You may not realize Thanksgiving Eve is a party night for some people. In fact, the tournament in Lawrenceburg attracted the biggest Wednesday night crowd we've seen. This time, we'd have to earn our way to a final table.
BLINDS: 25/50
IN THE POCKET: Ace-King of hearts
The first round of blinds is about to end, and it's been a nightmare for us. A-Q lost to a club flush. Then A-K lost. Then A-Q failed again. Our starting stack of 12,000 chips is already down to about 8,000.
So sitting in leadoff position at a full table of ten, we limp in. A man across from us raises to 425. Others fold, but we clearly don't. We're quickly heads-up.
ON THE FLOP: 5h-7c-7h
No big cards, but a big flush draw for us. We check to the aggressor. He tosses out 800. We feel we must go for this, so we call.
ON THE TURN: 3d
Swing and a miss. So we check again. Our opponent adds to the temptation, with a bet of 1,600. We're slightly tempted to respond by going all-in, but we don't. Yet we're committed to this, come what may. We call again.
ON THE FLOP: Jh
Thank you, Lord! We hit the monster flush! But since our opponent is being the aggressor, we check again.
"I'm all-in," he says. We don't even think twice - even though he might have a longshot full house.
"I'll call." For our last 5,200 or so.
"You win. Congratulations on hitting your heart," he answers. He mucks his cards without a show. We have to show ours to claim the prize, and we gladly do. That opponent is still in the game, but we're really in the game with a double-up to more than 17,500!
That was one of only two hands we won in the first hour, as we reached the break with 16,775. Hour Two brought ups and downs, as our misreads cost us hands. Yet we doubled up again by winning a race of A-J versus A-10, to soar above 20,000. We reached the second break at 18,800.
But then a crippling loss came when our A-Q lost to a woman with pocket 6's, followed by a lot of bad cards. With the field dwindling, we finally saw A-J of clubs and pushed with them. But a caller with pocket Queens topped us. A hard fight ended with us finishing 15th out of 39 players.
MINISTRY MOMENT: "It's the eve of Thanksgiving," our first dealer declared at the start of the evening.
"Can I go ahead and be thankful now?" we asked jokingly.
The dealer allowed that - and then we asked a couple of players next to us what they're thankful for this year.
"Five-six of hearts," one man told us. "Then 2-3-4 on the flop."
Funny, yes. But we meant to be serious. "I'm thankful that I know Jesus Christ as my Savior," we said.
"There you go," that man said.
"Do you know Jesus? Is He your Savior?"
"It's hard to know," he answered.
Well..... is it, really? To some people, the Christian faith is indeed a mystery....
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.... - Ephesians 3:4
Full-length books have been written about the "mystery of God". Yet somehow, some of them don't mention these words where the apostle Paul clarifies things....
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus. - Ephesians 3:6
If you don't have Jewish lineage, you qualify as one of "the Gentiles." You can share in the promise of Jesus. And knowing that promise, as well as Him, is to some extent up to you:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. - II Peter 3:18
We think that growth comes from reading the Bible carefully, then following what it says. And if you do....
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead. - Philippians 3:10-11
A resurrection to eternal life is promised to those who accept Jesus as their Savior, then endure with Him to the end (Matthew 24:13). Whenever you keep a day of thanksgiving (national holiday or not), be sure to thank God for that promise - and the love He showed in providing Jesus for us.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 210 final tables in 560 games (37.5%) - 44 cashes. We've missed back-to-back final tables for the first time since July.
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