Two Down

Well, well - only days after we wondered here about possible favoritism in a local poker crackdown, the other shoe (well, OK, that's blackjack) officially has dropped.

The Facebook page for Nilla's Poker Room normally is updated several times a day. It's been idle since Friday night.  A couple of comments left on the page suggested why: police raided that room, as they did Nikki's a few weeks ago.

Nilla's planned to host a "memorial benefit tournament" for a deceased poker player Saturday - with money to help pay for his gravesite. But that apparently never happened; a comment asking about the anticipated turnout Saturday was answered with "0", as in zero.

We called Nilla's twice in the last 36 hours to ask if the online claims are true - but the phone simply rang, with no one answering.  Then came the confirmation on the late-afternoon TV news: a raid Friday night not only closed the room, but led to seven arrests.

So Nilla's is closed - for how long, we don't know. Given what a woman said on the night we went there in January, that only seems fair. And to expand on what we said last week regarding Nikki's....

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.... But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted of the law as lawbreakers. - James 2:1, 9

If police are going to cite one poker location for breaking laws, police should cite them all. Perhaps what happened here is a matter of personnel and timing; we have no idea. But this looks like a case where the proverbial "wheels of justice" moved slowly - but still moved.

For the Lord is righteous; he loves justice.... - Psalm 11:7

We'll comment more about this in upcoming posts - but in the meantime, we invite you to leave a comment with your thoughts about what's happened.

One Down

The big poker crackdown in our city may be over. But there's still an aftershock, as one of the more familiar poker rooms in town indicated this past week it's closing for good.

"As i lock the door , all i can think is how the city of wichita has failed me and my family," reads the latest Facebook post from Nikki's Poker Room (copied as written). "We gave you 13 years of are life and you couldn't give us a fair shake ?" 

The question of fairness surrounds the owner's decision. A Facebook post one day earlier added: "We gave it our best , but feel was set up for failure by the law not being enforced all at once on every place at the same time by the city."

This seems to be aimed at Nilla's Poker Room - which seems to be conducting business as usual, and is even adding midday games. How can they do it, while others receive tough scrutiny?

We haven't been to either Nikki's or Nilla's in several weeks, so we're left to guess what the reason might be. But we know what the city and local prosecutors should do - and that's be fair to all:

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." - Acts 10:34-35

You might pay tithes and offerings to God. But if you don't live in a righteous way, that will not "buy Him off" when it comes to judging you.

Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!... Your heart is not right before God." - Acts 8:20-21

Some may have wondered over the last several weeks if the operators of local poker rooms had their hearts right. But the going-away complaint from Nikki's leaves us asking: Do local law officers and prosecutors have their hearts right? Are they enforcing the rules in an evenhanded way?  Especially considering some of the things we've posted here about the crackdown?

Poker Night 462: Nilla Folders

"So what's the difference between this game and 'Cards for the Cure'?" we asked at one point during Saturday night's poker tournament.

"They haven't shut this one down yet," a woman down the table answered. Perhaps sarcastically - but perhaps with a grain of truth.

"You'd better show us your ID," another woman said jokingly.

But then she gave us a break, as we had admitted it was our first time at Nilla's Poker Room. It's close to a main highway in our city, but a bit hard to find - hidden behind a rather notorious nightclub.  We found a nicely set-up place, with a full bar and a few food items.  Room for cash games were secluded behind walls in corners, while the main tournament was out in the open.

We went to Nilla's this weekend, even though Nikki's Poker Room is open again.  Nilla's cost $30 to play, so we theorized the prize pool would be better than the Nikki's "totally free" approach. And as a side issue, we might learn more about the current poker crackdown by Wichita police.

One woman at our table put the two recent shutdowns together, declaring Nikki's led to the end of Cards for the Cure. "They applied to renew their liquor license, and said up-front: We are a poker room."

"They didn't have to be so honest," another woman said - and that's a topic for another day. Now let's get to the action....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: King of hearts-King of diamonds

Nilla's is easily the busiest poker room we've visited in Wichita - with four full tables playing in the tournament on a regular Saturday night. We haven't won a pot yet, despite a couple of feelers.

Now we have "the donuts" (K-K) in lead position, holding about 9,900 chips (starting with 10,500, including a newcomer's bonus) - so we limp in. A man across from us raises to 500, and we call. As best we recall, about four players are in.

ON THE FLOP: 10d-7d-6d

The jewelry store is open, but we're thinking more about our overpair. We bet 700 on it. That chases a couple of people away, but not the man who raised pre-flop. He calls.

ON THE TURN: Qc (may not be precise)

Not a diamond - but not a rib-sticking Ace, either. We increase the bet to 1,000, and get called again.

ON THE RIVER: Jd

We hit the diamond flush - but one card beats us. Does our opponent have it? We bet 1,000 again to find out. We're not really sure if he calls or not - but he flips over pocket Aces! Thankfully, they're both black Aces! The flush is a winner, and we gain more than 3,000 chips.

Another pot win brought us close to 14,000.  But then the third period of blinds brought disaster - as our A-K brought an Ace on the flop.  But 2-3 showed up, and a man with 4-5 hit a straight which severely hurt our stack.

We staggered to the one-hour break at 5,500 chips, and couldn't recover from there. We went all-in with A-Q of spades (as best we remember) - but the board brought only two spades. It also brought three clubs, which a woman used to make a winning flush.

While two players were "eliminated" at the table ahead of us, they took a re-buy option. We did not, walking to the bar to finish our soda in roughly 30th place - and wondering if we should keep going to a place which seems on the edge of breaking city law.

MINISTRY MOMENT: A couple of women at our table were quite talkative. One of them mentioned how "God gave me such good looks...."  We think she was making fun of herself, but we responded to it.

"You should be thankful to God for your good looks," we said. "We should be thankful to God for every blessing."

The woman didn't respond to that. But perhaps we made her stop and think for a moment.  The Bible describes several beautiful women, even in ancient history....

..The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. - Genesis 6:2

But there's a different kind of beauty that God ultimately is seeking:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. - I Peter 3:3-4

Outward beauty is "fleeting" (Proverbs 31:30) - but godly character from a proper spirit never goes out of style. If you're a woman who plays poker, what sort of beauty are you trying to develop?

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 174 final tables in 462 games (37.7%) - 32 cashes.