Super (For Us) Sunday

NBC Sports used to show a poker tournament on this day.  But today, NBC actually is showing that big U.S. football game with a trademarked name.  So it was up to us to have poker fun -- and with errands to run at midday, we skipped the poker room and entered the National League of Poker no-river game.  NLOP lets players register a bit late now....

....and that was good news for us, because we wound up winning the 206-player tournament!  This was the winning moment against "Crazyguy1", as we both made heart flushes on the turn (you're dealt three cards, and there's no river card).  He bet the minimum 6,000; we raised all-in with only 433 to spare -- and he seemed resigned to end the game and move on.  Our "nuts" won the pot, and a $10 prize.

This was our first NLOP win since December 2013 (also a no-river game). And the final table turned on a hand with three players left, where a pair of 2's was showing.  We had a third 2 with a K; a player named Grayzo took us all-in with a third 2 and a Q.  His surprise loss led to this exchange:

Dealer: 　flopblogger wins Main Pot ($195,024) with Three of a kind, deuces
grayzo: 　om *** god
crazyguy1: 　wow
Me: 　PTL!
grayzo: 　?
Me: 　praise the Lord!
grayzo: i don't do church
How interesting.  This player doesn't "do church," yet he/she actually brought up God before we did.

Of course, lots of people bring up God's name every day.  But many of them use it in exclamations and cursing.  The Bible has a warning about that:

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. - Exodus 20:7

This is one of the basic Ten Commandments.  But a close look at the Bible shows there can be many ways where the name of God can be misused.  For instance....

Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. - Leviticus 19:12

This can deal with giving false testimony in court - or simply saying "swear to God, I had a flush" when you really didn't.  But Jesus seems to take this a step farther:

But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. - Matthew  5:34-36

Some people "affirm" their words to be truthful in a court of law, instead of being "sworn in.... so help you God."  These verses are a main reason why.

It seems to us the overall lesson is to be careful with every word we say.  Be truthful. Be accurate. When you can, be loving.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. - Proverbs 18:21

No Ifs, It's Real: One-Year Report

This week marks one year since we moved to a new city.  We moved from a place where we were unemployed to a place where we have full-time work.  We're thankful to God for that.

In fact, it's more than full-time work -- as we're busy so many hours a week that our poker playing has dropped considerably.  So has our blogging about poker, as regular readers may have noticed.  But our poker environment also has changed in Kansas.  Instead of playing a lot of free tournaments in bars hoping to win a little prize money, now we play almost all our games in poker rooms and casinos with entry fees and bigger stakes.

So how have we done?  We added up the score, and found we've only played 17 live tournaments in the past year.  They break down this way:

WPT AMATEUR LEAGUE: One final table in two games.  That "one" was a second-place finish, with first only earning points toward a bigger tournament later.

POKER ROOMS: Eight final tables in 15 games (53.3%), 4 cashes, 1 outright win.

Those stats are rather stunning, considering we aren't playing a lot.  And our poker room performance admittedly dropped in the last six months, to two final tables out of seven.

But have we made any money doing it?  By our figuring, no.  We paid $395 in buy-ins (only a couple were more expensive than $20).  We won $220, so we had a net loss of $175.

As we mentioned in a recent post, this past year also allowed us to play in more casinos than ever before -- and also play more variations of Texas Hold 'em.  We only played one full tournament in a casino, and missed the final table there.  Otherwise, how did those do?

CASH GAME POKER: One session, down $60

ULTIMATE TEXAS HOLD 'EM: Eight sessions, down $217.50 (we were up $77.50 after two)

HEADS-UP MACHINE HOLD 'EM: Three sessions, down $19

BLACKJACK: Two sessions, up $35

Ouch!  What does it say when our most profitable game is the one which arguably has the most luck involved - blackjack?

Our online poker playing hasn't stopped completely, but it's also been reduced by our new situation:

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - two "cashes" (top ten percent) in 10 games.  No-River Hold 'em - Six point wins (about top ten percent) in eight games; four final tables, one win paying cash.

The No-River success rate is an astonishing 75%!  Perhaps we've found our "niche" specialty game there.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $88,531, up $4,031.

So overall, we're winning online a great deal.  We're winning on occasion in person, but losing overall (the total loss is about $436).  But anymore, our poker playing is less about money and more about ministry - sharing the things of God and Jesus Christ wherever we go.  After all....

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. - Proverbs 11:4

"Lifetime winnings" make for nice statistics and healthy discussion at the table.  But once your lifetime is ended, what will you ultimately gain?  May your goal be the same as the apostle Paul:

I press on toward the goal for of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14 (NASB)