Rounders John Malkovich Poker

'I sat with the best in the world, Knish, and I won.'

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Movie Info Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) loses his money in a poker game against Russian gangster Teddy 'KGB' (John Malkovich). Under pressure from his girlfriend, Jo (Gretchen Mol), he promises to. Teddy KGB Rounders Poker John Malkovich Gamble Coffee Mug. DESCRIPTION: Printed and shipped from the USA: All of our mugs are screen printed in the USA. Printing domestically allows us to uphold strict quality control, get products in the market quicker, and reinforces our commitment to keeping as much of our product production stateside as possible.

There are many poker players who would love to be able to say those words, and not many who haven't seen the movie the quote comes from either.

Rounders is what you might call a cult classic movie, and it's certainly a poker classic that has inspired new players to enter the poker realm and has elevated Texas Hold'em to its current status as most-popular game.

How Rounders Changed Poker

After 10 years the impact the movie made on young poker players and the industry can still be seen.

'I have seen Rounders about 30 times and it played a huge part in my developing a strong addiction to all the facets about No-Limit Hold'em,' said Hevad Khan, Team PokerStars Pro.

Khan isn't alone in being inspired by the movie. Russ 'Dutch' Boyd credited the movie for getting him interested in poker and so has Gavin Griffin.

There are a few reasons why Rounders made poker so appealing, or at least a few theories as to why it did.

Khan brought up the David vs. Goliath storyline that draws people into the movie and to the game of poker. Whether you want to call it a sport or not, poker is a game where giants can be slain with brains and even the best of players can be toppled.

Everyone Has a Poker idol

Vanessa Rousso, Team PokerStars pro, has a similar theory for why the movie helped popularize the game so much.

Rounders John Malkovich Poker Games

'Everyone has a poker idol they wish they could come face to face with. Watching that dream and that uncertainty unfold for these characters is spellbinding,' she said.

'Not to mention those lines you hear people repeat over and over again like, 'Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.' It's priceless.'

Rousso also said the movie helped define the underground poker scene in New York and showed how judges, cops and ultimately the pros in Vegas were all hooked on a game of skill.

Lou Krieger, poker player and author, agreed that Rounders was good for the poker industry because it spurred an interest in the game, and it depicted Texas Hold'em as a game of skill rather than a pure gamble, like craps or roulette.

Griffin, also a member of Team PokerStars Pro, says that that realistic depiction of the game is what helps Rounders draw people to poker.

'They don't just glamorize poker and gambling. You get to know the bad things about poker along with the good things,' Griffin said. 'People don't always come out on top, and it's good to see that.'

'Rounders brought a lot of celebrities into the game and created a lot of interest in poker over the years,' Griffin said. 'I still hear people quoting the movie at the table and talking about how it got them interested in poker in the first place.'

A Window Into the Poker World

Rounders became a window that allowed people to look into the poker world, giving it a broader appeal.

'With star power like Ed Norton, Matt Damon, John Malkovich, Gretchen Mol and John Turturro, it let poker cross over into the mainstream and made poker cool,' Rousso said. 'Many of us believe that it set the stage for the era of live, televised play that finally catapulted poker to center stage.'

Khan said he thought Rounders coupled with the WSOP broadcasting worked together, coincidentally, to give us the current poker craze.

That's a sentiment reflected by Krieger as well. He agreed that Rounders kicked up an interest in poker, but it was Chris Moneymaker's WSOP victory and the use of the lipstick cameras at the poker tables that did more to popularize the game.

As big an influence as it was, Rounders was not without its faults in the eyes of players who have been around the poker industry a while.

'While I enjoyed the film, there was a lot that was incredibly misleading about it,' Krieger said. 'First of all, when Matt Damon's character is watching the law professor's poker game and he is so absolutely clear about what hands are held by the players.'

Krieger said it would be 'more realistic' if he put players on a range of hands, coming up with some percentage chance of what different players are holding, rather than the specificity of his analysis in the film.

'But more important than that is the fact that the entire plot develops when Worm takes $10,000 in credit and charges it to the account of Matt Damon's character. That would never happen,' Krieger said.

'If it did, I'd simply go into a casino, take $10,000 out of some other player's account, and play with no risk to myself. Yet the entire plot of the film develops from that incident!'

However, Krieger said he didn't think the movie had any negative effects on poker - unless you count creating players who think poker is easy to beat and who delude themselves into believing they have the requisite skills when they don't.

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'There are lots of people who have overly inflated opinions of their own ability, and those people will continue to lose money at poker unless they improve their game. With their inability to see themselves as others do - flaws and all - if they didn't have poker, they'd find some other road to failure and oblivion.'

Rounders Captures Energy and Tension of Poker

Phil Gordon, who said he's watched the movie about five times over the years, took a much more lighthearted approach to how it may have negatively affected the poker world.

'The only negative I have experienced is a tendency for players to break out really, really bad Russian accents when they deliver a bad beat, à la John Malkovich [who also did a really, really bad Russian accent]. 'I stick it in you,' said the Full Tilt Poker pro.

Good or bad, that quotability is just one sign of the impact Rounders had on the poker world. Rousso sums up the movie and its effect best:

'There have been lots of movies that have included poker, but only Rounders really captures the energy and tension in the game. And that's why it stands as the best poker movie ever made.'

Rounders is a 1998 American drama film about the underground world of high-stakes poker, directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The story follows two friends who need to win at high-stakes poker to quickly pay off a large debt. The term 'rounder' refers to a person traveling around from city to city seeking high-stakes card games.

Rounders opened to generally mixed reviews and was moderately successful at the box office. With the poker boom in the early 2000s, the film later became a cult hit.

Plot[edit]

New York City law student and gifted poker player Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) dreams of winning the World Series of Poker. At an underground Texas hold 'em game run by Russian mobster Teddy 'KGB' (John Malkovich), an overconfident Mike loses his entire $30,000 bankroll in a single hand. Shaken, he promises his girlfriend and fellow student Jo (Gretchen Mol) he has quit poker, and concentrates on law school. His mentor Joey Knish (John Turturro) offers to stake him to rebuild his bankroll but Mike declines, and instead accepts a part-time job to make ends meet.

Several months pass and Mike stays true to his promise until his childhood friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy (Edward Norton) is released from prison. While Mike is an honest player, Worm is a hustler and unapologetic cheat. To help Worm pay off a debt, Mike sets him up with games across town, and reluctantly sits in on a game, interfering with his studies and his relationship with Jo. Mike allows Worm to play on his credit at the Chesterfield Club; however, Worm takes out $10,000 and begins a tab in Mike's name. Worm runs into Grama (Michael Rispoli), a dangerous pimp, who has bought Worm's debt – Worm now owes $25,000 directly to Grama, who is working for KGB. Grama takes Worm's $10,000, threatening him to pay the rest. As Mike returns to his poker lifestyle and friends, Jo ends their relationship.

Mike learns from Petra (Famke Janssen) at the Chesterfield that Worm has racked up a $6,000 debt in Mike's name. In Atlantic City, Worm tells Mike about his debt to Grama but withholds that he is working for KGB. Mike proposes to Grama that Worm pay weekly installments; Grama considers the offer but also mocks Worm for his inability to pay him. Worm responds by insulting Grama and as the two nearly come to blows, Mike defuses the situation by agreeing to vouch for Worm and an angry Grama gives them five days to pay the remaining $15,000. Mike decides to help Worm win the money by playing in several games in and around the city.

On a winning streak, Mike earns $7,200 in three days, but still needs to double it in 48 hours. Worm directs Mike to an out-of-town game hosted by New York state troopers, where he wins almost the full $15,000 before Worm unexpectedly joins the game. The officers catch Worm base-dealing to help Mike; they are beaten up and relieved of their entire bankroll. Worm finally confesses that Grama is working for KGB. With their lives in danger, Worm decides to flee, but Mike returns to the city, cutting ties with Worm.

Mike asks Grama for more time, to no avail. Mike asks Knish for the money but is refused out of principle. During the conversation with Knish, Mike reveals his motivation for taking the ill-fated risk at KGB's club and why he thinks he can compete and possibly win the World Series of Poker. He even quotes Worm saying that Knish 'sees all the angles but doesn't have the stones to play any' after Knish had already refused to help financially. Desperate, Mike asks his law school professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau), who loans him $10,000. Mike challenges KGB to a second heads-up, No-Limit Texas Hold'em game for the remaining debt, with winner-take-all stakes, which KGB accepts. Mike beats KGB in the first session, winning $20,000. KGB offers to let Mike's winnings 'ride' and continue the game, but Mike – with enough to pay off most of his debts – declines. As he is about to leave, KGB taunts Mike that he is paying him with the money he lost to KGB from their previous game. Mike changes his mind and decides to continue playing.

Mike doubles the blinds at the risk of losing everything to KGB again, and possibly his life. As the night wears on, Mike spots KGB's tell and folds, deducing KGB has a better hand. Irate at the missed chance to win it all, KGB begins to play on 'tilt'. In the final hand, Mike baits a boastful KGB into going all-in, and defeats him with a nut straight. KGB throws a tantrum at having been lured into a mistake. Despite Grama's urging, KGB, rattled, calls off his goons and admits Mike won fairly, allowing him to leave with his winnings.

With over $60,000, Mike settles Worm's $15,000 debt to Grama, the Chesterfield's $6,000 credit, Petrovsky's $10,000 loan, and restores his original bankroll of 'three stacks of high society.' Mike drops out of law school, says goodbye to Jo, and leaves New York for Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker.

Cast[edit]

• Matt Damon as Mike McDermott
• Edward Norton as Lester 'Worm' Murphy
• John Turturro as Joey Knish, character inspired by wry underground poker player Joel 'Bagels' Rosenberg^[2]
• John Malkovich as Teddy KGB
• Famke Janssen as Petra
• Michael Rispoli as Grama
• Martin Landau as Abe Petrovsky
• Gretchen Mol as Jo
• Paul Cicero as Russian Thug
• Melina Kanakaredes as Barbara
• Josh Mostel as Zagosh
• Tom Aldredge as Judge Marinacci
• Lenny Clarke as Savino
• Chris Messina as Higgins
• Goran Višnjić as Maurice
• David Zayas as Osborne
• Johnny Chan as himself
• Bill Camp as Eisenberg
• Josh Pais as Weitz
• Adam LeFerve as Sean Frye

Production[edit]

Filming[edit]

Principal photography for Rounders began in December 1997; it took place mostly in New York. Exceptions include the law school scenes (filmed at Rutgers School of Law-Newark^[3]) and the State Trooper poker game and parking lot scenes (filmed at the B.P.O Elks Lodge in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey).

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Rounders was released on September 11, 1998, in 2,176 theaters and grossed $8.5 million during its opening weekend. It went on to make $22.9 million domestically.^[1]

Critical response[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 65% approval rating based on 80 reviews, with an average score of 6.21/10. The site's critical consensus reads: 'Richly atmospheric and colorful performances contributed to the movie's entertainment value.' ^[4]Metacritic gives the film a score of 54 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating 'mixed or average reviews'. ^[5]Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote: 'Rounders sometimes has a noir look but it never has a noir feel, because it's not about losers (or at least it doesn't admit it is). It's essentially a sports picture, in which the talented hero wins, loses, faces disaster, and then is paired off one last time against the champ.'^[6] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote: 'Though John Dahl's Rounders finally adds up to less than meets the eye, what does meet the eye (and ear) is mischievously entertaining.'^[7]USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and wrote: 'The card playing is well-staged, and even those who don't know a Texas hold-'em ('the Cadillac of poker') from a Texas hoedown will get a vicarious charge out of the action.'^[8]Entertainment Weekly gave the film a 'B' rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, 'Norton, cast in what might have once been the Sean Penn role (hideous shirts, screw-you attitude), gives Worm a shifty, amphetamine soul and a pleasing alacrity ... Norton's performance never really goes anywhere, but that's okay, since the story is just an excuse to lead the characters from one poker table to the next.'^[9]

Peter Travers, in his review for Rolling Stone said of John Malkovich's performance: 'Of course, no one could guess the extent to which Malkovich is now capable of chewing scenery. He surpasses even his eyeballrolling as Cyrus the Virus in Con Air. Munching Oreo cookies, splashing the pot with chips (a poker no-no) and speaking with a Russian accent that defies deciphering ('Ho-kay, Meester sum of a beech'), Malkovich soars so far over the top, he's passing Pluto.'^[10] In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle said of Damon's performance: 'Mike should supply the drive the film otherwise lacks, and Damon doesn't. We might believe he can play cards, but we don't believe he needs to do it, in the way, say, that the 12-year-old Mozart needed to write symphonies. He's not consumed with genius. He's a nice guy with a skill.'^[11] In his review for The Globe and Mail, Liam Lacey wrote: 'The main problem with Rounders is that the movie never quite knows what it is about: What is the moral ante?'^[12]

Despite an unremarkable theatrical release, Rounders has a following, particularly among poker enthusiasts.^[13]

Rounders John Malkovich Poker Game

There are pro poker players who credit the film for getting them into the game.^[14] The film drew in successful players such as Brian Rast, Hevad Khan, Gavin Griffin, and Dutch Boyd. Vanessa Rousso has said of the film's influence: 'There have been lots of movies that have included poker, but only Rounders really captures the energy and tension in the game. And that's why it stands as the best poker movie ever made.'^[14]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abc'Rounders (1998)'. Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
2. ^'Joel 'Bagels' Rosenberg, aka Joey Knish, Passes Away'. www.pokernewsdaily.com. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
3. ^https://www.newarkhappening.com/things-to-do/music-entertainment/film-spots/
4. ^https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1083659-rounders
5. ^https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rounders
6. ^Ebert, Roger (September 11, 1998). 'Rounders review'. Chicago Sun-Times. RogerEbert.com. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
7. ^Maslin, Janet (September 11, 1998). 'Knowing When to Hold 'em and Fold 'em but Just Not When to Run'. The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
8. ^Wloszczyna, Susan (September 11, 1998). 'Rounders hedges bets with Damon in the ante'. USA Today. p. 11.
9. ^Gleiberman, Owen (September 18, 1998). 'Rounders review'. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
10. ^Travers, Peter (October 1, 1998). 'Rounders review'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
11. ^LaSalle, Mick (September 11, 1998). 'Rounders Deals Out a Mediocre Hand'. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
12. ^Lacey, Liam (September 11, 1998). 'If they'd played their cards right, this could have been a winner'. The Globe and Mail. p. C7.
13. ^Tobias, Scott (October 30, 2008). 'The New Cult Canon: Rounders'. The Onion A.V. Club. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
14. ^ ^abPolson, Sarah (March 4, 2009). 'Pros discuss Rounders' impact on poker'. PokerListings.com. Retrieved February 21, 2015.

External links[edit]

Rounders John Malkovich Poker Player

John Malkovich's Son Loewy Malkovich

• Rounders on IMDb
• Rounders at AllMovie
• Rounders at the TCM Movie Database
• Rounders at Rotten Tomatoes
• Rounders at Metacritic
• Rounders at Box Office Mojo