[Chapter 226: Casual Talk at the Poker Table]
"Here he comes!"
Link tossed aside Quentin and headed to the entertainment room to join a few friends for a game of Texas Hold'em.
Hollywood had plenty of famous gamblers, like Ben Affleck, Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Tobey Maguire, and even director Martin Scorsese.
Today, two of them were here.
Ben and Nicolas not only frequently gambled in Las Vegas but were also members of one of Hollywood's top poker clubs. Whenever they attended parties, they would pull out the cards and invite their friends to join in on a few rounds.
Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, and Joaquin Phoenix all played less often but were skilled when they did. As they held their cigarettes, squinting their eyes, they struck various poses that made them look like seasoned pros.
Only Link was a novice; his poker skills were pretty basic, and within half an hour, he had lost over two thousand dollars. Seeing him lose lifted everyone's spirits, bringing forth a sense of thrill derived from taking from the rich, even Quentin couldn't resist jumping in to try to win some pocket money.
In Texas Hold'em, the more players, the livelier it got, and Link didn't mind others joining in to rake in his cash.
"Link, you're kind of boring. Aside from making movies, you don't seem to have any other fun activities. I suggest you take part in stuff like this more often; otherwise, making all that money doesn't mean much," Ben Affleck said, holding a cigarette and shuffling the cards with swagger.
Seeing his attitude, Link regretted not giving him a harder time while filming Se7en, wishing he had kept him as wrapped up in work as Leonardo was, unable to escape for a week after shooting wrapped.
"Link does play tennis and golf, he's not as boring as you think," Sofia Coppola chimed in, holding her cards.
"Link is really great at tennis, I've played with him a couple of times, and he almost wiped the floor with me," Jim Carrey said, sitting at the poker table. He looked at his cards more than he called, focusing on just being part of the game.
"Link can also swim, box, practice martial arts, and he can even cook. He's practically a superhero," Sofia continued.
Ben Affleck smirked, "Golf? Tennis? Cooking? What kind of hobbies are those? They sound incredibly dull. Come on, Link, don't you have any interesting hobbies?"
"You're talking about improper and unhealthy hobbies, right?" Johnny Depp teased as the group burst into laughter.
"Link has a thing for beautiful women," Nicolas Cage said, catching everyone off guard, prompting a loud round of laughter.
"True, that counts as a hobby, albeit not a particularly improper one," Ben said, pounding the table in amusement.
"Focus on the poker, don't just throw out random comments," Sofia shot a stern look at her cousin Nicolas Cage.
Nicolas shrugged, tossing fifty bucks into the pot.
Link glanced at his cards and followed suit with another fifty dollars. "Cage, I heard Scorsese is planning to make a gambling movie and wants to work with you. When is that happening?"
"It's not exactly a gambling movie. It's a love story set in Las Vegas, a fantastic one at that. But Scorsese is still modifying the script, so we don't have a final draft yet, and filming won't start until after August," Nicolas replied as he looked at his cards.
"I heard Scorsese takes forever to make movies; from project initiation to completion, it often takes over a year," Jim Carrey noted.
"That's pretty normal. Uncle Scorsese puts in a ton of effort, fine-tuning each detail. The quality is always top-notch," Sofia commented, tossing her cards onto the table.
"Exactly! Great films take time to craft; it's the bad ones that rush through production, finishing in a couple of weeks while churning out three or four films a year," Quentin added with a knowing grin.
Link shook his head. "Will it be hard for you not to make fun of me?"
"Look at that, someone inadvertently confessed to making bad movies," Quentin laughed.
"What's so funny? Link filmed Paranormal Activity in just seven days, raking in over six hundred million worldwide -- averaging a hundred million a day, while you spent over a year on Pulp Fiction, pulling in just over a hundred million. Don't you feel bad about that?" Sofia jabbed.
"Hmph!" Quentin frowned. "Box office success doesn't necessarily make a movie good."
"Se7en took just over three months from conception to the final cut, and it even won the Palme d'Or. Can you really say Link's films aren't good?" Sofia challenged.
"We haven't even seen that film; who knows if it's actually good or not?" Quentin responded.
"It really is great," Ben Affleck couldn't contain himself while referencing the film, "I can tell you, the way the plot is structured..."
"Don't spoil it!" Sofia tapped the table.
"Alright, alright!" Ben shrugged. "Forget about the plot. Just know that my performance hit an all-time high in that film. I never thought I could act so well. After each shoot, I'd watch the footage and think, 'No way that's me.' It felt incredible. Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Jennifer Connelly were also stellar -- definitely not far behind me."
"That was all Link's guidance," Sofia reminded him.
"True, but if I had no talent to begin with, even Link's guidance wouldn't help," Ben laughed, winking.
Jim Carrey chuckled, "Link, when do we get to collaborate? I'd love for you to guide me."
"Comedy isn't my strong suit, so I doubt I would be of much help," Link replied.
Jim shrugged, "Actually, my dream is to become a serious Broadway actor, not just a comic. If the right script comes along, I'd love to do a serious film."
"Sounds good to me," Link smiled.
"Can we drop the movie talk and just focus on poker? Discussing films messes up my groove," Quentin grumbled, having just lost a hand and tossing his cards onto the table in frustration.
"We're all filmmakers; if we don't talk about films, what else is there to discuss? You can be really annoying," Sofia replied.
Quentin rolled his eyes. "With how you defend Link, anyone would think you were his wife."
"What did you just say?!"
Sofia stood up, slamming her hands on the table.
"Okay, okay, let's not start shouting," Link quickly intervened, pulling Sofia back in hope of minimizing Quentin's remarks.
Sofia then left the poker table, heading to the living room to chat with Monica, Renee, and the female companions of Keanu and Nicolas.
"Sofia has quite the temper," Quentin observed.
"You'd be better off not provoking her; when she gets angry, she can go after even me," Nicolas shrugged.
Quentin glanced at Link, curious. "I gotta know, with Sofia having such a hot temper, how do you keep her in check?"
"We have mutual respect and appreciation," Link said simply.
"Hmph! I'm starting to not understand women. Good, loyal men like us get no attention, but guys like Link, who are not exactly saints, seem to attract everyone. Isn't this a case of 'bad money drives out good?'"
"Definitely!" Ben nodded.
Link peered at his hand, containing the Ace of Hearts and the Ace of Diamonds, with one Ace of Spades showing on the table along with a pair of tens. His best hand would be a three of a kind with Aces, giving him a strong chance to win as long as he didn't run into a full house or a straight flush.
Link continued to play aggressively, putting in $1,200 over three rounds. In the end, he faced off against Ben Affleck and Keanu Reeves, only to discover Ben had four tens -- a bomb, while Keanu claimed a straight flush of hearts with a Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, and Eight.
Keanu came out as the big winner, while Link and Ben lost over a grand each.
"Link, I've got some bad news related to you. Want to hear it?" Nicolas Cage asked as he studied his cards.
*****
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