Poker is a game of skill, where players must weigh the size of their bets against potential rewards. But to win well, you also need luck. Charlie Ergen, the American communications tycoon, knows all about capitalising when the winds of good fortune are at his back. In his younger years he earned his living playing cards, before amassing a $9 billion fortune in satellite TV. In 1980, when Mr Ergen started selling rooftop dishes, investing in space looked like a very long shot. Yet he defied the odds.
This week the 67-year-old made a wager on an another high-risk venture. The magnate invested $50 million in One Web, the satellite operator that the UK government bought from a New York bankruptcy court this month. Taxpayers