The Price of Liberty

“Please excuse this sudden movement, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll be arriving at Nice Airport, Terminal 2, in fifteen minutes.”

“Hi Pierre-Mat, so here I am.”

“Hi Morgane! Did your trip go well? You look a little tired…”

“I barely slept last night. The person next to me was snoring terribly, and the driver kept jerking the car around. But it’s okay. I just saw a billboard at the city entrance that said, ‘Trust the process.’ So everything’s great.”

“Ah, I see, that’s old Jack Daniel’s advertising. Anyway, you’re in positive mood, that’s essential. Hey, wow, that suitcase is really heavy. Did you bring your whole life with you or what?”

“Yeah, kind of… You said I wouldn’t be coming back.”

“Alright. Come on, let’s grab a coffee. I’ll give you a quick rundown of the rules, and tonight we’ll try the machines. In fact, playing the machines is completely stupid, ‘cause you always lose. They let you win a little so you can relax and gain confidence, then they push you into the abyss… It’s for the poor, for those who don’t understand anything and remain fooled by illusions. But it does help you practice before you start playing for real.”

“Boss, please drop us at the end of the Promenade. And could you turn the music down a bit, please?”

“Yes, of course, sir.”

“Perfetto, thank you! So, Morgane, there are ten possible combinations.”

“I’m listening.”

“Royal flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit. It’s the strongest hand and the rarest. You have about a zero point zero zero zero one five percent chance of getting it. So basically never. But!”

“But?”

“Never say never!”

“Nice.”

“Next comes Straight Flush: five consecutive cards of the same suit. Quads: four cards of the same rank. Full House: three of a kind plus a pair. Flush: any five cards of the same suit, regardless of sequence. Two Pair: two different pairs. And if you have none of those, you play the highest card, like an Ace beating a King. That’s it.”

“You’ve only mentioned nine of them. What’s the last one?”

“Royal Flush, Quads, Full House, Straight… Straight! That’s the one I forgot. A Straight means five cards in sequence, but not necessarily of the same suit. Happens about once every two hundred and fifty-five hands.”

“Okay.”

“Isn’t that too much information?”

“That’s fine. To be honest, I’d already looked up the hand rankings, but I love the way you explain them. You look so passionate. Poker seems to give energy to your whole being. Or maybe it’s the sea and sun effect…”

“Maybe both… So, the goal of the game is to take your opponents’ chips by forming the best possible five-card hand from seven cards. Each player gets two private cards, and five community cards are dealt face up on the table. They’re revealed in three stages: first the flop—three cards at once; then the turn—a fourth card; and finally the river, the fifth and last card. You with me?”

“I’m all yours.”

“Good. Now let’s talk about the bets. There are four betting rounds: right after the deal—that’s the pre-flop; then after the flop, after the turn, and finally after the river, when all the cards are face up on the table.”

“I see.”

“At each betting round, players can check if no one has bet yet; call—match the previous bet; raise—increase the stakes; or fold—drop out. If several players remain after the river, they reveal their cards. That’s the showdown. The player with the best hand wins the pot. Clear enough?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, let’s go. We’re heading out. Keep the change, boss.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Morgane, we’re going to the Distillerie Idéal. It’s a bit of an iconic spot in Nice, and that way you’ll get a glimpse of the old town. You’ll see, it’s really beautiful.”

“I can already see that. I really love these colorful façades softened by the sun…”

“Two coffees and two glasses of water, please.”

“Morgane, are you asleep?”

“No, I’m just really amazed by all these colors and narrow streets.”

“Try to stay focused.”

“Here you go, your coffees.”

“It’s strange… They give you a spoon with the coffee when there’s no sugar.”

“There isn’t a spoon either.”

“What?”

“Seriously, Morgane? You haven’t seen The Matrix?”

“I have… but it was a long time ago…”

“‘A long time ago’ usually means ‘no.’”

“Kind of…”

“There’s this kid who tells Neo not to try bending the spoon, ‘cause it’s impossible and ‘cause the spoon doesn’t actually exist. It’s not the spoon that bends, it’s Neo himself.”

“Okay…”

“Anyway, back to the topic. What’s great about beginners—and what could work in your favor—is that they haven’t developed habits yet. That makes them hard to read. In the game, there are codes, just like in social interactions. You see? New players don’t know them yet, they’re kind of pure. What sets good players apart is that they play according to the rules, while still introducing variations.”

“Got it.”

“Two and seven of different suits, that’s the worst hand, because the cards are too far apart. But that doesn’t mean anything. You can win with ‘bad’ cards just as easily as you can lose with ‘good’ ones…”

“So basically, there’s no difference…”

“Exactly. And, it might not seem obvious, but you can even take pleasure in losing… That’s the most important thing: enjoying the game! Hey, Morgane, are you listening to me?”

“I can’t find my sunglasses!”

“No worries. That’s not exactly rare around here. You’ll buy new ones… once you’ve won!”

“Okay.”

“But before winning, you first have to focus on not losing, by minimizing risk. To learn, you need to play against a good player with a strong hand. And to win, their hand needs to be just slightly worse than yours.”

“Got it.”

“Let’s do a test. Pick a card!”

“This one.”

“This card predicts your future. It’s right there on the table. You can never know in advance what it will reveal. Will it confirm your expectations, or contradict them? But one thing is certain: if you bet wisely, if you play correctly… whatever this card is, you’ll win anyway.”

“Eight of Diamonds.”

“That’s going to be your lucky card.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Any questions?”

“Yes. Why don’t you play yourself?”

“Ah. That’s an old story. I lost three months’ worth of my filming salary in a single night. My father was furious when he found out, and I promised him I’d never play again. I’m sticking to that. For now.”

“Don’t you miss it?”

“No… cinema has replaced poker for me. It lets you shape reality however you want.”

“They say cinema is dead…”

“Listen, there are people for whom everything is dead, everything belongs to the past… and yet life goes on. We still watch plenty of films, especially now that we’ve stopped reading. So no, cinema isn’t dead, it’s very much alive.”

“Makes sense.”

“Look at that woman in the shiny dress walking toward us… In literature, she’d be introduced slowly. First, her outline would detach from the pastel-colored background. Then you’d begin to make out the delicate features of her face, framed by long golden curls. Her lipstick—beige-pink. You’d hear the clicking of her heels on the pavement, her soft voice directed toward the phone microphone near her chin. She’d gradually take shape, drawing us into her world…”

“She’s gorgeous. And I love the way you describe it.”

“In cinema, on the other hand, the effect is immediate, amplified by the soundtrack. On screen, it hits you straight on, like a head-on collision between a car and a stone wall. No unnecessary words.”

“No words, just action.”

“Everything clear?”

“Yes.”

“Perfetto. Then we’ll swing by the casino after dinner. Now let me catch up with that girl and get her number.”

“Pierre-Mat, I’m scared. I don’t know what I’m doing here…”

“It doesn’t matter what you’re doing here, move forward without looking back. Trust the Eight of Diamonds. Accept the fact that you don’t yet know your future! Don’t make the same mistake as Orpheus.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never heard of Orpheus?”

“No…”

“There’s a real problem with your general culture, Morgane… We’ll fix that later. Orpheus is a figure from Greek mythology. He played the lyre so beautifully that the gods allowed him to retrieve his beloved Eurydice, who died young. He descends into the underworld to find her. He can bring her back, but on one condition: he must not turn around to check whether she’s following him. Everything goes well… until doubt takes hold. He looks back. That’s it. Eurydice remains in the underworld forever, and Orpheus returns alone… Don’t look back, Morgane!”

“I’ll try…”

“See you later then. And don’t forget your ID! Otherwise they won’t let you in. Gambling is for grown-ups.”