Poker Day 413: Three's a Crowd

Anything can happen when we walk into Arrowhead Poker on a Sunday afternoon.  For instance, the poker room could change its name.  We found Sunday that's happened; a sale to new owners means it's now called River City Poker Room.  But another Sunday adjustment proved to be more bothersome for us....

BLINDS: 1,000/2,000

FORMAT: No-Limit Omaha, high hand only

IN THE POCKET: J-J-J-8

The managers decided to play "alternate blind" rules -- one blind of Texas Hold 'em, the next of Omaha, then back and forth.  But under Omaha rules, only two of our cards can be used to complete a five-card hand.  In other words, our "three of a kind" pre-flop is really only a high pair.  But it's a good pair, and some loose-playing losses have knocked us down to 7,000 chips.

Add all that up, and we're going all-in with this hand.  Another man calls us, and turns over J-6-7 (we forget what his fourth card was).  He has our missing Jack, but we still have the lead.

ON THE FLOP: 3-6-7

Well, we did have the lead.  He now has two pair, and our only real hope is for the board to pair.

ON THE TURN: 5

Nope, not that one -- and we don't have an open-ended straight draw, because we have to use two of our cards to complete the best hand.

ON THE RIVER: 2

His two pair knocks us or in 14th place -- and while our chip situation really left us little choice except to push there, we learned a lesson about a format we seldom play.  A high pair in your hand in Omaha is good.  But three of something actually is a bit confining; it limits the kind of high-level hands you can make.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Are you going to zap people with that?" a man to our right asked about our card protector.  No, not really - it was a simple AA battery.

"I brought it to remind me," we explained, "I receive power from the Holy Spirit of God.  Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?"

"Of course," the man answered.  "I'm a Catholic."

Uhhhhhh -- hold on a minute.  We didn't correct the man's explanation.  But who says the Holy Spirit is only given to certain denominations or church groups?  Some early apostles had to be correct about that kind of thinking....

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.  God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.  He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith." - Acts 15:7-9

Peter learned this lesson through an encounter with a man named Cornelius, which is detailed in Acts 10.  It appears people of all backgrounds can receive God's Holy Spirit... if....

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. - Acts 5:32

That's a very big if.  If you think you have the Spirit, ask yourself: are you obeying God?  As fully as you know how to do it?  If you're not, confess it to God in prayer -- then get busy doing the things which God enjoys.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 145 final tables in 413 games (35.1%) - 24 cashes.  Our string of three final tables in a row at, uh, that poker room is over.