Poker Night 577: Over the River and To the Whoa

"Are the rules for tournament poker different in Canada?" we asked jokingly as we sat down for a Sunday evening game. "Like, maybe, an extra card on the river?" - a reference to Canadian football having three downs, compared to the U.S. four.

"Since you're American, you get only one hole card," a man to our left replied.

We traveled about 300 miles north of our home to Caesars Windsor Casino, across the river from Detroit. Our main goal was to see firsthand how people mark Canada Day on Monday. if poker winnings can help us pay for the trip, all the better.

With a strong exchange rate, a 65-Canadian dollar buy-in ($5 more for 500 bonus early bird chips) is less expensive than our home casinos. And no, the Texas Hold 'em rules aren't really different. The only quirk was that after a few levels, the player with the button had to ante the Big Blind amount. If only we could make it that far, on the Sunday night of a holiday weekend.... 

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: Ace-4 of spades

An early try failed, so we start this hand with about 6,750 chips. These are suited. At least one card is high. So why not call? About four other players at the table of nine join in.

ON THE FLOP: Ad-Qh-6h (third card not precise)

There's our Ace. No one is betting. So we offer 175 at the pot. That chases most people away, except for a woman to our right who calls.

ON THE TURN: Ah

We may be in Canada, but now we're a "triple A" member. But there's one problem. Three hearts are showing. Our opponent checks to us. We raise the bet to 250. She calls. Uh-oh.

ON THE RIVER: 4h

Big-time uh-oh. It's a fourth heart! Our opponent checks again, and we have to hit the brakes and check with care to avoid a trap. She turns over Kd-Jh.

"You hit the flush," we say with a bit of disappointment. So the pot goes to....

"You've got a full house," the joking man to our left points out. Why, yes - yes we do! We never noticed it until he said it!

"You have a case of early-game jitters?" a man across the table asks. We didn't think so. We simply were looking for one thing (in this case something bad) - but the river brought an unexpected nice surprise.

That win improved our chip stack to a high of 8,800. But it was our best showing of the evening. Not many good cards came, but clever betting "stole" us a couple of pots with modest hands. We reached the first break after 90 minutes with 6,075.

Things didn't get better from there, as A-7 and A-8 were drowned by pre-flop raises. Finally with 2,300 chips left, we went all-in with A-J. That won us a split pot to stay alive. But minutes later, we were all-in for a 300 ante with pocket 2's. While we had a diamond to make a flush, another player had higher diamonds to top us. Final result: about 40th place, on a night with about 105 players.

MINISTRY MOMENT: Late in the tournament, we tried limping in for 600 with something like J-10 suited. That had unexpected consequences, as a man on our left folded a better hand.

"I had Ace-9," he explained later. "And I know you're supposed to push with that. But he [us] limped in, so I couldn't do it."

We didn't explain what we had, but we responded generally. "Thank you for having mercy on me," we said with a smile. "A famous book says mercy rejoices over justice."

We added a question to the players about what that book might be. We think a man to our immediate right knew. Regular readers of this blog ought to know - and we admittedly didn't word it quite correctly:

For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. - James 2:13 (NASB)

It's easy to point fingers and mock new poker players who make "rookie mistakes." It's another thing to take a moment to counsel that player about what they did wrong, or how they could play better. Remember that judgment will come someday for how you handled both big moments and small ones:

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.... - Hebrews 9:27 (NASB)

Whose judgment? The judgment of God's Son:

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you set at nought your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. - Romans 14:10 (KJV)

Yet here's the amazing thing: you can turn that judgment seat into a "mercy seat". It starts by repenting of your sins, seeking God's forgiveness and help in walking in a holy way.

God blesses those who are merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. - Matthew 5:9 (NLT)

What are you showing in your life - and what kind of seat do you prefer?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 221 final tables in 577 games (38.3%) - 48 cashes.