Poker Night 556: Mercy-Me

What do poker players do when their local football team has a big game on TV? We've been in places where they showed up to play, and tracked the game between hands. In Cincinnati, they don't. The poker room at Jack Casino cleared out tonight, as kickoff approached for the Bengals and Kansas City.

That means our poker trip was well-timed. We put on a Chiefs hat (since we're from that area), entered the evening tournament - and found ourselves in a game with a grand total of 10 players. Our job was to make the money, and avoid being harassed by Bengal supporters....

BLINDS: 150/300

IN THE POCKET: 9-10 of clubs

Good cards have been scarce for us so far, and we've scarcely seen any flops. But because we've played patiently, two starting tables already have been combined into one "final" one at the third level

We're one of seven players right now, with about 12,000 chips out of a starting 15,000. This is a Big Blind hand, and no one raises. So we're happy to get in cheap with suited connectors. About four players take part.

ON THE FLOP: J-8-4 (not sure of suits, but one is a club)

We have an open-ended straight draw, so the clubs aren't really an issue. We check. So does everyone else.

ON THE TURN: Q

Bingo! The straight is ours. The Small Blind checks. We think about betting - but then notice four different suits are on the board. So we slow-play again by checking. A man across the table rewards that, by betting 700. Of course we call; other players fold.

ON THE RIVER: 2

A meaningless card. So should we bet now? We decide against it, checking to the aggressor. He responds by tossing out 1,000. Now it's time.

"I'll raise - 3,000," we say.

Then our opponent surprises us. "I'm all-in." For a lot more. This is a simple call for us.

"Did you hit the straight?" we ask.

"Two pair," he says as he turns the cards over. We never saw what the cards were. They didn't matter.

"I did hit the straight," we reveal. The opponent is surprised - and out of the running. A huge win puts us above 20,000 chips.

We kicked out a second player when we called an all-in bet with A-10. Those cards won a race over K-J, and we reached a high of 25,075 chips. The grind was on from there - reaching the two-hour break at 23,000, with only three players scheduled to earn prize money.

With four players left, we won an all-in bet with 6-6 over a skeptical man who had 6-7. Then we saw 8-8 and pushed again - but a man called us with two pair. He won that race, and we finished one slot away from....

Well, hold on. Then we made a parting humorous comment to the dealer, as we shook the other players' hands. "You'll notice no one offered to pay 'bubble boy' money" (for the player one out of the official money).

"I can do that!" said a man to our right. The other remaining players agreed with him! They reached into their wallets and gave us $20 bills! So from an $80 buy-in, we received an unofficial consolation prize of $60. Our second "bubble boy" finish at Jack Casino this year is as good as a cash win to us. So thanks to God, for three "moneys" in a row!

MINISTRY MOMENT: The man to our immediate right said at the end of one hand, "Lord, have mercy!"

Of course, that called for a reply from us. "I think God has more mercy on us than we know."

And you know.... that's what we received at the end of tonight's tournament. The three remaining players had mercy on us for hanging in there more than three hours. And it's something God is famous for giving....

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. - Psalm 25:6

Poker can seem like a cut-throat game at times. But we've found many players leave that attitude at the table, as they play hands. They can be very giving at other times - in fact, sometimes putting us to shame. Are you like them? We think Jesus wants you to be:

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.... Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. - Luke 6:35-36

If God truly gave us what we deserved, Earth would be a barren place. That's because we've all sinned (Romans 3:23), and God punishes sin with death (Romans 6:23). The Lord Jesus who said those words was a walking example of God's mercy, because His life paid the penalty of our sins. That's a Lord worth following, and a God worth worshipping.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 208 final tables in 556 games (37.4%) - 44 cashes. We have no control over how many players show up for a tournament, so a one-table game is still a "final table" to us.