J.  But the board didn't pair again, and a man with a pair of 5's wound up topping us.  We stepped out into the rain with a disappointing 17th-place finish.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Two Harley-Davidson motorcycle fans were at our starter table.  One of them actually owns one - so we picked the perfect night to bring our "Jesus as your Savior" coin, with the logo of a Christian motorcycle club on the back.

"Do you believe in Jesus?" we asked the across the counter from us.  "Is He your Savior?"

"Please don't bring up that subject," the man said firmly.  "This is not the place to discuss that."

We said OK, and didn't bring up faith matters again.  But at least he read the message on the coin.  What might have made him so uncomfortable?  We can only guess.  But he's not the first to become discomforted by Christ:

But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. - I Corinthians 1:23-24

Jesus is a "stumbling block" to Jews because most of them think the Messiah has not yet come.  Yet Jesus fulfilled many prophecies of the Old Testament.  Belief in the Lord is considered foolish to other people -- yet the only hope we have for life beyond this one depends on believing in Him.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12

So what's making you uncomfortable, when it comes to belief in Christ?  Leave a comment anonymously if you wish, and we can address your concerns in upcoming posts.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 134 final tables in 388 nights (34.5%) - 20 cashes.