If it was real....

As we mark 40 poker nights on Fourth Street, we wondered: what if Lil Kim's Cove was a real casino, with real buy-ins and payoffs?

We tried to play at a Kansas City casino's tournament in May (but the tourneys were canceled on Memorial Day), so we decided to use their rules.

Lil Kim's Cove has a small game, with never more than 40 players. So we presumed a $50 buy-in, and called the Harrah's poker room to see how many positions win money. The top 5 are paid in a 40-player game. Assuming it's a full tournament, 40 x 50 = $2000 pool.

As it happens, our buy-ins on poker nights would total 40 x 50 -- also $2,000.

We did NOT ask Harrah's how much is paid for positions 1-5. But let's assume it's a stairstep format, with $500 for the winner down to $100 for fifth.

Our record over 40 poker nights would be as follows:

First -- 3 ($1,500)
Second - 2 ($800)
Third -- 3 ($900)
Fourth - 4 ($800)
TIES for fourth:
one two-way ($150)
one three-way ($67)
Fifth -- 2 ($200)

TOTAL -- 16 for $4,417.

So if I had played poker in a casino over the last 13 months, I would have doubled my investment -- and then some. This seems to beat the Dow 30 these days, not to mention my 401(k) plans.

And even better -- at a casino, the cans of soda don't cost two dollars each. :-->