If it was real II

The last time we figured our success in local poker tournaments compared with a casino, the numbers looked great -- double our investment through 40 poker nights.

Now that we've played 50 poker nights, let's do the math again using the same formula as before.

We assume a $50 buy-in to tournaments: 50 x 50 = $2,500.

We've had top five finishes only twice in the last ten poker nights: a 2nd and a 5th. We add those to the earlier record, with the same presumed payouts of $500 for the winner down to $100 for fifth.

Our record over 50 poker nights would be as follows:

First -- 3 ($1,500)
Second - 3 ($1,200)
Third -- 3 ($900)
Fourth - 4 ($800)
TIES for fourth:
one two-way ($150)
one three-way ($67)
Fifth -- 3 ($300)

TOTAL -- 18 for $4,917.

The return on my buy-in investment is dropping, compared to the score after 40 nights. But still, I would have come close to doubling my money with a return of almost 97 percent. Take that, General Motors.