How I Died Playing a Game
Losing everything in poker
Jarvis called and asked me, “Hey, long time no see. Want to play poker this weekend?”
I was a 22-year-old terrific poker player with a Ph.D. in mathematics. After my wife died in a car accident, I went into a severe depression and stopped playing poker. My psychiatrist cautioned me against playing till I got my emotional state in order.
As I was trying to come up with an excuse for why I wouldn’t be able to go, Jarvis said, “We are playing differently this weekend. You would find it very interesting.”
“How so?” I asked.
“We don’t bet money. We bet material things like phone, watch, car etc. Anything of value.”
The premise intrigued me. I know Jarvis’ friends, they drive expensive cars and they are average players. This seemed to be an easy way to add a couple of Ferraris to my garage. I agreed.
The game started around 8 pm on a Friday night. There were five of us — me, Jarvis, Brad, Luis, and Sally. If they were fearful about my poker skills, they didn’t show any of it.
At the end of the fourth game, I was sitting pretty. I had everyone’s watch and car. I folded the next two games. I should have won the seventh game, but after long deliberation, Sally called my bluff.
And then everything went downhill from there. At the end of the 22nd game, I had lost everything, including my Rolex, Tesla, and iPhone.
In the 23rd game, I lost my Palm Beach home.
When the next game began, Brad looked at me and said, “If you still want to play, you have to place a bet.”
I don’t know what possessed me. Instead of thanking and leaving, I said, “I bet my Ph.D. degree.”
There was a stunned silence. Then Brad said, “We hope you understand what this means. If you lose this game, you’ll never be able to use your degree in any way.”
“Yes, I understand,” I said with a trembled voice.
At the end of the 24th game, I was sitting there, stripped off everything. All my possessions, including my degree, have vanished within a span of two hours.
When the 25th game began, I was still sitting there, ready to play. Brad looked at me questioningly. “I still have something valuable to bet,” I said.
“What’s it?”
“My life.”
This is the second story in the “How I Died” series. The first story is below:
