One False Step

The Thursday night National League of Poker online tournament was our best in months. We were hitting big cards, making big hands and winning large pots. At the one-hour break, we had 24,560 chips -  good for tenth place out of 1,170 total entries!

Then came the second hour, and this critical moment....

BLINDS: 400/800/100

IN THE POCKET: 2-6 of clubs

The NLOP format for this tournament has a maximum six players per table. Trouble is, we've been placed to the right of the chip leader. His stack is huge compared to ours - well above 40,000. But we start this hand with about 25,000 chips. With about 30 big blinds, we can be a bit "creative" with these cards. We call, and about three players are in with no one raising.

ON THE FLOP: 10-5-4 (order may not be precise)

An ordinary flop with a hopeful straight draw. We check. As best we recall, the table checks.

ON THE TURN: 7

Our chances of hitting a straight now have doubled, but we sense a chance to win the pot right here. We bet 800. Mr. Big Stack calls, to our disappointment. The third player folds.

ON THE RIVER: 8

Yes! The straight comes through again! With no flush threat, we bid again for the pot. This time we bet 2,800. But our chip-leading opponent isn't scared. He goes all-in!

We have 22,800. Only a couple of combinations could beat ours - but this opponent has shown during the night he can bluff with very little. After several seconds of agonizing thought, we take the dare. We call. "If he has 9-6," we say to ourselves....

Then comes the computerized showdown.... and he has 9-6! He wasn't bluffing, and hit a higher straight on the river!

"Wow. Very good," is all we have time to write as he takes our big stack away. He writes "LOL" and some kind of scoffing insult in response. After a big 90-minute run, we finish in a lowly 165th place.

We offer this as proof that few hands in a poker tournament are "safe" hands. Other players can put you at risk at any moment, so you have to be careful at all times. Out lives work the same way....

They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. - I Chronicles 13:7

What does "a la cart" transport in the Bible have to do with this? Keep reading....

When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. - I Chronicles 13:9-10

At first reading, this may seem awfully unfair. Touch an ark, and God strikes you dead on the spot?! Well, yes - because there were rules for such things:

After Aaron and his son have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die.... - Numbers 4:15

The ark was considered holy to God. Uzzah touched it. He died. Right then and there.

"But I thought God was love," you might say. "What about grace and mercy?" God indeed has those traits - but he's also a God with rules. In the same way, we made a bad decision Thursday night on the river - and under the rules, our tournament dream died. (The re-buy deadline had passed.)

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. - Ephesians  5:15-16

One wrong action can be costly in a poker room. And in driving to and from it. Ask God for wisdom to help you make the right moves at all times.