Poker Night 570: Club Crackers

Many poker rooms have cash game "bad beat jackpots", by the hour or based on a particular combination of cards. Players in tournaments usually don't qualify for them. That's too bad - because we were in the middle of one Wednesday night at Hollywood Casino Indiana:

BLINDS: 75/150

IN THE POCKET: Ace of clubs-7 of hearts

The dealers have not been kind to us so far. Few quality cards have come, yet we bluffed two of them into a modest pot at one point. This Ace is worth trying, especially with no one at the table of eight raising. We call, and about four players get in.

ON THE FLOP: 6c-8c-As

There's the top pair, right there! The play checks to us, and we bet 250. Two players call - and as they do, we note those clubs. If more of them, we feel secure with the "nuts" card.

ON THE TURN: 7c

There's a fourth club - and while we don't notice it right away, we have two pair. We check to see if our opponents are trigger-happy. Sure enough - a man to our left bets 550. Then a man to our right raises to 1,500! What's going on here? Does someone have a pocket pair which turned into three of a kind?

We ponder this a moment, then consider we have about 11,000 chips. It's our biggest risk of the night so far, but decide it's worth taking. We call. So does the man who raised first.

ON THE RIVER: Ad

Yes!! Our persistence leads to a full house.We check once more. So does the man to our left. But the player to the right goes all-in, for 4,550! This is the moment we've been waiting for.

"I'll call," we say with no hesitation.

"I'll fold. Your full house is good," says the man to the left.

"I actually have a full house," we say as we show. Surely we've won this big....

"But he has a straight flush," the dealer points out.

WHAT?!?! Sure enough - the man who pushed displays 5-9 of clubs! He won the pot on the turn, and his bet tried to warn us - but we pushed on to our hurt.

That bad beat was a big blow to us, leaving our stack at 4,250. We fought back with some good rounds in the blinds, reaching 7,550 at the one-hour break and surviving to the final table with 5,500. In our first hand after arriving there, we went for the bundle by going all-in with A-J of clubs.

Trouble is, two other players pushed as well - one with A-J, the other with A-K. Another King on the turn secured that other player a huge pot and a double take-out. We finished the evening tied for ninth out of 17 players (officially tenth).

MINISTRY MOMENT: "Welcome to Hollywood, the place where dreams come true. What's your dream?"

Our first dealer said this several times. We thought it was from a commercial for the casino. He eventually explained it's a line from the movie Pretty Woman. But when he asked us that question, we were thrown for a moment.

"My dream is that this is a nice flop," we answered first. (It was the pre-flop bidding.)

After the flop (which, we should note, was not that nice for us), we had a better answer. "I have other dreams, though. I dream of Jesus Christ coming back to set up the Kingdom of God on this earth."

That should be the ultimate dream of a believer in Jesus. Yet this is a "dream" in our modern-day thinking about them. The Old Testament of that Bible talks about many dreams, which were actually messages from God. But there's also this moment....

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.... - Psalm 126:1-2

Some Bible commentaries indicate this was written to celebrate Israel's return to Jerusalem in the era of Ezra and Nehemiah. We'd call it a "dream come true" for that people.

There are many dreams that only God can bring to pass. Only God can bring back Jesus Christ, although we can pray deeply for it (Revelation 22:20). But sometimes, your dream depends a lot on you....

It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them. - Proverbs 13:19 (NLT)

Could God be blocking a dream in your life, because of your evil ways - or, in old-fashioned language, your sins? This verse certainly indicates that. So do some others....

...You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. - James 4:2-3

Bottom line: Pray for God to fulfill your dreams - but check your own life first. Is your motive for the dream proper? Or would it take you down a funnel into deeper sin and more trouble? This is a good time of year for "self-examination" (II Corinthians 13:5) of all our lives.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 217 final tables in 570 games (38.1%) - 46 cashes. Since passing the 500-game mark, we've made 34 final tables out of 70 games. That's one game short of 50 percent!

Signs of the Times

Some players at the final table couldn't believe their ears, when we explained a call at a recent tournament. We matched an all-in bet with our pocket 8's, after seeing a lot of 8's at our regular job earlier in the day.

Was it really a "sign from God" that we should play poker? Well, the Bible indicates God has given signs from time to time during history. One of the most famous examples involves a man named Gideon....

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand - look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened...." - Judges 6:37-38

Gideon went on to ask God for a second sign, before going into battle - and God provided it (verses 39-40).

But many modern-day preachers say that's not how a believer in God should operate now. They'd say we should follow the Bible for guidance in life....

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness.... - II Timothy 3:16

That's very good advice, of course. But how does it translate to day-to-day decisions, such as entering a poker tournament? Or searching for a job or a mate?

One way to know God's will in a matter is to see if He blocks your plans. It happened to an early apostle:

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. - Acts 16:6-7

The Bible doesn't say exactly what kind of block God threw. Our NIV Study Bible says He could have used "vision, circumstances, good sense...." We lean toward a vision, based on what happened afterward:

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. - Acts 16:9-10

So God also can send messages through visions, about what you should or shouldn't do. We addressed this in a post about dreams earlier this year.

Whether your big decision involves poker or not, we recommend praying to God about it first.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. - Philippians 4:6

We pray before poker outing we make. Sometimes we hit it big. Sometimes we don't. But seeking God's guidance in a matter.... in any matter.... certainly can't hurt. In fact, we believe it often helps.