American Airlines

8/9/2018

I am a big fan of Texas Hold’em no limits poker. One of my most vivid memories of the game, almost a decade ago, was a hand against Michael Lennon in a dark and skanky Leicester Square casino. I had been waiting hours to get on the table and—BOOM!!—second or third hand I open with a pair of aces (nice. Odds? 1 in 221). The four gambling zombies at the table smelled too much action and folded. It was heads up between Mike and I. Whatever he was holding, I knew I had him.

***

Yesterday I was handed another pair of 'American Airlines'. The neurosurgeon surprised Ingrid and me with an unexpected proposal: 'low' risk removal of the newish tumour that has developed in my right frontal lobe. We previously thought this was the poker equivalent of opening with ‘the WHIP’ (7–2, worst hand in poker!).

No, he responded...

In your situation this is as good as it gets. We have this new approach, Visualase, that's worked pretty well in the US for years. It's just been approved here. Robot assistance makes it more precise than traditional surgery. You could be the first to try it in the UK.

Just one catch: there's a risk you come out having lost all interest in anything and everything.

A wry smile came over my face as he indicated the odds; they reminded me of the rest of that hand against Mike.

***

It was the Monday morning of my bachelor party. Mike and I like to think we were the only remaining 'survivors' but that was clearly the noxious mix of French champagne and American tequila talking.

'All in', I declared. I'd make a tidy sum whether he folded or, even better, called me.

I couldn't hold back a smug smile as he committed his whole stack. We turned our respective cards over. He had king-ten. Or king-jack? It didn't matter, I had him.

The dealer flopped: king, king...

***

Under different circumstances I might have decided differently. Ten to fifteen per cent pre-flop chance of failure. Yes, great odds but no guarantee.

The rest of the night? A blur as we stumbled out to the loud, grating chime of Mike's sinister cackle.