Poker Day 494: Show and Tell

It always helps a poker player to know what his opponent has. But let's face it - how often does that happen? Well, check what we encountered Friday at Kansas Star Casino....

BLINDS: 300/600

IN THE POCKET: Q-5 offsuit

If the blinds are this high, we've done pretty well. It's level seven, and we've won some nice pots to reach a high for the day of 11,500 chips. We honestly don't remember how many we had at this point. And we don't recall anyone raising pre-flop. We recall three players entering the hand, out of seven or eight at the table.

ON THE FLOP: Q-10-3

At this point in the tournament, top pair on the flop is nice. Out notes indicate we checked, then a woman to our left bets 1,300. A man to the right folds, but we call.

"I want to go play cards," the woman says (she means at some other casino table) - and turns over K-10! The rest of the table wonders what she's doing, since she has plenty of chips left.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were all in," she says to us. No, far from it. We have several thousand chips left - and we suddenly have a huge advantage which goes beyond top vs. second pair.

"I'm going to have to call the Tournament Director," the dealer says. While that woman comes over, the play continues....

ON THE TURN: A

We have first position, and we're neither showing nor telling what we have. Instead we bet 1,200. The woman seems resigned to her fate, and calls. As we recall, a flush threat was on the board at this point....

ON THE RIVER: A

....But that card settled that. Now we know we've won the pot. So we pretend to do some math, and bet 1,200 more. She calls. We show our Queen. We won a big pot. And the Tournament Director now makes her ruling.

"You'll have to take a ten-minute penalty," she tells the woman we beat. That woman still has a good-sized stack of chips - and now has time to go play "craps," as she put it.

When we win a big pot that way, we get the feeling it's going to be a good day for us. It wasn't easy, though, with a couple of all-in escapes from three tables down. But a big win with a pair of 6's allowed us to reach the final table with 13,500 chips!

Once we got there, a pursuit with A-8 lost. That forced us to push with A-5 - and while a 5 appeared on the board, another man made a pair of Kings to eliminate us. Out of 71 players, we finished in ninth place. That missed the money by two spots, but allowed us to match a final-table start to 2016 in live play.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We took our "Lord's Supper" card protector, which gained the attention of several people. One dealer figured out right away what it displayed.

"The church I attend will take that in about 11 weeks," we told him. "We only take it once a year."

That may come as a surprise to some people. In fact, we were in a congregation about a week earlier which takes communion at every worship service. Which approach is right?

We don't think the Bible gives a flat-out answer, but it offers some clues....

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.... Take care of them until the 14th day of the month...." - Exodus 12:1-2, 6

This was the mention of a Passover in the Bible (verse 11). A lamb was set aside and prepared for days, before the Israelites left Egypt. Many observant Jews still do something like this once a year, in the spring.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." - Luke 22:7-8

Jesus's physical heritage was Jewish, so He followed the ancient example.

And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." - Luke 22:15

Instead of departing Egypt, Jesus was able to enter about 18 hours of personal darkness - with an arrest, persecution and crucifixion. Yet He took the Passover (or communion or "Lord's Supper") first - following tradition, but adding new symbols (verses 19-21).

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. - I Corinthians 11:26

Jesus Christ died for us. The Bible leaves no doubt about that (I Thessalonians 4:14). "It's that big a deal," we told the dealer - something we don't think should be diminished by taking the Passover/Lord's Supper repeatedly. So we would ask: how big a deal is Jesus's sacrifice to you? And how big should it be?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 182 final tables in 494 games (36.8%), 36 cashes. We've finished 12th and ninth in our last two trips to Kansas Star, both in tournaments with 70-plus players.