BLINDS: 300/600
IN THE POCKET: Ad-Qc
After a slow start, we split a pot with A-4 and won one with pocket Kings. But then our pocket Queens lost to a man with A-K who hit a King on the flop. That was costly to our stack, and now we have 5,300 chips from a starting 10,000.
"Thousand more," we say after no one else at the table of eight raises. We make it 1,600 to go.
"Thirty-six," says the man sitting next to us. Uh-oh. This could be big.... or big trouble.
A woman sitting across the table from us in the Small Blind calls the 3,600. Another woman to our right, who's been hitting big hands all night, also calls! Now it's our turn again - and while we've never read "The Book" poker players talk about a lot, we know it says we should press on.
"I have to go all-in," we say to ooo's from other players. "I've come this far by faith. I might as well."
The man to our left calls, of course.
"I have 54," the Small Blind says. She goes all-in as well, for 100 more!
The woman to the right decides to make it a huge party, by calling. "I have 1,100 left," she reports. The Small Blind adds his missing 100, and we have a monster pot of more than 21,000.
ON THE FLOP: 6d-4d-2h (best memory)
Not to our liking - and we doubt it is for anyone else. Two players can still bet. The woman to the right checks.
"I'm not checking," the man to our left says. He bets 1,600. The other woman calls with her last 1,100. Now it's time to show and tell:
Man to the left: K-K
Small Blind: K-J
Woman to the right: 7-7
Instant analysis: We need an Ace.
ON THE TURN: 10d
But hold on. Now three diamonds are showing. If one more shows up....
ON THE RIVER: Qs
We get a pair - but it's the wrong one. The man with Kings wins it all, in an unusual triple takeout.
At a casino, we probably would have simply called the 3,600 pre-flop. But we probably would have been put all-in on the flop, with little choice but to push. It's another explosive "free poker" bust.
MINISTRY MOMENT: Did you spot the Christian song we mentioned during that hand? "We've Come This Far By Faith" has been sung by many people. When we hear it, we think of an Old Testament drama....
Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again." - Exodus 14:13
Moses had led Israel out of Egypt. Now the nation stood at the Red Sea, with Pharaoh's army closing in (verses 9-10). Was Moses corrected by God, when he said to "stand firm"?
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground." - Exodus 14:15-16
Moses did as he was told, and the water split in two so Israel could pass through (verses 21-22).
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. - Hebrews 11:29
Sometimes that sort of thing happens to us at a poker room. Several people have been eliminated at once while we were in peril, leading us to a final table or a cash payoff. It doesn't always happen, as we saw tonight - but then, poker isn't a life-or-death matter. Yet it's still inspiring to us when it does.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 188 final tables in 517 games (36.4%) - 38 cashes.
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