Our Real Story: 2017 Review

As 2017 by man's figuring ends, it's time to add up our poker score. The year began with time to play in live tournaments on Fridays, then with occasional time on Sundays - and ended to our surprise with all the time we wanted.

LIVE TOURNAMENTS: Our number went down from 33 to 29. Yet our final table count matched 2016, as we made eight of them (27.6%).

What makes this more impressive is that we only went one-for-seven playing in "free" tournaments at Wichita night spots. That makes the casino final table percentage a rather stunning 31.8% (7 for 22) - including two out of four in Oklahoma. We only earned money in three tournaments, but the total take increased from 2016 to more than $800.

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER: Five "top-ten percent" finishes in 13 tournaments. Grand total: 290 point wins (top 10%) in 1451 games, 93 final tables, 10 wins, 13 cashes.

NLOP was sold to new ownership during 2017, and opportunities to play in freerolls dropped after that. We wound up with no final tables there, with a best result of 17th place out of 1,237 entries in February.

We also gained 108 "tokens" for tournament entry in NLOP cash games. But NLOP now bars us from using a desktop app for immediate entry; we can only play through the website, and connection problems have been very frustrating for us recently. We're looking for good alternatives.

POKER STARS: 938,206 play money chips - up 142,335 at the table.

Our pretend "chip stack" acted like the stock market, and went up by more than 500,000. Admittedly, 375,000 of them came by clicking a "free chips" every time we showed up. But we still increased our table gains by 69 percent!

In all, we spent $1,435 to enter live tournaments in 2017. We wound up losing $605 (not to mention about $58 lost in other casino games). But in our "experiment" with serious money-making which started November 1, we've made three final tables in eight casino tournaments - making money twice, and only missing the semifinal tables once.

As the cliché says, you have to spend money to make money - and right now, casino games are our best chance to earn money each week. But we remember some wise words....

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. - Matthew 10:16

Some poker players are skilled at setting traps. We admittedly have set a few ourselves. The keys are to be "shrewd" - which our old dictionary says can mean "having keen insight; discerning", but also "artful; cunning; tricky."

Can you spot the moments when other players might fall for the story you're telling? Can you be "harmless" (as the King James Version says in our verse) enough to know when others might have set a trap for you? If you can discern these things, we think you'll be well on your way to poker success.

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life to you, an ornament to grace your neck. - Proverbs 3:21-22

We hope you pray for godly judgment and discernment in the days and years ahead - not only in the poker room, but in every aspect of your life.