Rodjen u Omsku, Sibir, od oca doktora matematike i majke šahovskog velemajstora, Dalibor je od najranije mladosti demostrirao svoj fascinantni matematički talenat; matrice i determinante je od šale rešavao dok su se njegovi vršnjaci mučili sa brojanjem do deset, a već na polasku u školu je izvodio teoriju relativiteta i kompleksne statističke proračune.
Pošto je često ostajao u brizi svoje bake, bivšeg KGB agenta, jer su mu roditelji stalno bili na službenim putovanjima, duge zimske noći provodi igrajući poker sa njom i tu razvija snažnu zavisnost za kockom i alkoholom koje ga prate celog života. Sa dvanaest godina odlazi u Moskvu da kupi so za ovce i tamo, za jednu noć, dovodi šest velikih kazinoa do bankrota; no, mlad i neiskusan, iste te milione rubalja gubi do jutra u raznim kafanama i bordelima podmoskovlja.
Da bi obuzdali ovu bolest roditelji ga šalju u jedno maleno selo na krajnjem severu Rusije no on tamo sa čobanima organizuje trke glista koje postaju čuvene u celoj Aziji, dovodeći razne avanturiste i milionere, i tu sreće jednog maskiranog CIA agenta kome između čašica votke izlaže principe fisionih procesa… Ovaj uspeva da mu organizuje prebeg na zapad namamivši ga pričama o Las Vegasu.
Tamo njegova karijera cveta i uskoro dobija Fieldsovu medalju no sve više kazina mu zabranjuje ulazak te se seli u Čikago gde sa Fermijem konstruiše prvi nuklearni reaktor, no ovo epsko partnerstvo se ubrzo prekida jer ga Enrike jedne noći vara na pokeru.
Shvativši neophodnost obilja energije koje bi pomoglo u razvoju Sovjetskog Saveza Staljin koristi ovu svađu i ponovo ga dovodi u Moskvu i tu Dalibor konstruiše F-1, uvodeci SSSR u zlatno doba…
Priznat i bogat, neko vreme uspeva da se otrgne ralja propasti no njegovo prokletstvo nastavlja da ga proganja i pošto je, dobro pijan, promašio proračun na jednoj partiji ajnca gubi sve što je posedovao i završava kao beskućnik na stepenicama Boljšoj Teatra.
Par godina kasnije, Gorbačov se smiluje na njega i zapošljava ga kao direktora Černobila no ovaj nesretnik, ostavši sam između smena, ponovo poseže za flašom i od kontrolne table misli da je poker aparat te izaziva havariju koja je odjeknula svetom…
Bežeći od svega, dolazi u Berlin gde sreće Jelenu, romansa se rađa i ona ga upoznaje sa Nikom Kejvom… Dane i dane ovaj trio provodi u razgovoru i Dalibor uči da svira gitaru, osećajući kako su muzika i matematika povezane, ali njegove očvrsle ruke stalno kidaju tanke gitarske žice pa mu Kejv predlaže da pređe na bas.
Ostalo je istorija – do dan danas, ovaj virtuoz ne ispušta bas iz ruku i sada prezrivo posmatra ekspanziju kockarnica koje ga više ne dotiču, shvativši da je pravi dobitak njegovog života, Jelena, nešto što se ne može dobiti za kockarskim stolom.
Born in Omsk, Siberia, to a father who was a doctor of mathematics and a mother who was a chess grandmaster, Dalibor demonstrated his fascinating mathematical talent from an early age. He effortlessly solved matrices and determinants while his peers struggled with counting to ten, and by the time he started school, he was performing theories of relativity and complex statistical calculations.
Often left in the care of his grandmother, a former KGB agent, due to his parents’ constant business trips, he spent long winter nights playing poker with her, developing a strong addiction to gambling and alcohol that followed him throughout his life. At twelve, he went to Moscow to buy salt for sheep and there, in one night, brought six major casinos to bankruptcy; but young and inexperienced, he lost millions of rubles by morning in various taverns and brothels of the Moscow suburbs.
To curb this illness, his parents sent him to a small village in the far north of Russia, but there he organized worm races with the shepherds, which became famous throughout Asia, attracting various adventurers and millionaires. It was there he met a masked CIA agent to whom he drunkenly revealed the principles of fission processes. This agent managed to arrange his defection to the West, luring him with stories of Las Vegas.
In Vegas, his career flourished and he soon received the Fields Medal, but more and more casinos banned him, so he moved to Chicago where he constructed the first nuclear reactor with Enrico Fermi. However, this epic partnership soon ended when Enrico cheated him in a poker game one night.
Realizing the necessity of the abundance of energy that would help the development of the Soviet Union, Stalin used this quarrel to bring him back to Moscow. There, Dalibor constructed F-1, ushering the USSR into a golden age…
Recognized and wealthy, for a while he managed to escape the jaws of destruction, but his curse continued to haunt him. After a miscalculation during a drunken game of Euchre, he lost everything he owned and ended up homeless on the steps of the Bolshoi Theatre.
Years later, Gorbachev took pity on him and employed him as the director of Chernobyl, but this unfortunate man, left alone between shifts, reached for the bottle again and, mistaking the control panel for a poker machine, caused a disaster that echoed around the world…
Fleeing from everything, he came to Berlin where he met Jelena, a romance was born, and she introduced him to Nick Cave. Day and day, this trio spent in conversation and Dalibor learned to play guitar, feeling the connection between music and mathematics. However, his hardened hands kept breaking the thin guitar strings, so Cave suggested he switch to bass.
The rest is history – to this day, this virtuoso never lets go of his bass and now disdainfully observes the expansion of casinos that no longer affect him, realizing that the true winnings of his life, Jelena, is something that cannot be won at the gambling table.