Poker Day 493: If I Only Had a Heart

Christmas ends, and the Valentine's Day stuff goes on sale right away - right? It seemed that way to us Friday, during a tournament at Kansas Star Casino. Follow the cards, and you'll see....

BLINDS: 75/150

IN THE POCKET: 7 of hearts - 7 of clubs

We were only fourth on the waiting list for this tournament, and it had 70 seats. But we still had to wait about 45 minutes before finding a seat. After losing a hand with Q-J and having lousy blinds, we now have about 2,975 chips and sit first to act. We limp in with a pocket pair, and see some hope when no one raises. About five players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 10h-3c-8h

Not the best-looking flop for us. But after we check, so does everyone else. Perhaps they all missed?!

ON THE TURN: 9h

Aha - things now become a whole lot more interesting. We have an open-ended straight flush draw! An opponent bets 225, but we simply have to chase this. We call, and we're heads-up with about a one-in-three chance of hitting something big....

ON THE RIVER: 10d

....which means, of course, we also have a two-thirds chance of missing. But after this card, we still have two pair - and we have a hunch our opponent missed as well.

So we take a chance: "300," we bet. Our opponent gives it a good deal of thought - then calls. He could have raised.

"I missed the straight flush," we admit, "but I have two pair."

Thankfully, our hunch is right! The opponent shows A-K (or something similar). He missed it all. We gain a nice pot.

One or two other small pot wins put us at 3,925 chips at the first break, then hit some big cards in the second period such as A-A to take out an opponent. We hit a high of 8,400. But setbacks pushed us back to 5,000 - but at least we reached the second break.

As the blinds climbed, we stayed alive thanks to a couple of walks. Then when we were forced to go all-in for 2,000  the Big Blind, we "checked in the dark" all the way through - then turned over 4-4, which was the only pair anyone had! That started a "miracle" comeback, which included K-K beating A-Q, which pushed us back above 15,000!

But with 13 players left and the final table in view, we made a slip. With a player all-in for 7,000 and with K-J of spades in our pocket, we dared to go all-in for 8,000. One of three players in the race had 7-7, and it prevailed when the board didn't pair for the other two. We finished 12th out of 83 - pretty good, but short of the final table and the top eight for money.

MINISTRY MOMENT will be posted Sunday, as we wrap up 2016.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 181 final tables in 493 games (36.7%) - 36 cashes.