For those who weren’t up at 6am pacific last Thursday watching news, Chris Moneymaker appeared on Morning Joe (MSNBC’s start to the mainstream news day) with Doug Tirola, director of ALL IN: The Poker Movie … the documentary you’ve been hearing about for years (it won an award at the Cinevegas Film Festival three years ago!) that really has been finished thanks to Black Friday providing an ending, and is finally showing for the non-poker public:

While poker people may think this film is a fine representation of the past nine years of our lives … the virtual parade of poker personalities telling the tale (including yours truly, ahem) in the most hyped poker movie since Lucky You got panned by had the New York Times rolling its eyes, saying, “in the interest of accuracy. It ought to be ‘All In: The Poker Propaganda Movie.’”

Fair-ish point by the NYT, but really, watch the clip above and you see a filmmaker who, after 5+ years shooting this film, is not so much a political activist as he is a religious convert.

Check it out … poker movies seem to be proliferating ever since revelations of crime and darkness made the game semi-dramatic once again. This one, Ace High — not to be confused with the 1968 western of the same name nor the PBR bull that remains unridden after 90+ attempts — seems to be about a privileged extra-smart kid whose online poker success brings in backers … but not before he gets in too deep (presumably with people shadier than he realized) … where he’s sure to lose his hot college romance if he doesn’t win the big one (not to be confused with The Big One for One Drop, which screams for straight-to-DVD release).

No spoiler intended … Just guessing at the plot-line from the Ace High trailer, which is fairly good-lookin’ for an indie movie still seeking funding to complete. Wonder how PokerStars got the product placement … and which online pros may or may not make any on-screen appearances … and whether or not players would have legal rights use of the likeness of their online poker avatars or even screen names:

I can already call it … 2012 will be the year of poker documentaries. The desire to tell true-life tales about the rise and fall of online poker in the USA should reach fever pitch as a classic story of crime and punishment plays out on Court TV. Ooh, that’s just in theory, of course, as we don’t yet know what’s on the docket for 2012 in the Southern District of New York nor Court TV’s programming schedule for next year. But it’s almost enough to get my conspiracy bells ringing over WSOP-Europe’s move to Cannes and/or the trend of using ALL CAPS in titles.

A lot of you already know about BOOM: The Incredible True Story of Online Poker, produced by Cardrunners icons Taylor Caby and Jay Rosenkrantz. Now, also coming soon, we have ALL IN: The Poker Movie, produced by the relatively big-time 4th Row Films.

Apparently both Boom and All In were all (or almost) ready to go right before Black Friday … which kinda caused a narrative breakdown in their endings.

I sat for both these films (as a talking head) … but have no idea whether or not my parts ended up on the cutting room floor. Kinda bummed I didn’t end up in the teaser below for All In … but hey, I guess I can understand appearing lower in the credits than Howard Lederer and Annie Duke.

(Can only imagine how excited producers must have gotten over Bernie Madoff-level allegations against one of their “stars”!)

Release date (and New York premiere party?) scheduled for February 2012. I really can’t wait to see how it all ends … on the big screen as well as in real life.

Watched Five Card Stud this afternoon (on Showtime Extreme) … a 1968 western starring Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum about a drunken poker game that turns into a lynching when the new guy turns out to be a cheat. But when the lynch mob starts dying off one-by-one, no one knows who’s seeking vengeance, nor which player will be the last man standing.

It takes place in Colorado in 1880 … the gold rush is on and the town of Rincon is fast becoming known for its juicy games and associated vice. And as much as I was intrigued by the role of black people and Christianity post-Civil War (as portrayed in the late ’60s) … what really stood out was how the players shuffled their chips.

Anyhow, the music is kinda country meets the Doors, with gambler’s lyrics sung by an old-school Vegas crooner. And with last month’s news that production of Rounders 2 is underway … well, Five Card Stud, a song about the game that was the great Uncle to contemporary Texas Hold’em, reminded me how much poker stories have changed over the years, and how much they haven’t.

Again, WTF is up with all the new poker movies, videos, shorts, Poker Beat spinoffs, internet talk shows, reality gigs, and other multimedia poker storylines being put out by folks other than Poker PROductions, ESPN, 441, or PokerRoad?

A new movie — Hitting the Nuts — debuted a couple weeks ago at the Cincinnati Film Festival to overwhelmingly positive reviews and even won the 2010 Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The story is a tale of professional poker’s “farm system” in Scott County, Indiana …it’s supposedly a little Waiting for Guffman, a little Spinal Tap, and by my take even a little Greater Tuna. Not about the actual WSOP as much as it is getting to the WSOP … by way of a big annual legally questionable tournament.

Seems potentially funny-ish … but probably better than the Grand, poker’s last mockumentary, which proved to be a box-office flop despite a star-studded cast with the likes of Ray Romano, David Cross, Cheryl Hines, and Woody Harrelson, who perhaps ironically made his name in Hollywood by playing a character from rural Indiana:

The producers come from LA and Las Vegas improv troupes (we have improv troupes in Vegas?) — and their actors are all no-names. Sure, Cincinnati’s no Cannes, but still … there were only 13 total awards given in Cincy, and Hitting the Nuts was competing with nearly 100 other films … many with award-baiting titles like Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution, Sounds of Beirut, and Trailerpark.

Funny … just about everyone in poker is trying to branch out of it, including Phil Galfond, who is trying his hand at artsy film movie noir:

via PokerListings. Thanks Gary Wise for the tip/man-lover cheerleading.

More…

Did I just miss this movie, or is it due out soon? Gotta say, I’m kinda intrigued, despite Phil Hellmuth’s involvement:

Here’s the official movie website — I think maybe it was a straight-to-DVD thing? It did get nominated for Best Short Drama at the Leo Awards, whatever they may or may not be.

Lady Gaga has a new tattoo. WTF — no spade, heart, club, or diamond?

Not exactly … but like Michael Phelps, she did get a special invite — as the pop singer will be playing a show at the Galaxy StarWorld Casino at the same time. Personally, I’m gettin’ a little tired of being bluffed by muffins, but that’s neither here nor there when you’ve got a chance to make a cameo appearance in Johnny Chan’s forthcoming Chinese-language “Poker King” movie, right?

From EarthTimes:

Dear Lady Gaga,

“I wanna hold them like they do in texas please, fold’em let em hit me raise it baby stay with me.” We certainly hope so and cannot believe the coincidence that you are playing live in Macau on Saturday 15th August while the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival is in full swing at the Galaxy Starworld.

Your ‘Fame Ball’ Tour has been a huge hit and we are sure the plaudits in Macau will be the same as in Osaka, Tokyo, Seoul and Manila but imagine the reaction if you showed your poker face at the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival! Not only will the venue be full of the world’s best poker players, the tournament is also the backdrop to the first ever Chinese language poker movie ‘Poker King,’ which people would go ‘gaga’ for if you took on a cameo role. Forget the wigs, keep the bleached blonde hair and think about the exposure to a huge audience!

More…

That’s what Wisin and Yandel are saying (in Spanish). The world’s most popular reggaeton duo will be appearing in the name-not-revealed poker-themed movie, which is to be filmed soon in Puerto Rico and produced by David Maldonado.

http://en.terra.com/entertainment/articles/html/oci8368.htm

No word on whether the movie would be in Spanish or English … but gotta say, creo que (English) subtitles definitely have the potential to be “good for poker”, no?

Thanks @RoyalBunker for the HU!

That’s what PokerListings says:

“We’ve been concentrating on Rounders 2 lately; Ideas are percolating,” [David] Levien told PokerListings. “It’s great to know that all of the original players want to come back and do another one.”

The Hollywood Reporter is, well, reporting from Hollywood that Leonardo DiCaprio is pegged to star in a film about online casinos based in Costa Rica. Not only does the star currently aligned with the film give us hope that it won’t be another Deal, but the writers – Brian Koppelman and David Levien – are the same ones who penned Rounders. And Paramount Pictures has picked up the script. (Note to self: Check in with former employer Paramount for possible consultant positions available. Cha-ching!)

Hmmm, Costa Rican-based online casinos…like UltimateBet and Absolute Poker? Scandals and cheaters and Russ Hamiltons, oh my.

Since the movie is yet untitled, let’s throw out a few gems for Paramount to consider:

Titanic (ooooh, sorry)
UB and Me
Rounders 2 (or Part Deux for my French friends)
Rounderaments
What’s Eating Russ Hamilton?
Gangs of Costa Rica
The 11th Hand

Okay, I’m done. Anyone else?

[tab: News]All In: The Poker Movie won the jury prize for Best Documentary at the CineVegas Film Festival last week — which knowledgeable movie people tell me is known as a respected minor league version of Sundance. It supposedly won’t be announced until tomorrow afternoon, but Variety already has the results.

Chris Moneymaker is a hero again.

Even not-so-pokery people are saying this 98-minute history of the game is a sleepy sleeper hit. Indie Film Examiner says:

This film claims that poker is a “microcosm of the American dream”. After viewing it I completely agree.

And VegasHappensHere:

But “All In” tonight really taught me something else: The poker boom is about as American as anything ever was. The variation on the game itself — Texas Hold ‘Em — is an American invention. Risk-taking is the foundation of our capitalist society. And the ingredients that turned it into what it is today include new technology (hole-card cams, Web poker) and anyone-can-succeed chutzpah (Moneymaker) that have deep roots in our national traditions.

[tab: Video from premiere]
PokerListings was at the premiere, at the Palms:

All In: The Poker Movie Premiere from PokerListings.com

Been gathering a few gems over the past week…

Lawsuits are so easy and fun. Well, ask Clonie and she might deliver a different response, but that hasn’t stopped the lawyers in other cases from filing some very poker-centric lawsuits.

Gambling Times Inc. has filed suit against Scott Lazar, executive producer of Deal, the almost-embarrassing poker movie that flopped (pun inevitable) in movie theaters in 2008. According to super reputable tabloid TMZ, Gambling Times Inc. was promised prominent product placement in the film, and for the lack of it is suing Lazar for $1 million, about ten times more than what the movie garnered in revenue.

More…

Johnny says: Ask Dan to post about garbage men and chip dumping. He had some interesting ideas on conspiracty theories…

Indeed … today we moved from yellow-chip ($1k) threat level to orange ($5k) — with tighter than usual security notably apparent during the green-chip race-off today. After clearing out the fans then players, the perimeters around the table we’re extra secured: no media allowed in, no masseuses, no waitstaff. A couple people did wander in unknowingly and were quickly and sternly ushered out. It was all taken so seriously — making sure every chip was properly accounted for, one can only presume. For as empty and quiet as the entire Amazon room was — only about a dozen small-stakes cash games going — it was totally abuzz. Floorsuits half-running down the aisles, barking questions, answers, orders … dealers making sure the chip trays were aligned at the perfect angle … all done with a certain military efficiency that suggested they had done the dress rehearsal, and now it was go-time.

(Even in the hallways, I saw for the first time semi-armored chip carts, arriving empty, and by the end of the day returning full.)

The only non-tourney staff allowed in to the tournament area was the sanitation crew. On breaks, they pick up empty cans, bottles, discarded magazines, general poker waste, etc. while wheeling overstuffed black trash bags between the tables. For all the effort that went into protecting the integrity of the 2008 main event race-off, these necessary laborers were the security weakness should anyone want to engage in shenanigans. Pay these guys off with something akin to their annual wages and before you know it those garbage sacks arrive amid the floorstaff frenzy stuffed with a orange chips machine guns or even bigger and stun grenades … poof, a little slight of hand while cleaning, and whammo, a dirty player returning from break finds a few big chips tossed onto his stack or wedged between the felt and rail. At least that’s what I would do.

What, you think it doesn’t happen? Probably not … but it would make a good movie if it did.

There’s a legitimate New York film-making outfit working on a documentary about the history of poker … and next week they’ll be in Dallas. Naturally, because it has such a relevant role, they want to talk about the Dallas underground — and they’re asking me for contact info for people to talk to, games to see, etc.

I’ve talked with a lot of you before about doing something similar with local news crews — but perhaps not shockingly, ever since the first newscaster to sneak a hidden camera into the Dallas underground ended up getting engaged to the (already married) Chief of Dallas police around the same time her station got a sweeps-week exclusive showing SWAT teams busting up three games simultaneously, most of the “good guys” in the Dallas poker scene have been a little shy about opening their doors to the media … even with assurances that no one would give up any identifying info.

(Ahh, remember the good-ole-days when Stagecoach used to openly run its ballin’ website and pay little-ole poker websites for ads the Observer couldn’t run?)

Anyhow, so this outfit, 4th Row Films, is offering the same guarantees that they will protect identities and locations. Personally I think it would be a shame for this part of poker not to be seen. But I respect the fact people who run these games generally do so to support their gambling addictions families … so I’m not giving out any phone numbers or email addresses without any special OKs. I have, however, suggested they simply drive around to area strip malls looking for the telltale white, wireless doorbells — but that doesn’t seem to be giving them confidence as they fly their people and equipment to town. So if you happen to run a game in Dallas and would like your room to live on long after you die/get arrested and have to plea bargain down your misdemeanor … send me an email and I’ll be happy to put you in touch with the right people.