Rounders (film)
Rounders is a
1998 film about the underground world of high-stakes
poker. Directed by
John Dahl and starring
Matt Damon and
Edward Norton, the movie follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a huge debt. The term "
rounder" refers to a person whose sole means of earning a living is by playing cards.
The movie opened to mixed reviews and only made a modest amount of money. However, with the growing popularity of
Texas hold 'em and other poker games,
Rounders has become a cult hit.
Rounders is about a former rounder Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) who is torn between his commitment to his girlfriend Jo (
Gretchen Mol) to stop gambling, and his loyalty to his best friend "Worm" (Edward Norton). Worm has a large gambling debt and slowly convinces Mike to use his card playing skills to help him make the money to pay off the debt.
The movie opens with a confident Mike gathering his entire bankroll ($30,000) with the intention of doubling it at a high-stakes poker game with crime boss Teddy KGB (
John Malkovich). However, Mike is soundly beaten by KGB's aces full and loses everything. Devastated by the loss, Mike retreats from poker and swears to his girlfriend Jo to never gamble again.
Several months later, Mike is dividing his time between law school and a night job driving a truck for his former poker mentor Joey Knish (
John Turturro). Mike has so far kept his promise to stop gambling, however his poker skills are as sharp as ever. One scene shows Mike making a delivery to his professor, Abe Petrovsky (
Martin Landau), during a late night poker game and instantly reads every player's hand, impressing everyone at the table.
Mike's friend Worm enters the picture after being released from prison. Mike picks up Worm after his release and Worm quickly convinces Mike to join him in a night of poker playing. Mike rationalizes that it is only one night and there is not much risk as the pair plan to just cheat a few rich kids out of their money.
Unbeknownst to Mike, Worm owes $15,000 to various people and needs to make that money before they start to come looking for payment. When Mike and Worm return to
New York City, Mike introduces Worm to a local high-stakes game, warns him to play straight, then leaves.
Mike returns home to his girlfriend who is suspicious of his activities. Her fears are confirmed when she discovers a wad of cash in Mike's pocket when he is taking a shower. She leaves him there but he quickly catches up with her and their law school partners to start preparing for a
mock trial. However, just as Mike sits down, Knish shows up and tells Mike that Worm is cheating and ruining Mike's reputation since Mike vouched for Worm. Mike finds Worm up $10,000 and cheating two members of the
Russian Mafia. He tells Worm to stop cheating and lose the money back to them before he gets hurt. Worm agrees and Mike leaves him again.
Worm however has other plans. He cashes out and takes a break from playing poker by going to a strip club. Worm is found by his old partner Gramma (
Michael Rispoli), who tells Worm that he has consolidated his debts with the help of his new partner, Teddy KGB, and now Worm owes him $25,000 with only 5 days to pay it off. Gramma then assaults Worm and takes the $10,000 he has made so far.
As Mike is returning home, he meets Worm in front of his apartment building. After they go upstairs, they find that Jo has left Mike and taken most of their furniture. Worm tells Mike that when he is feeling down, poker is the only cure. Mike agrees and they both leave for
Atlantic City. While there, Worm comes clean and tells Mike about his debt. When they return to the city, Mike and Worm meet with Gramma to try to buy more time. Worm ends up angering Gramma and Mike vouches for the debt to prevent Gramma from attacking Worm. When they leave Mike tells Worm that he will help, but it has to be on Mike's terms: straight games, no cheating.
After a couple of days and several games, Mike and Worm have about half the money they need. Worm gets impatient and tells Mike of a high-stakes game in
Binghamton, which is about three hours away from NYC, although Mike mentions it being "Five hours each way". Mike agrees and they make the trip, only to find the game is held by a collection of state troopers. Mike tells Worm to go bowling and proceeds to play poker and increase his stake. After some time Worm shows up, sits at the table and immediately begins to cheat, much to Mike's dismay. Mike pretends to be a stranger to Worm, and tries to continue to play straight, but Worm repeatedly deals Mike cheating hands. It's not long before they are caught and are severely beaten by the off-duty policemen, who take all the money they have made. With nothing left Worm decides it is time to run, but Mike tells his friend he can not do it and they part ways.
Mike first tries to borrow the money from Knish who turns him down, offering to help anyway he can but not by giving him any money. It is at this point that Mike reveals why he risked everything at KGB's place at the beginning of the story: because he had earlier gone to the casino and won a hand against the legendary
Johnny Chan (who played himself in the film). Mike then tries Professor Petrovsky, who sympathizes with Mike, but can only lend him $10,000. With only hours left to pay off the debt, Mike decides the only one thing left to do is to face Teddy KGB again.
Mike returns to KGB's club, who is more than happy to accommodate Mike with a game. It is not long before Mike doubles his money. With enough to pay off the debt and be half way back to paying back the professor, Mike starts to leave the club. However, KGB goads Mike into staying by saying that he's only paying Mike with his own money. Mike continues to play masterfully, and discovers KGB's
tell. Instead of taking advantage of this knowledge, though, Mike lets KGB know that his tell has been made, which allows Mike to rattle KGB. This advantage helps Mike win the game, ultimately taking KGB for a little over $60,000. Mike's final hand is 89 (an eight and a nine), and the flop is 67T (a six, a seven and a ten), giving Mike a straight (five cards in order, a strong hand). Mike slow-plays it (e.g., he bluffs that his hand is not as good as it is), goading KGB into eventually going all-in. KGB is infuriated but orders his underlings not to hurt Mike, making the admission, "He beat me. Straight up. Pay him. Pay that man his money." (Note that "straight up" means "honestly.") After Mike pays back everyone he owes, Mike is left with his original $30,000. The movie ends with him heading off to
Las Vegas to try his skills at the
World Series of Poker.
Rounders began filming in December of
1997 and was set mostly in New York City, with the notable exception being that the law school scenes were filmed at
Rutgers Law School in
Newark, New Jersey.
Despite an unremarkable theatrical release, the film has gone on to become somewhat of a
cult classic. Some speculate it has contributed to the current popularity of
Texas hold 'em and attendant TV shows, most notably the
World Series of Poker. The
2003 champion
Chris Moneymaker has said he became interested in poker after watching
Rounders with a friend. The movie is widely quoted by poker players at physical and
online poker rooms.
Rounders earned $8,459,126 during its opening weekend and closed with a domestic gross of $22,912,409.
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Matt Damon as Mike McDermott
*
Edward Norton as Lester 'Worm' Murphy
*
John Turturro as Joey Knish
*
Gretchen Mol as Jo (Mike's Girlfriend)
*
John Malkovich as Teddy KGB
*
Famke Janssen as Petra
*
Michael Rispoli as Gramma
*
Martin Landau as Abe Petrovsky
* Matt Damon and Edward Norton were both sponsored by
Binion's Horseshoe Casino in the 1998 World Series of Poker tournament. Damon was seated at a table with poker legend
Doyle Brunson. Norton was beaten holding a full house by
Surinder Sunar holding four tens. Damon was beaten about an hour later by Brunson. Damon went all-in with pocket kings, Brunson called with pocket aces. When asked if they would ever play in the tournament again, Norton said "Anytime they want to stake us $10,000..."
*
Johnny Chan agreed to be in the movie because his daughter wanted to meet Matt Damon.
* The supporting character, Joey Knish (
John Turturro), is a veteran rounder, and friend and mentor to Mike who tries to protect him from his gambling instincts. Knish taught Mike everything he knows and plays poker not for the thrill or challenge but only for the money to support his family. Professional poker player
Howard Lederer has been quoted as saying that Joey Knish is the true hero of
Rounders.
* Mike is seen taking money out of a book called "
Super/System", a poker book written by the legendary Doyle Brunson. It is considered many to be the "bible" of the poker game. Mike himself pulls multiple quotes from the book, namely calling Texas Hold'em the "Cadillac" of poker games.
* The cheating technique used by Worm is called a "Mechanic's grip". It involves ordered shuffling and dealing from the bottom of the deck a series of pre-arranged cards. Mike states that Worm employs the "Double Duke", a technique where the dealer intentionally gives the mark a strong hand, and then deals an even stronger hand to a cohort to encourage betting.
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Box Office Mojo*
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Review by Jonathan Dunder*
Rounders movie fan site*
Teddy KGB's Blog*
"EuroRounders" Parody
