Poker Day 559: Krispy Kremed?

Go to the poker room during the morning at Jack Casino, and a gift will be waiting for you. Two boxes of iced donuts were on a table near our tournament. Perhaps they were a Veterans Day holiday special.

The donuts were OK, but not spectacular - which describes how our tournament went as well. A key moment came when....

BLINDS: 800/1,600

IN THE POCKET: K-K

We don't know who provided today's donuts, but we call this hand "Krispy Kremes." They're the best starter cards we've seen, on a day when we've won or split a few pots while stumbling at others.

We start this hand slightly above the 15,000 starting chip counts. A man with much more sits across the table, and raises to 2,200 ahead of us. Others at the table of eight are folding, so what should we do?

• We could "smooth-call", prepared to strike with a push if the flop is right.
• We could go all-in, but we want to maximum our potential gain. A push could bring more folds, while we want players to take us on.
• We could make a big raise, as a "shot across the bow" that we're serious. Call us if you dare.

We decide the "middle" approach is best, so we raise to 7,200. If our opponent goes away, that's OK - but he calls. We're heads-up, with a lot riding on this flop.

ON THE FLOP: 3-8-A

That's the last thing we wanted to see! An overcard means if our opponent entered with an Ace, we're topped. Daring players might keep betting, to make at least a show of force and strength. But we fear the worst - afraid we'll have to shift from maximizing gains to minimizing losses.

So.... we check. Sure enough - our opponent bets 4,500.

"That was not the flop I wanted to see," we say quietly. And we fold.

Our opponent doesn't reveal what he had. But we think he had an Ace. He raised in the first place - and wouldn't he have been wary, if he had lower cards?

Hands like this one are why many poker players can't stand pocket Kings. We found ourselves in a no-win situation with them. If our opponent had called an all-in bet with Ace-anything, he still would have hit the flop and potentially knocked us out. Please offer your suggestions - what would you have done here?

That stumble knocked us down to about 8,200 chips, and we never recovered from it. We survived to the first break with 4,325. But then we pushed with K-J, and lost to pocket Queens. Our final table run ends at seven, as we finished 13th on a day with 27 entries.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We switched to a wall-plug card protector today, and it received a lot of notice at the table for being "unique."

"I brought it to remind me that I receive power from God's Holy Spirit," we explained at least three times.

When we called the plug a "converter," another player took issue with that word. "What it really does is allow you to use a grounded device" in places with only two-pronged outlets. "Doesn't that destroy your analogy?"

This is where we need to check eHow about our props. We're not an expert electrician. But after thinking it over.... no, we still think the analogy works. For one thing, the plug still lets power go through - and the Spirit can be displayed through believers in God the Father and Jesus Christ.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." - II Corinthians 12:9

Jesus said this to Paul, after the apostle appealed three times for relief from "a thorn in the flesh" (verses 7-8). Despite being turned down, the apostle still allowed that power to flow in his ministry....

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. - I Corinthians 2:4-5

That plug provides another Biblical example - and the man who corrected us at the table hinted at what it is. Can you figure it out? The answer will be in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 210 final tables in 559 games (37.6%) - 44 cashes.