Rounders’ greatest strength is capturing what it feels like to play poker. Early on, Damon announces he’s going to “over-bet the pot and make it look like I’m trying to buy it.” That’s the way people steeped in poker actually talk, but it’s easy to figure out that Mike’s going to bet a lot of money to make it look like a bluff. Sure, in Rounders, characters say things like “give me three stacks of high society,” but the context always makes the meaning clear. Most gambling films either totally disregard the patois of the poker room or else abandon all hope of their audience understanding, filling the gambling scene with two minutes of indecipherable babble about runnered gut draws and wired cowboys. It also does a great job of layering the film with poker lingo. The film is replete with cardroom wisdom like, “play the man, not the cards,” and “if you can’t spot the sucker in your first 30 minutes a the table, you are the sucker.” Not that there isn’t a healthy slice of romance cake to be had (please don’t think too hard about the ingredients of romance cake). It’s a wonderful pairing and a big reason why Rounders is not just a brochure for the romance of poker. So how are they going to turn a few hundred dollars into twenty five grand? I really hope I don’t have to tell you.Įven at this relatively early stage in his career, Damon had nailed the naive good guy schtick and Edward Norton possessed a penchant for coming across all tragic and loveable. A snafu parade winds up in Mike and Worm both being liable for the money, with five days to pay before mobster Grama (Michael Rispoli) makes card protectors out of their skulls. Not to mention the $25,000 debt he acquired before his stint in the slammer. He borrows money against Mike’s name, cheats constantly and generally ruins every situation he burrows his way into. Which would be great, were it not for Worm’s destructive tendencies. McDermott’s respectable tendons straining against the inexorable attraction of a night spent winning other people’s money. That all changes when Worm is released from jail and, quicker than you can say “busted flush draw”, they’re back on the game.

A man who won’t even touch the warm felt of a poker table lest he spiral back into the condition that compelled him blow $30,000 to mobster Tony KGB (John Malkovich). Mike begins the movie as a reformed character.

Rounders poker chips