On the Diamonds

As poker hands go, a flush is pretty good. It's slightly better than a straight, because it's mathematically tougher to achieve. And it beats any pair, or even three of a kind.

In classic Texas Hold 'em, only one suit in a hand can be a flush. Other games open the door for more than one, and that's when suit rank might matter - with spades at the top, followed by hearts, diamonds and clubs.

But let's ask a silly-sounding question. If you were a flush, what suit would you want to wear? A spade might be more impressive at the table, but you won't find the word "spade" anywhere in the King James Bible. You won't find "club" there, either. But you'll see a reference to the other suits:

You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz and the diamond.... - Ezekiel 28:13 (KJV)

Some Bible translations replace "diamond" with "emerald" (which appears later on the King James list). But if diamond is correct, how nice it would sound to be covered by fancy jewelry. Someone was long ago.... but then:

You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.... - Ezekiel 28:15-16

God discovered this well-jeweled being was a sinner, so He cast it out of Eden. Here's the root cause of it:

Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. - Ezekiel 28:17

Other Bible references indicate this "guardian cherub" (verse 16) was what we now call Satan, or the devil. Satan let beauty get to its head, became corrupted with sin, then was tossed away by God.

Does that mean diamonds and other jewelry are wrong? Some Christian groups think so, but they overlook another place in the Bible where diamonds come up:

And you shall make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work.... And you shall set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones.... the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. - Exodus 28:15-17 (KJV)

This breastplate was worn by ancient priests, when they did ministry service. God instructed the stones on the breastplate to be made that way. This indicates diamonds are OK, and not something to be avoided. They're as good on your body as they are in a poker room, as long as you let God position them as He wishes.


And here's the amazing thing: some people say we are to become diamonds. We'll get into that in an upcoming post.

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.

Poker Night 231: A Soothing Quartet

We took tonight's tournament at Lil Kim's Cove somewhat seriously. We looked the part, after all -- still wearing a dress shirt and tie from a new workplace. And our chip stack looked the part, since a three-dollar cheeseburger earned us 6,000 bonus chips to add to our starting 5,000.

Then came the game -- and nice cards reached us several times. We were dealt pocket Aces twice, and the second pair took out a man who went all-in with 8,350 on a flop of 2-2-Q. (We never saw what he had.) But that wasn't the biggest thrill of the night....

BLINDS: 500/1,000

IN THE POCKET: 10-4 of clubs

We're trying to control feeling giddy, with a chip count in the 30,000. Having taken an opponent out minutes before with K-K, we can afford to "take a flier" on this one. We call, and no one raises.

ON THE FLOP: J-10-6 (no clubs)

We have middle pair and a good bit of momentum - so when the play checks to us, we put in a feeler bet of 2,000. A man to our left then goes all-in for about 7,500 more. The table folds, and it's up to us. We can afford to make the call, but this is chancy. A lot of things could top us. Yet for reasons we really can't explain....

"I'll call it. I've got a 10."

Lo and behold -- our opponent admits we have him topped, but he doesn't show his cards.

ON THE TURN: 10

Now we must really have him topped. We have the "three 10'ers" for the second time tonight.

ON THE RIVER: 10

"Whoa!" we exclaim -- as the 10'ers came running, to give us quads! Our bankrupt opponent never shows his hand, as we rake in a big pot plus a 5,000 chip quad bonus.

That momentum easily put us at the final table -- but then we were joined by people with racks full of chips. We held on for awhile, then attempted an all-in push with 6-6 one hand after another player tried it. For him it worked. For us it didn't -- as a King on the board meant a higher pair for a woman, knocking us out in a respectable sixth place.

MINISTRY MOMENT: With two tables left, two women at the table next to ours started talking about the Bible. We heard one say, "I haven't found that in the Bible anywhere." So with a foldable hand, we went over to hear what it was about.

"Black nail polish," one woman said.

"Nothing," said the other.

So we're not sure what really was going on here -- but would you believe some Christians make beauty items such as nail polish a big deal? They base it on verses such as these....

What are you doing, O devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why shade your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life. -- Jeremiah 4:30

The Bible never speaks positively about makeup, the critics say -- so Christian women should not wear it. What do you think about this? We'll share our thoughts in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 94 final tables in 231 nights (40.7%) - 15 cashes. Heads-up tournaments: 14-21.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 118 point wins in 601 games (19.6%), 44 final tables, 3 cashes.

A check from NLOP came in the mail today, for a video poker win in early December. (Talk about a long lag time.) But as we expected, online poker play has dropped substantially due to a new work commitment.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $42,122, down $535.