WPT Champion John Gale Chooses Poker in A Game of Life and Death

Mar 15, 2016

John Gale

Every player at this week’s WPT Vienna Main Event will be determined to bag the title and see their name up in lights, but for one man, the possibility of repeating his previous victory on the WPT is something he thought he’d never get the chance to do.

WPT Champions Club member and 2005 WPT PCA Main Event winner John Gale is 62 years old and hails from Bushey in Hertfordshire. The ebullient British player went from a player who took each day as it came on the poker tour to one who faced the longest odds of all recently, after he was forced to take an extended break due to serious health issues.

The discovery of a brain tumour led to two unsuccessful operations on his brain and open heart surgery during a period of his life where John didn’t know if he would ever live to see another deal. John’s brain tumour was revealed to be benign, but was – and still is – growing. The subsequent recovery meant his return to the poker table was a long and arduous one, during which time he missed countless tournaments. He took some time out from the Day 1a action to tell us about his efforts here in Austria’s stunning capital and his recovery from such an ordeal.

“From 2008 – 2015, I played only a handful of events in London. Firstly, it was due to business commitments, and then unfortunately health issues, which kept me out of the game for some time. I never thought I’d be playing again.”

He is, and will be back to play Day 1b after being unable to quite last the whole of Day 1a, busting to Pierre Neuville in dramatic fashion. But each hand is a bonus, each day at the felt is what John now lives to enjoy.

“I’m just thrilled to be back. I was always very light-hearted! Poker is meant to be fun, I always enjoyed it as much as I do now. Frankly, I could live without sex before I could live without poker.”

We’ll clarify the tone of that for you, as John is happy to confirm that’s purely due to how much pleasure he takes from poker!

“It was a real eye-opener,” says John of his life-changing recovery from the tumour and attendant health issues. “You take a lot of things for granted in life. Brain tumours and open heart surgery? You always think it’ll be someone else. When it hits you, it’s like a sledgehammer over the head.”

It’s not just the emotional hit that coming so close to death brings. As John told us, the impact on his body and time away from the life he wanted to live took a huge toll on him.
“The physical drain is enormous, the recovery time is huge, but the disappointment because I had two unsuccessful lots of surgery was really tough.”

John Gale

Although John keeps his emotions firmly in check, there is a slow echo behind those words that is inescapable. It clearly knocked him out in every way it could.

“I had to take a debilitating drug. It was the only thing that was trying to keep the tumour in check. I made a decision that I couldn’t live on and continue to take it. I couldn’t function; I was a zombie, I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I thought ‘I’ll take my chances’ and I actually feel great.”

In black and white, that may sound logical, the kind of decision that is the ultimate weigh-up of logic and ‘value’ in a true-life sense. But anyone’s life is the highest stake of all.

“I don’t know if it was the right decision. I’ll probably know in a couple of years’ time. The neurologist strongly advised me against it, because even though it’s benign, the tumour is still growing. But if I can have a little bit of quality of life instead of a great deal of quantity that is of no quality whatsoever, I’d rather have that.”

Many poker players might live with little awareness of their own mortality, during a big hand as well as in their time away from the table. So has coming so close to death seen John change at the table?

“No! I’ve always loved poker, and sat down and tried to have fun. I feel sorry for people who take it too seriously, I really do. They’re not getting enough enjoyment out of it. I’m grateful to be here. People talk about bad beats in poker. With all the heartache and tragedy going on in the world, it’s a tiny bit of bad luck if you have the best hand and you get stuffed. C’est la vie, there’s another tournament tomorrow.”

It’s obviously a mantra John lives by every single day. Having achieved that first WPT title 11 years ago, how does the WPT Champions Club member feel about the opportunity to make it two titles here in Vienna this week after so long since his maiden victory?

“I was a young spring chicken of 83 then, and now I’m 94 it’s a bit harder to concentrate!” John jokes. “I’d absolutely love it, though. It would be fantastic. To win any tournament is a blessing, and the ‘high’ you feel is something that only other players can actually appreciate. But as long as I have fun, that’s the main thing.”

It seems like with John Gale, having fun at the table is always guaranteed. In fact, we’d stake our life on it.

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