BLINDS: 50/100
IN THE POCKET: 9-3 offsuit
So far today, we haven't matched anything.An aggressive play with A-Q suited lost to a man with a 10 who made a pair on the flop. We've dropped from a starting 12,000 chips to about 9,200. This normally would be folding time for us - but we're in the Small Blind and no one's raised at a full table of nine. We dare to call, since it only costs 50 more.
ON THE FLOP: 5-6-7
An interesting "island" flop for us. We can connect to a straight with a 4 or an 8. We check, and a man to our left offers 300. We call, and we recall four players still remaining.
ON THE TURN: 4
There it is - we hit the straight! We're first in order, and slow-check. But the man who bet before now throws out 800. Other players are calling, and now this becomes a cliché: Be careful what you wish for, because you might really get it.
We're pretty sure the bettor has an 8, for the better straight. Why else would be bet? Our "under-straight" now has us underwhelmed. "I'd better not," we say.... and fold.
ON THE RIVER: 8
Wow! We would have hit the straight both ways. And we could have topped the straight on the board, with our 9! No one bets now.
"I'm playing the board," the man who bet first says. No one had a 9, so we could have claimed a big pot. So the final score: two hits - but a big miss. And it all seemed so logical.
We finally won a good pot to reach the first break at 9,925. Hour Two brought a huge round in the blinds, as A-5 won with two pair and 8-J turned into a full house. We reached a high for the day of 18,100, and reached the final table at 15,400.
Our second-break total was 14,100, as we missed eliminating a man at the end thanks to a 7 on the river. Then came a couple of good hands which lost - and with blinds mounting, we finally went for it all with K-J. A man who was hitting big cards and amassing a monster stack of chips called.... with K-Q of spades. Of course, he hit a flush. That left us out in seventh place, out of 19 entries. Only the top two earned money.
MINISTRY MOMENT: A man to our right at our starter table claimed at one point that he's gained the nickname "a**hole." We told him that didn't sound very nice.
"At least he's publicity," he said. "Any publicity beats no publicity, right?"
"Satan the devil's had a lot of publicity," we answered. "And I don't think it's going to turn our well for him in the end."
That seemed to go over the heads of everyone - but do you grasp what we're saying? A lot of people talk about the devil. In fact, they may be under the devil's sway without realizing it.....
..But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. - Revelation 12:12
Satan (which we believe is really an "it," not a male "him) has spiritual control of this world right now:
The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.... - Revelation 12:9
But God sent someone to Earth to turn us away from Satan, and back to Him....
He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning . The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. - I John 3:8
Jesus came as the Son of God, and overcame the devil by living a sinless life. But the work of Satan won't truly be destroyed until Jesus comes again with His angels....
And I saw an angel coming down from heaven.... He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.... - Revelation 20:1-3
As many preachers have said about the Bible, if you read to the back of the book, believers win. God will win. Jesus will win. The devil's P.R. machine will go bust, like our K-J did today. Is that what you're seeking - even in this life?
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 222 final tables in 578 games (38.4%) - 48 cashes.
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