All In Startup: Launching a New Idea When Everything Is on the Line

Chapter 13Hoping and Praying for Luck Is Not a Strategy

Owen was staring at an ace and queen of clubs. Squinting was more like it. He was still waking up, and it was almost too early to get such a playable hand, especially one he’d have to think about and try to figure out the odds for like the ace-queen. Everything hurt. Everything. To reach for the cards hurt his elbow and shoulder. His right knee was huge. He hadn’t iced it until he’d gotten back to his room from the dinner and talk with Sam, and that was—what—2 A.M.?

He was freezing because he was wearing workout shorts. Having denim jeans rub against his leg had been too painful. His head hurt. He barely got any rest. Every time he moved while sleeping, pain jostled him awake. He had dared to try to take a shower, but the damn hotel shower had like a thousand spigots and he couldn’t escape the blast so he ended up half-in, half-out, washing what body parts he could still get under the water. The shower had been a bad idea. More than anything, he wanted to crawl into his own bed and to hear Lisa’s sympathetic “awww” as she brought him an ice pack.

Ughhh. Lisa. She must be either worried sick or pissed at him for not calling yesterday. But he couldn’t call her this morning. It had taken him twice as long to get ready than he planned, and he needed a certain amount of time to explain the accident. He needed to focus now.

It had been only 36 hours since he’d last sat at a poker table, but it felt like a month. Not only was ...