The Gambler

"What if this is your last hand?" asked the rookie to the gambler. The gambler smiled and relaxed into his chair.

"My dear friend," he said, " a gambler knows that every shot is the last one, or not."

The rookie was far from being convinced, "Do you mean to say that there is no calculation behind your moves? You certainly do not leave everything to chance, do you?"

"Of course not! I play my cards. Everything else..." He let it hang.

The rookie was intrigued, "But doesn't this game then require too much patience from you?"

"No. I back myself to improvise. I live the game."

"What happens when you realize that a move might have been a mistake?"

"Well," the gambler smiled again, "You see, one has got to be honest. I never make a move thinking that it's not going to work. If it doesn't, I told you what I do."

"There always runs a risk of losing it all, even if you win it all. For if you win, everyone will want you to play another hand. But if you lose it all, you have nothing to bargain with. Don't you find this unfair?", the rookie had impressed himself with the question.

"On the contrary! When you're honest to yourself, you know the real reason behind your action. I gamble not for the rush of gambling. I do it because it is the only thing I can do."

"Are you prepared to lose everything?"

"No, I am not! I'm not because it is simply not a possibility."

"But of course you can!"

"I can only lose what I make you believe I can lose."

"I don't follow, sorry. You cannot get around the question by being philosophical."

"Can't I?", the gambler looked at the rookie with a strange shrewdness in his eyes.

The rookie decided not to back down, "You can't."

"Wanna bet?"