Poker Night 285: Isn't That Special?

"You going to blog that?" a man across from us asked several times tonight at Lil Kim's Cove.  At one point, he revealed we've mentioned him -- so we thank him for being a reader.  And he already should know how this hand at a table of big spenders turned out....

BLINDS: 100/200

IN THE POCKET: A-10 of diamonds

We were part of a three-way split of a pot earlier in the game with a straight.  So we have 6,000 chips to work with, and we try to get in small.  But as we say, it's a table of big spenders -- so a man to our left raises 1,000.  We join several players in calling.

ON THE FLOP: A-Q-3

Top pair looks nice, and being first to act works to our advantage.  We bet 1,000 to send a statement to the table.  Three players are undaunted and call.  At this point, we will quote the regular blog reader who wanted to make a statement in our recorder -- that we were lucky:

"I had trip threes on the flop.  I flopped the trips, and he only had a raggedy-a** Ace...."

ON THE TURN: Ac

"He turned an Ace...."

"And what was my bet on the turn?" we ask.

"His bet on the turn was all in, and I was still winning." [He had a full house, you see.]  But he left out one fun detail -- what we said when we pushed.

"3,800 - 38 special."

"I know he's got an Ace," the pre-flop raiser to the left correctly guesses --then folds.

"Could he be more transparent than that?" a man out of the hand adds.  We say nothing, but recall one or two players calling.

ON THE RIVER: Q

Our regular reader comments: "And then he rivered another Queen."  Two pair on the table gives us a superior full house.  Perhaps we escaped, but we certainly jumped to more than 15,000 chips.

We took a couple more fairly nice pots after that -- then benefited at the semifinal table from a man with a huge stack who bet two players out of the game at once.  That gained us a seat at the final table for the third week in a row!

Once there, we won a pot with 10-10 which combined with a pair on the board.  But with blinds rising, we were forced to go all-in with K-Q and 15,000 left in the big blind.  The regular reader showed A-6, but he paired that 6 to knock us out.  A fifth-place finish felt good, considering all the action around us.

MINISTRY MOMENT: "You brought a battery today?" a man across from us asked as play began.  Yes -- our little nine-volt.

"I brought this to remind me that I receive power from the Holy Spirit," we noted.  "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?"

"I sure do," the man answered.

"What's the Holy Spirit been doing for you?"

"He gets me up every morning, starts me on my way...." Those indeed are good blessings, and we should thank God for every day of life we have.  But God provides that power to do much more than that:

But you shall receive power, after that Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. - Acts 1:8

Those words of the resurrected Jesus should be a challenge to anyone who believes in the Holy Spirit.  As the Spirit dwells in you, are you being a witness to others of what God and that Spirit can do?  Don't be afraid, as a saint of old once said, to "preach the gospel - and use words, if necessary."

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 105 final tables in 285 nights (36.8%) - 17 cashes.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Full tournaments - 184 point wins in 796 games (23.1%), 63 final tables, 7 cashes.  We fell two spots short of the money Wednesday night, finishing sixth in a tournament with 824 players.

POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Pretend cash games - $62,644, down $1,135.

Proud to be Here?

We're still thinking about the Bible discussion at a live tournament two weeks ago - the one where the tower of Babel came up.

At one point in the discussion, a young man said across the table: "You meet some arrogant people at church...."

Well, hold on.  First of all, you can meet some arrogant people at a poker table as well.  Think about the big-talking players who call opponents "donkeys" for making winning decisions (whether they seem logical or not) -- and then refuse to shake hands when they've been embarrassingly defeated.

Arrogance can happen in any walk of life, and in almost any situation.  Yet we're told....

To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. - Proverbs 8:13

God isn't really doing the talking here -- verse 12 shows "wisdom" is.  But James 1:5 indicates God is the best source to tap if you need wisdom.  So it's safe to say He doesn't think much of arrogance, whether in a poker room or a church sanctuary.  In fact, Romans 1:30 puts the arrogant in a group with "God-haters" and and people who "invent ways of doing evil."

One dictionary defines "arrogance" as a state of "unwarranted pride and self-importance."  A true believer in God should strive to avoid that.

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." - I Peter 5:5b

One way (and probably not the only way) believers can look arrogant is in the way they address people living in a sinful way.  It's one thing to point fingers.  But there's a better approach....

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. - Galatians 6:1

If believers lets you have it about a sin -- or even a perceived sin, such as even sitting inside a poker room -- keep in mind: they're not perfect, either.  But they're trying to become more perfect.  And so should you.  Admitting our imperfections before God is quite the opposite of arrogance -- and it's the best approach to take.

December Senior Championship: Tighty Righty?

Perhaps it's more stereotype than truth, but some people say online poker players play more conservatively with age.  At Tuesday night's monthly National League of Poker senior championship (age 50 and older), we saw evidence of it.  Unlike some NLOP tournaments where pushing comes early and often, our table was tighter than an old winter sweater....

 

:01 IN: We have 9-9 in the Big Blind on the second hand of the night.  But for the second hand in a row, the table folds.  We get $15 in big blinds in a walk -- but we kinda wanted more.

 

:01 IN: "Hey, somebody called" we write as someone bets ahead of our J-Q in the small blind.  We call, too.  The flop is 5-J-Q.  We lead out for 90, and the remaining two players fold.  We gain 60.  But awwwww....

 

:08 IN: We have 6-A of hearts.  The flop is 2h-4d-Qh.  With a flush draw, we bet the minimum 40 and chase a couple of players away.  The turn is 7d, and someone bets 40 ahead of us.  We call.  The river is Js -- and we miss, losing to an opponent with a 7.

 

We only attempt to play two other hands in the first half-hour - folding in the big blind to a raise with 2-5 of hearts which would have brought us a straight.  So our chip stack at the break is a modest 645.  We're in 345th place, out of 398 still in the game.

 

:35 IN: We have 7-7.  The flop is a gorgeous 7-Q-4, and we want action.  We bet 300 of our remaining 545.  And of course, no one bites.  We win a $750 pot, and return almost to our starting stack at 995.

 

:40 IN: We have Jh-10x in the big blind, and call a doubling of the blind.

ON THE FLOP: 9h-Qh-3h.

A player ahead of us bets more than 2,000.  With an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw, we decide to go for it -- calling with our remaining 545.  Our opponent shows 9-9, so he has three of a kind.

 

ON THE TURN: Ks - giving us the straight!  Yes!

ON THE RIVER: Q

Noooooo!  The suit doesn't matter, because our opponent makes a winning full house.  We wind up 322nd, out of 848 players - the victim of a seemingly-loose move, and one card too many.

 

NLOP Weekly Championship 24: The Long Hard Climb

Maybe the way to play National League of Poker tournaments without annoying disconnects is to leave our computer on all day.  With a day off from work, we were able to do that today.  And thanks to a top-20 finish in a 454-player tournament last Sunday, we qualified for tonight's NLOP weekly championship again.  We wound up lasting longer than we expected:

:01 IN: We have 10-9.  The flop is 10-5-5, and we call a bet of 50.  The turn is 4, and we call a bet of 100.  The river is 2, and our opponent bets 325.  We sense he's bluffing, dare to call -- and in a way, he was.  He shows 2-2, and hit it big on the river.

"That 2 [on the river] looked so innocent," we write.  But it cost us half our starting chip stack of 1,000.

:05 IN: We have 8-7 and fold.  Too bad -- the flop is 5-Q-9, and 6 on the turn would have given us a straight.

:15 IN: We have Q-J of clubs.  The flop is 7c-3s-9c.  It's a big flush draw with 275 left, and we call a bet of 60.  The turn is 9d, and we (perhaps stubbornly) call another bet of 60.  The river is 2c -- and when our opponent bets 80, we go all-in for our remaining 75.  Our opponent has 4-9, and our flush tops three of a kind!  We recover to 670.

:26 IN: We have 6-A.  The flop is A-K-8, with the last two being hearts.  We don't have any, but we bet 200 with top pair and get called.  The turn is 3h.  Everyone checks.  The river is 10 (NOT a heart), and all check again.  Our opponent had K-Q, so our pair of Aces captures $800.

We reach the half-hour break about where we started: 1,010 chips.  That puts us in 426th place, with 675 still in the running.

:45 IN: After a chase with clubs fails, we have Q-Q "under the gun."  With 510 chips left, we dare to go all-in.  A player calls, with only 9-Q.  The board brings A-9-K 7-8, and our pair claims a $1,000 pot.

:48 IN: We have K-A of hearts as the dealer.  We double the blind, and put one player all-in while another calls.  The flop is 3-9-K -- and we're admittedly so busy scribbling notes for this blog that we forget to bet.  Everyone checks.  The turn is 10, and now we bet a minimum 200.  The river is 10, and everyone checks.  The best opposing hand shown is 7-7, so our two pair wins $1,310.

:53 IN: We have 6-5 of clubs, and call when a player goes all-in for 40 over the blind.  The flop is 5h-3c-9c.  Everyone checks.  The turn is Qc, and we bet 600 with a flush.  The river is 7s, and our opponent's A-10 doesn't have enough clubs.  We win another $1,510.

:55 IN: The very next hand brings us 2-10 of diamonds.  We know the odds, but play them anyway -- and happily see a flop of 9d-8d-7s.  The table checks.  The turn is 9.  Everyone checks.  The river is 3d, so we bet 1,200.  A caller has A-Q, but we have back-to-back flushes and win $2,245.

A couple of losses follow, to bring us to the second break at $1,941.  We're now in 210th place, with 296 still competing.

1:15 IN: After folding a couple of promising hands to pushy (as in all-in) betters, we have Q-Q for the second time tonight.  We go all-in with 716 left.  A big stack calls, but with 10-10.  The board doesn't match for either of us, and we more than triple up (thanks to blinds and antes) to $2,432.

1:21 IN: Now we have 10-10.  We failed to connect in the blinds, and now have $1,487.  With the blinds at 300/600, we apply the "ten-blind" rule and push again.  A player calls with 10-Q.  The board brings 3-4-J 8-6 -- and just like that, we're up to $4,614.  That's top-100 level in the tournament.

1:25 IN: We have J-J, but this time choose to limp.  Trouble is, another player raises to 5,300.  We smell a rat, so we go all-in again by calling with our remaining 3,789.  Our opponent has Q-A.  The flop is 3h-8h-7h.  The turn is 5.  The river   is 5h -- and the real trouble is that our opponent's Ace is a heart.  A flush on the river lets him escape with the pot, and sends us out the door.

We were due to lose with one of those pocket pairs sooner or later.  It wound up happening later -- yet we had a good run, finishing #168 out of 1,247 entries.

On the Flip-Flop

Now this strikes us as strange.

The U.S. Justice Department which gave online poker players "Black Friday" decided over the weekend  states may legalize Internet poker.

A few poker websites seemed to sense this ruling was coming -- but it certainly surprises us.  Do you think states will jump at the chance to set up their own online poker rooms?

What Day Is This Again?

Me:  Happy Hawaii Bowl Saturday to all.

We wrote that at the start of two online poker tournaments Saturday night.  We realized that might provoke a response from other players, given what weekend it is.  Sure enough....

payingbills:  merry christmas

Dealer:  dedmanshnd77 wins Main Pot ($365)

payingbills:  what a poker life we all lead lol

If you're "addicted" to poker, playing online at the expense of your family and friends could be a problem.  But then, you could have been like us....

Me:  I was at a church service during the afternoon.

Me:  Keeping the Sabbath, not Christmas.

Me:  The speakers preached against it.

Several Sabbath-keeping denominations believe Jesus was born -- only not on December 25.  They see the Sabbath as a Biblically-ordained day.  But the Bible nowhere mentions the word Christmas, or commands Christians to keep it.  But of course, that doesn't stop others people.  From a later table:

vegaspi:  merry CHRISTmas....

Me:  Was Jesus born on Dec. 25?

mamadog09:  nope never

vegaspi:  conceived on 25 bor sept

Me:  I agree with that - fall birth.

Why do we say that?  We base it on these verses:

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. - Luke 2:6-8

Global warming may have changed things in the 21st century, but many historians admit late December would have been the wrong season for Middle Eastern shepherds to be outside with flocks.  After around early November, it's too chilly and rainy for that.

(A birth during spring in the northern hemisphere doesn't seem out of the question as well.  The song Battle Hymn of the Republic includes the words: "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea."  Lilies are more often associated with spring, as opposed to poinsettias in December.)

We've mentioned before here that there's more evidence Jesus kept Hanukkah than Christmas.  If you'd like to dig deeper into this holiday controversy, you're invited to explore an in-depth Bible study we posted several years -- actually in response to a book by a Christmas-keeper.  And in the meantime.... well, have a nice NBA Sunday.

Pick a Card, Any Card

But would you choose to play with a poker deck which looks like this?

Our first thought: a deck of cards which costs more than three beers isn't going to show up in many bars and clubs.