There are certain movies, even in the poker niche, that will give you a pause and think about life, destiny, and consequences of one’s personal choices. High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story certainly comes to mind. And then, there are movies that will give you a few laughs and pass some time, without trying to convey any special message.
The 1994 movie Maverick belongs to the latter group. Westerns saw a bit of a revival during the early 1990s, and Maverick was a product of that trend. It is a very lighthearted movie that features poker as its main theme, although there are very few scenes showing actual gameplay (apart from the end).
Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson) is a card player and a con artist who is trying to make his way to a big poker competition with a buy-in of $25,000 and $500,000 for the winner. The movie is set in the 19th century, which means that the value of that $25,000 is close to a million bucks today.
This is to say that Maverick has his eyes set on a very high-stakes game, but he is a few thousand short, and only has a few days to make up the difference and actually get to the river boat where the game takes place in time.
As expected, on his journey, Maverick encounters a few obstacles and makes a few friends (and the two aren’t mutually exclusive). He develops a playful relationship with Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), a charming poker player, con artist, and thief.
The whole adventure, which lasts just over two hours, involves many action scenes and not that much poker until the very end of the movie, so don’t go in expecting elaborate descriptions of poker hands. This is a Western, after all, so gunfights, fistfights, and other types of fights take precedence.
H2: Core Maverick Movie Details & Ratings
- Title: Maverick
- Year: 1994
- Director: Richard Donner
- Main cast: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner
- Genre: Western/Comedy
- Duration: 124 min
- Overall score: 8/10
| Criteria | Score (1-10) | Reviewer note |
| Poker Realism | 8/10 | Details of the gameplay seem fairly realistic. |
| Story & Writing | 8/10 | Quite funny at times, with a few entertaining twists. |
| Acting & Characters | 7/10 | It won’t blow your mind, but decent enough. |
| Poker Excitement Factor | 6/10 | There isn’t much actual poker action depicted in the movie apart from some quick cuts of chips and cards flying around. |
| Entertainment value | 8/10 | This movie is a great way to relax for a couple of hours, and it doesn’t require your full focus, so a perfect pick if you are tired and just want to chill. |
What We Loved About The Movie
One of the best things about Maverick, at least to me, is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. This movie was created to entertain and make you laugh, and I think it does a pretty good job of it.
From a poker perspective, I think it does a pretty solid job, although there are very few scenes showing gameplay in detail. But, what is shown, seems to match rules and habits of the time.
The game of choice is Five Card Draw, which was one of the most popular variations during the period. There is a lot of splashing the pot and everybody seems to be putting money straight in the middle, which must be very confusing, but it is also how the game was played.
No wonder there were so many cheats and wanna-be cheats around at that time.
One thing that impressed me a bit was the final game, where everyone starts with $25,000, and at one point we can hear that the ante is $50. So, it seems that they are actually playing very reasonable stakes for the starting amount. Given that players in that game are putting up equivalent of a cool million today, it makes sense they’d want to have some room to maneuver.
It is also worth noting that many of the comments about the movie talk about the final game as if it were a tournament. Tournaments were not really a thing in poker until 1970s. This game would most certainly have been played as a cash game, so that’s why players are tossing chips to dealers as tips.
It’s all just one big cash game, but, unlike in a traditional setup, players aren’t allowed to leave with the money. They have to play until they bust or win all the money in the room.
The whole Maverick character also fits the bill as far as what you’d expect a successful conman to be like at the time. Although he’s not opposed to drawing his gun if absolutely necessary, he relies more on his wits and his speed to avoid unpleasant situations.
Shortcomings
While Maverick does a good job overall as far as depicting the game goes, like most poker movies, it has certain shortcomings and flaws that don’t quite track.
For example, when the final game is down to last four players, everyone is given an hour to relax, and then they have to be back in their seats at five o’clock sharp. If they are late even a minute, they’ll forfeit their chips.
This doesn’t make much sense for several reasons, but the biggest one is that they are all on a steamboat, which means players have nowhere to go. What possible reason could one have not to show up other than someone preventing them from doing it?
Plus, why not simply take antes off their stack until they show up, or at least give them an hour or two before eliminating them completely, while figuring out where they are (given, once again, they are all on a fairly small boat). It is a huge amount of money on the line, after all.
This weird rule makes sense in the light of shady circumstances of the game that are revealed later, but it’s a bit funny that no one even tries to object.
On the final hand, Bret turns over the final card to reveal the (of course) royal flush in spades and beat the seven-high straight flush in hearts. In addition to royal flushes being overused in poker movies, I think that the way the scene was built up, the moviemakers missed a bit of a trick here, as the nine of spades instead of ace of spades would be a better fit.
In general, a few more detailed hands shown in the movie would make it a bit more exciting from a poker fan’s perspective, and I’m sure they could have squeezed in a couple of extra scenes.
Final Verdict
Will the movie Maverick change the way you view life or the game of poker? Absolutely not. What it will do, though, is entertain you after a long day, allowing you to enjoy what’s happening on the screen without giving it too much thought.
From a perspective of a poker fan, it’s always cool to see depictions of games from the good, old days, and to wonder what the life of a grinder must have been like in those times.
All in all, Maverick is worth your time, especially if you appreciate the genre!
Overall Score: 8/10
