Now I'll say this.

If God himself came down last year and said, "Todd, when you play video poker this year, you aren't going to hit any royals, and you're going to run far below expectation", would I have still played and earned Seven Stars?

No. But there was no way to know that.

Similarly, if God told me in 2009 or 2012 that I was going to only cash in one event in the World Series of Poker each of those years, I also wouldn't have bothered playing. But I don't have God telling me my gambling results in advance, and neither does anyone here (except maybe Rob Singer, apparently).

I can only go by, "Given the expected loss, and how much I will use the benefits I get, will this be worth it for me?"

If the answer is yes, then I did the right thing by playing.