A political thriller about sexual misconduct in the #MeToo era, one victim’s battle to survive and overcome trauma, and the cable news machine that feeds off titillating scandal coverage and inflammatory confrontation, Final Table draws upon Dan Schorr’s firsthand experience as a New York City sex crimes prosecutor and sexual misconduct investigator to tackle the worlds of political and media dysfunction.
Read on to discover an excerpt from Dan Schorr’s Final Table, which releases on October 5th 2021.
SYNOPSIS
Former White House staffer Maggie Raster is struggling to build her own consulting firm and overcome a recent sexual assault by an ex-boss. Kyler Dawson, a broke former poker champion, desperately needs to gain entry into a controversial but potentially very lucrative international poker tournament. The host nation faces widespread condemnation for the recent murder of a prominent female US journalist, and a pending presidential executive order threatens to prohibit him and others from participating.
Maggie’s chaotic first attempt to promote her new business as a television political analyst brings her to Kyler’s attention, and convinces him that her political smarts and connections can provide the help he needs. When he approaches her for assistance, she must decide whether to agree – in return for a portion of the potential $20 million prize. To succeed, she will have to confront numerous challenges – personal and political, foreign and domestic – including mounting pressure to publicly address the misconduct of her former boss. Kyler also has his own obstacles and upsetting past to overcome, but if they each can outmaneuver their daunting challenges, he might win the tournament – and earn them both a fortune.
EXCERPT
His heart was beating heavily. Was she able to notice this? He felt some sweat develop on his forehead, but of course he dared not move to wipe it off. But wouldn’t she see that it was there? It was agony, with millions of dollars and his financial future at stake. Why had he gotten himself into this mess so soon? As her contemplation reached almost ten minutes, he yearned for this torture to end. Where was that kid from earlier in the tournament to call the clock?
He desperately wanted her to fold—a desire stronger than just about any he had experienced in his life. It was such an overwhelming, all-powerful wish that he wondered how long he could keep the intense emotion from being obvious.
Or possibly it already was. Because when she finally spoke, she offered two simple, devastating words.
“All in.”
His heart sank in profound disappointment as the crowd erupted in a loud, supportive cheer, thrilled by their star’s boldness. Some chanted her name, while others screamed words of encouragement. Many times in his life, Kyler had irrationally felt as if virtually the whole world was against him, but now it really seemed true. Except for a few supporters in the audience, he was forced to play the villain here, and no one wanted him to prevail.
He told himself that he needed to ignore all that and just make the best, most correct poker decision. He had to forget all his personal debt and the millions of dollars the wrong decision here might cost him and his children.
So many chips were already in the middle. If he called and won, she’d be eliminated in ninth place and he would be the chip leader with eight players remaining—an incredible position that would make the $8.8 million more attainable than ever. But if he called and lost, she would be the chip leader, and he’d be virtually gone—barely enough chips to continue playing. And if he folded? He’d already given up about half his chips on this hand. He would still be alive, but greatly damaged, and in a much weaker position going forward.
Now she was the statue—staring straight ahead, motionless— while he tried to figure out what to do. She clearly didn’t have a great hand. He had sensed unmistakable weakness as she deliberated. He still thought she probably had a draw or a small pair—in either case, he’d either be ahead or would still have outs with an ace or king on the turn or river giving him the win, or maybe even runner-runner hearts bringing him a flush.
She had no doubt detected that he was uncomfortable before the all-in bet. So maybe she was bluffing simply based on her read that he wanted her to fold. And as cool and professional as she usually was, maybe now she was on tilt after that fiery altercation with the crown prince.
He had gotten this far—inconceivably far—by trusting his instincts. And he had some great recent history of successfully calling with ace high in a big hand. He thought back to that one hand at the home game final table where he won his WSOP entry. He had shown the winning cards and then heard one of the watchers cry out: “Ace high. Oh my God . . .”
He looked right at Priya, their eyes met, and he knew exactly what he needed to do.
He was, and had always been, for better or worse, a gambler. And right now he wanted to gamble on the fact that he was right.
With his eyes still locked with hers, he announced the biggest decision of his life.
“Call.”
