Poker Day 421: Ladies' Day?

"Happy Mother's Day to all you...."  Well, we'd better stop the quote there.  The manager of River City Poker Room was talking to a room full of men.  One young woman showed up later, but otherwise the Mother's Day crowd for Sunday poker was all-male.

Since our mother died years ago and we have no children, we were not neglectful as we went to the table.  But perhaps we should have asked if our parents would have been pleased with our decisions....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: Q-Q

We're in the Small Blind at a table of six, on a two-table day.  We've claimed one small pot already.  The blinds go up next hand.  No one has raised ahead of us.  These are cards worth exploiting - so we raise to 700.  A couple of players call.

ON THE FLOP: J-10-2

We have an "overpair," so a continuation bet clearly is in order.  We bet 1,200, and get one player to fold.  But a man two seats to our right doubles to 2,400.  This gets our internal alarm bells ringing, but we call.

ON THE TURN: A

Now this is the card which concerned us more on the flop.  We choose to "check to the raiser," and he now tosses out 4,000.  The logical voice in our head screams that he has two pair -- maybe with J-10, which is why he raised in the first place.

"I think he's got it," we say -- and fold, with cards face down.

Our opponent wins the pot.  And while he doesn't have to do it, he now turns over his cards.  It wasn't two pair -- but a third 2.  He bet big because he had a big hand.  The dealer wonders if the man who folded on the flop might have hit it big.

ON THE RIVER: 3d

That certainly would not have helped us.

We won a couple of other moderate-sized pots, and held on to make the final table with 12,000 chips.  Once there, we were dealt an Ace to start with the dealer button - maximizing our chances of staying in the game.

Then with seven players left, we went all-in with A-J.  But another man pushed with much more, telling us we were in trouble.  Sure enough -- he had 8-8.  The higher cards didn't come for us, and we bowed out in seventh place; only the top three won money.

MINISTRY MOMENT: We wore a hat with the words "Panama City Beach," and noted to a dealer we'd played at the main poker room in that area a couple of times.  We did not mention how well we did.  But we made an admission.

"I couldn't tell many people about it, because I was at a church convention."

Most people attending that convention probably would consider us wrong to play in a poker room -- especially during that annual event.  But, we'd point out in response, we do not spend specially set-aside "festival tithe" money in those rooms; we make sure we spend our own.  And we were reminded in Bible study the other day of Jesus's example....

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" - Luke 5:29-30

Some ministers say when you convert to Jesus and Christianity, you have to drop all your old friends because they'll be a "bad influence" and drag you back into worldly sins.  Yet Jesus let His disciples (apparently not yet filled with the Holy Spirit) hang around "sinners."  Why?

Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." - Luke 5:31-32

Jesus's mission was to spread the gospel to sinful people, in order that they might repent and accept Him as Savior.  That means going to where the sinful people are.  (And by the way, the Pharisees were every bit as sinful; they were more self-righteous - and may not have even entered the banquet room.)

In more than 400 trips to poker games, we have not been tempted to indulge in drunkenness or carnal lusting.  Why not?  We give God the credit for it, and recall these words about the Holy Spirit:

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. - I John 4:4

We must add a disclaimer: everyone's tolerance level is different.  What is easy for us to resist might be difficult or impossible for another.  So pray about what God would have you do, before taking steps which might be daring or "tempting God."

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 149 final tables in 421 games (35.4%) - 25 cashes.

The Safest Play

When we had a very successful night last October at a poker room in the Florida panhandle, one thing admittedly concerned us.  When we walked to our car with a full wallet around 12:00 midnight, we saw absolutely no security guards in the parking lot - and no law officers were in sight, either.

Admittedly the Ebro poker room is in a rural area, a 20-minute drive from Panama City Beach.  And it was a Monday night, when the crowd probably is smaller compared with weekends.  But we presumed a place where cash money changes hands (sometimes in large amounts) would have someone watching over the customers.

This came back to our mind in the wake of a crime story in our area.  A customer leaving The Red Barn in Phenix City, Alabama was shot and killed early Saturday morning.  The Red Barn is a small bar where we've played free poker often over the years -- but Friday night is NOT a poker night there.

The victim apparently parked across the street, next to a car dealership.  We can understand why, because that area is lit at night.  The Red Barn's gravel parking lot behind the business has no lighting at all.  That's been a concern for us as well -- because anyone might be lurking between cars or in the vegetation late at night.

Dangerous moments can occur anywhere, of course.  At the mall, in your workplace -- and even in your own living room (as in home invasions).

It would be easy and self-promoting to say Christians have angelic protection in dangerous places.  We certainly pray for that, as did believers long ago....

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.  For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. - Psalm 5:11-12

We've actually seen evidence of God's protection from time to time.  But to be honest, it doesn't always happen.  Consider the number of cases in recent years where worshipers were gunned down during church services,  For us to conclude the victims somehow "had it coming" would be a foolish rush to judgment -- and ultimately, only Jesus Christ will judge us all perfectly.

We think one key to self-protection is having a "safety first" mentality....

He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. - Proverbs 28:26

Be wise not only while you play poker, but as you walk in and out.  Look around for potential trouble-makers.  And if you have a lot of money, don't be a show-off about it.  One TV report indicated the shooting victim did exactly that inside The Red Barn.  Instead....

He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8 (emphasis added)

If you want to be a big spender, that's up to you.  But don't be too big in how you do it, making yourself a potential target.

Poker Night #274: Miracles Near the Strip

"Have you ever played poker?" a man asked us Monday night at the Ebro poker room near Panama City Beach, Florida.  Then he shook his head no -- as if we never had.

Yet in this 42-player tournament with a $40 buy-in, the critic was eliminated in seventh place.  But we stuck around all the way to the top four, which put us "in the money!"

So how did this happen?  We took a few early pots with nice cards, to gain some leverage.  Then we resisted the temptation to play during a period of weak cards -- and we folded a pair of Kings after the river, when another player made a huge bet with an Ace and three hearts showing on the board.  (That was the decision which openly frustrated the other player.  He didn't know what we had, but he was absolutely sure the big bettor was bluffing.)

But as so often happens in poker, sometimes we need help from "Above."  We give God the glory for the entire night, and especially what happened here....

BLINDS: 200/400

IN THE POCKET: Ace of hearts - 10 of spades (not exactly sure about the suit)

We have 1,425 chips, sitting "under the gun" at the semifinal table.  In this position with these cards, we decide it's time to take a stand -- so we go all in.  One player calls.  One big problem: he shows A-A.

ON THE FLOP: 7h-8h-9d

We need help -- and we have some!  It's an open-ended straight draw.

ON THE TURN: 4h

That's not it -- but now we're one heart away from a flush, so our chances actually are better.

ON THE RIVER: Kh

We were more focused on the straight -- so someone had to tell us we hit the nut flush!

That hand brought us back to nearly 3,000 chips.  We caught a couple more big hands from there, and reached the final table at 35,700.  Then we were helped by the fact that rival "regulars" at Ebro were intent on knocking each other out.  We bided our time until good hands came, and eventually reached the "final four" which split a cash payout of more than $1,100.

Then came another timely moment.  The man with the biggest stack proposed a settlement -- he'd reduce his potential first-place payoff of about $670, so the others in the money could take home more.  We happily agreed, as did the other two finalists.  And it happened just in time, as we were ready to go all-in with K-K -- and in a pretend playout, we would have been eliminated by the big stack's Q-7 making two pair!

The settlement allowed us to win $270 (reduced a bit by our tip to the dealers).  Two years ago on a similar October Monday night at Ebro, we won $186.  So our buy-in record at Florida poker rooms now stands at  two-for-two -- with $80 invested and $456 won!

MINISTRY MOMENT: There were many in this tournament, and we'll share them all in coming days.  But the skeptic of our play offered one, when we saw our "Jesus as your Savior" coin.

"So you needed help?" he asked.

"Well, we all need help," we answered.  "Some of us simply haven't realized it yet."

We think we caught a smile of understanding from the poker room dealer.  Believers of long ago knew they needed help from God, and they weren't ashamed to write about it:

Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. - Psalm 79:9

This was a prayer for help, to stop national oppression.  But even if you live a life of peace and perfection (like any of us really has done that?), you still need help having anything beyond the grave.  A man who was as good as dead (swallowed by a giant fish) put it this way:

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. - Jonah 2:2

Only God can give us the ultimate help, in terms of a resurrection to eternal life.  Are you ready to accept that help?  (Along with the stray heart on the river, which might come as a bonus?)

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 101 final tables in 274 nights (36.9%) - 16 cashes.  This marked our first cash win in a live tournament since July 2010.  (No online tournaments were played during our road trip.)

Jackpot

The final table slump is over.

The MONEY-WINNING slump is over.

And our record in buy-in tournaments now stands at two entered, two nice paydays.

The inspiring details are coming soon (since it's after midnight as we post this).  But suffice to say, we came back to our lodging from a Florida poker room tonight very, VERY thankful to God. PTL!

Limited On the Road

Did we mention playing a little poker while on vacation?  Well, we already have.  During the lunch hour Wednesday, we stopped at Ebro Greyhound Park near Panama City Beach, Florida and joined a $3/$6 Limit Hold' em cash game.

We didn't stay long -- and that's really not a good thing.  We won the first pot, then caught some bad breaks on the river to lose pots.  We were "limit down" in about 30 minutes.  You'll see an example of what we mean in an upcoming post.  In the meantime, the vacation isn't over yet....

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 100 final tables in 273 nights (36.6%) - 15 cashes.  No tournaments have been played on the road so far.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 168 point wins in 744 games (22.6%), 57 final tables, 7 cashes.  UFC three-card knockout: 2 point wins in 14 games (14.3%), 2 final tables, 1 win.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $62,422, up $2,787.  We gained a quick $162 in two "practice" 2/4 limit hold 'em rounds, preparing for Ebro -- then had a big and fast $3,000 gain in no limit.  Did we mention recently we don't think very much of momentum?

The law of the land

We've been too busy with a variety of other projects to do a 2009 year-end summary of our poker playing. Suffice to say the highlight was our night in October at a buy-in tournament in northwest Florida -- where a $40 investment brought back close to $200.

The most curious development when it comes to poker in our home city was a crackdown on where tournaments can be played. It didn't come from the police, but the city code officers and finance department. Read what we mean in the 4 Jan 10 entry at our other blog, The Blog of Columbus.

Poker Night 105: Fourth of Jolly

Now that we're back from the road, we can tell you more about some big winnings on the road. They came last Monday night at the Ebro greyhound park and poker room northwest of Panama City Beach, Florida.

Ebro has cash game poker 12 hours a day, seven days a week (and we do mean cash; no checks or credit cards are allowed to play). It also has nightly tournaments with big cash prizes; we played on the night with the least expensive buy-in -- $35, plus $5 house fee.

We'd guess about 40 people participated. And careful play on our part led to small early gains. At one point, a pair of Kings was good enough for us to eliminate two players. So our chip stack was healthy enough to reach a nine-player final table -- but not dominating. Tentative betting with large blinds hurt us, and led to a big moment....

BLINDS (as best we remember): 300/600/75 (The 75 is an ante everyone pays, whether in the blinds or not)

IN THE POCKET: A-9

Six players are left, and only the top four will be paid -- but one man has proposed splitting the prize money evenly among all remaining players. That sounds good to us, but men with big stacks object so the game continues. So with our stack low, it's time to go -- as in all-in. One player calls us, and leads with J-J.

ON THE FLOP: J-10-8

Ouch -- the opponent has three of a kind. We're in trouble. But then the dealer notes we have an open-ended straight draw.

ON THE TURN: 7.

We can't resist praising the Lord aloud, and clapping our hands a little! The straight is made -- and the river card is an inconsequential 3.

We were struck by how many players pushed all-in at the final table with big chip stacks, as if to get things finished to go home. Enough players did it that we made the final four, to finish in the money! After another prize-splitting proposal was vetoed by a player, we went all-in and failed. (And of course, then the remaining players agreed to split the prize money.)

But still, fourth place earned us $186 -- more than we've ever made at a poker table. (Yes, we did leave a nice dealers' tip.) Our $40 investment paid off fourfold, and Ebro more than made up for the money we lost trying a cash game at Harrah's in Kansas City last year. We resisted the temptation to try another cash game this time. Why spoil a dream poker night, which came true?

MINISTRY MOMENT: This area was every bit as nice and surprising as the tournament result. Two people at the starting table agreed with our "Jesus as your Savior" coin message -- one of them the manager of a Panama City bar which has free poker several nights a week.

At one point a man to our immediate left needed "change" for big chips, and we happy to take care of it for him. To which he said with no prompting from us: "Grace is what it's all about." Absolutely. We'll say more about that another time.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 43 final tables in 105 nights (41.0%) - 10 cashes.