Poker Day 439: Planting Small Seeds

"Speak softly and carry a big stick," President Theodore Roosevelt once said.  That advice can be applied to the poker room at times.  Watch how he tried it at Arrowhead Poker today....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: King of hearts - King of spades

On a holiday weekend, the turnout is small -- nine players total.  We lost a modest pot early when our pair of 9's lost to a pair of Queens.  Now we have cards even better than that -- but we're first to act pre-flop, so we take the "soft" step and call.  Sure enough, a player across from us raises to 1,200.

"Raise," we say when our turn comes again; "5,200."

This approach keeps three other big spenders in; the rest get out of the way.

ON THE FLOP: 6s-Qs-5s

We have an overpair - but even better, a big spade draw.  We know we should follow up strongly, so we offer a continuation bet of 5,000. A big bettor across from us raises to 10,000.  We call; the rest step aside.

ON THE TURN: As

Jackpot!  We clinch the nut flush, and have an opponent in a mood to gamble.  So we check.  But he checks, too.  Bummer.

ON THE RIVER: 8h (not a spade; suit may not be exact)

Since there's no pair on the board, there's no chance for a full house.  Give us the check mark - and now how about a bonus?  We bet 12,000, and our opponent shoves one of his two big stacks of chips at us. (We didn't ask for a count, to see how it is.)  We don't hesitate to go all-in, and he calls.

Then our opponent throws down.... a Jack of clubs?!?!  Seriously?!?!

"I've got the nuts," we say as we show.  Whatever else that man has, it's not winning.  We get a marvelous double-up, to about 147,000 chips.

"That Ace was the perfect card for you," another player says.  We agree - as it left the outcome practically beyond doubt in our favor.

Our pot kept building from there, as good cards came our way.  A-K of clubs eliminated one player who had A-Q, and lost a race.  Even J-9 won a race when two Jacks came on the board!  In this "bounty" tournament, we eliminated four players at $25 each - the first time we can recall ever claiming a bounty at a poker table.

We reached a chip-stack high of 440,000, and made it to heads-up action. At that point, we agreed to a settlement with our opponent.  With first place paying $90 and second place $54, we each accepted a $72 payout.

That plus four bounties plus our own "bounty chip" which we never lost meant our $60 investment wound up earning $197.  Our records show that's our second-best poker day financially ever - topped only by a Monday night in Florida in 2011. We're praising the Lord for a successful day!

MINISTRY MOMENT: On the way home from the poker room, we passed a regular spot for panhandlers - and two men were there, one with a sign declaring himself "homeless" and seeking help.

We stopped to talk with the men, and found both are staying in a shelter -- but saying things aren't going well there. One claimed he lost his medications to theft. That one also said about $200 was coming in a couple of days, so they could get a motel room for a short time while looking for work.

We admittedly were torn about how to help these men, and openly told them so.  They had a place to stay, but wanted someplace better.  They'd stayed with a friend the night before, and the temperature this night was going to stay above freezing.  So what would you do in such a case?

Against our better judgment (which was simply to walk away, concluding they really didn't need anything we could provide), we let them into our car and drove them to a nearby small motel for overnight lodging.  It was a place where we put a truly homeless man on a January weekend last year, when the temperature was much colder.

Why did we do this?  In part because....

...Freely you have received; freely give. - Matthew 10:8

God blessed us at the poker table, so it only seems right to share a blessing with others - especially people who seem much worse off than us.

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? - James 2:15-16

Without even looking for them, we encountered more than 40 beggars last year -- in part because we live in a neighborhood with homeless shelters nearby.  We realize we easily could be in their shoes, if only a few things change in our life.  So we try to provide help where we can, especially meeting needs more than handing out cash.  Do you have a different suggestion?


UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 157 final tables in 439 games (35.8%), 26 cashes. Today was our first cash in a live tournament since February 2014.