Скачать или смотреть THE PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN, Somerset Maugham, Narrated by Christopher Xavier

In the bustling streets of old Seoul, amid missionary sermons and forgotten divines, a slim, paper-bound book emerges from the dust: The Complete Poker Player, 1879. Its author, John Blackbridge—actuary, counsellor-at-law, and unflinching observer of human folly—never meant to write his memoir, yet every maxim, every wry aside sketches him more vividly than any portrait. From his disdain for Jack Pots to his conviction that poker is a proving ground equal to governance or war, Blackbridge reveals a gentleman’s world of dignity, wit, and ruthless clarity. His aphorisms cut as cleanly as a shuffle of cards: luck is fleeting, honour must hold, and no true gentleman plays only to win. In these pages, the game becomes more than chance—it becomes a mirror of life itself.