05-05-05 only means you make more money: 20% deposit bonus starting today

At the risk of offending numerologists, pattern-seekers, and fans of the American CBS crime drama "Numb3rs," one can waste a lot of energy in the fruitless pain to find meaning or patterns in numbers of coincidence.

Still, upon hearing that today is, in fact, May 5, 2005 (aka 05-05-05), I couldn't help myself. I mean, the date just looks so neat and tidy. There's bound to be something clever I could do with that.

I multiplied. I divided. I counted the containers in my kitchen's spice rack. Still, after quite a bit of trying, I decided that if I tried too hard, I would end up looking like some of the loony birds who can explain through numbers the reason Abraham Lincoln wore a stove-pipe top hat and why the island of Madagascar was really the creation of Walt Disney.

After quite a bit of toil and trouble, I've determined 05-05 (and by extension, 05-05-05) is one of two things:

First, it's a really bad day to be a Napoleon (that is, the French Napoleon, not the sandwich variety). In 1821, the Napoleon we normally think about died in exile on the island of St. Helena. Exactly 41 years to the day later, Naploeon III had a very unfortunate day in Mexico that resulted in a little empire-building experiment going awry, the holiday of Cinco de Mayo, and, again by extension, the Tex-Mex joint down the street offering cheap margaritas all day.

Second, and perhaps more importantly if your name isn't Napoleon (if it is, I mean no offense), 05-05-05 is the first day of a five-day bonus at PokerStars.com. This site explains all the rules, but in essence, anyone who deposits between now and next Tuesday at 11:59 PM ET will get an additional 20% up to $120.

That, friends, is $120 extra to go toward winning a World Series of Poker seat. If you've already done that, it's $120 extra toward building a bankroll for the summer tournament season. If you've already done that, well, there's always the Tex-Mex joint down the street.

Go. Now. You have five days. (There's that number again...maybe if I divide by two, multiply by the specific gravity of paprika...no...maybe rosemary...)