If there is one poker movie that truly needs no introduction, it’s Rounders. However, for those who may have missed it somehow (or need a bit of a refresher), the 1998 American drama tells the story of Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), a law student who is pulled back into the world of underground high-stakes poker to help his friend “Worm” (Edward Norton) pay back a debt.
Slowly but surely, Mike gets back into poker (despite promising to leave the game after a devastating loss against Teddy KGB (John Malkovich)), but his relationship with Worm creates new problems and new debts that he takes on as his own.
Running out of time and options, Mike ends up borrowing $10,000 from one of his university professors and takes on Teddy KGB for a rematch where the stakes are high, as there is more than money at risk if Mike isn’t able to win and pay his debt off. Things culminate with one huge hand to determine our hero’s fate.
Core XXX Movie Details & Rating
- Title: Rounders
- Year: 1998
- Director: John Dahl
- Main Cast: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich, Gretchen Mol
- Genre: Drama
- Duration: 121 min.
- Overall Score
| Criteria | Score (1-10) | Reviewer note |
| Poker Realism | 7/10 | Rounders has a few scenes that don’t quite track, but it’s probably the only bad aspect of this movie. |
| Story & Writing | 9/10 | While no story is perfect, Rounders has a pretty good one, and it doesn’t seem too far-fetched at all. |
| Acting & Characters | 8/10 | All characters in the movie carry their roles well and contribute to the overarching story in their ways. |
| Poker Excitement Factor | 9/10 | Even if some hands are a bit much (in terms of realism), there is no lack of excitement in Rounders. |
| Entertainment value | 9/10 | If you haven’t seen this movie yet, what are you waiting for? |
What We Loved About the Movie
t’s not without reason that Rounders became such a cult movie in poker circles. There is really so much to love about this film, despite some of its minor failings.
The entire plot is quite entertaining. Mike’s struggle between his passion for poker and doing the “right thing,” i.e., what society and his girlfriend expect from him, is a dilemma that many players have had to face when choosing a life of a professional poker player.
The movie also manages to capture the tension of a poker game and highlights many real problems, such as the lack of emotional control, poor bankroll management, and setting one’s goals too high too early, all of which can hinder and even put a stop to one’s career before it even begins.
Rounders also has a number of scenes featuring poker hands, and while there is room to talk about how accurate or true to life these depictions are, there is no denying they are very exciting. This is especially true for scenes featuring Malkovich and Damon, as both do a great job building the suspense, needling each other, splashing chips, and, of course, slow-rolling.
The impact this movie had on the popularity of poker can’t be overstated, either. Rounders helped create a massive interest in poker, and the movie had a bit of a renaissance following the 2003 poker boom. While it may not be the most accurate in every detail, it is certainly very inspiring.
The phrase “Vegas and the fucking Mirage” has become a part of the poker culture, with those five little words painting a very broad and colorful picture. No explanation is needed.
The dynamic between Mike and Worm is also interesting and captures a broader topic of cheating in poker. Mike adamantly refuses to use any underhanded tactics to win; Worm has no problem with cheating whatsoever and actually prefers to play in games where he has an unfair advantage.
So, in many ways, Rounders is a timeless movie about poker that captures so many fundamental aspects of the game and the people who play it, from aspiring young guns like Mike over underground game runners such as Teddy to professional cheaters such as Worm.
The Knish Story
Although he is somewhat of a side character in the movie, Joey Knish (played by John Turturro) has become a symbol in his own right over the years. Knish is the example of a slow and steady wins the day: he is a decent grinder who stays in his lane and has no ambitions of moving up or becoming a star.
For him, poker is a way to make a living, and he takes no risks. Everybody around him knows he could be more, but he doesn’t seem to care.
Knish is the complete opposite of Mike, and several times throughout the movie, he tries to reason with him. It’s not that Joey doesn’t understand the appeal of the game; he’s just too risk-averse to go for it, realizing that there are more important things in life than playing poker on the big scene.
It’s safe to say that almost every poker room out there, underground or legit, has at least one Knish. It is a guy that everybody knows, everyone respects his game, but in the end, he’s not a topic of many conversations. He’s just kind of always there, doing his thing, in silence and anonymity.
Shortcomings
Rounders isn’t a perfect movie from a purely poker perspective. There are quite a few shortcomings that don’t take away too much from the film quality, but can rub you the wrong way.
At the very start, Mike loses a huge pot holding the second nuts in a heads-up game. This hand is the reason he quits poker. He’s not mad about his lack of bankroll management or playing over his head; he is mad because he wasn’t clairvoyant enough to know that his aces full of nines was no good.
For someone who is supposed to understand poker theory, this is a really weird thing to be upset about, and if this is your approach to the game, maybe you’re not cut out to be a pro.
Bet sizes are also super-huge across the board, which really doesn’t inspire confidence in anyone’s actual understanding of the game they’re playing. On the other hand, I’ve seen some really weird stuff in the bet sizing department in private games, and this was late 1990s, so who knows. It may not be that off the mark.
Some of these things do align with Mike’s reason for believing he’s a great player. His main explanation for wanting to play the big leagues is the fact that he was able to bluff Johnny Chan in one hand of poker. Sample size much?
Final Verdict
The bottom line is, you can find a million small things that are wrong about Rounders, but these don’t take anything away from the overall impression of the movie. To this day, it remains one of the best pics about poker ever made, and no matter how many times you see it, you’ll get goose bumps during those few crucial scenes.
In so many ways, this movie captures the spirit of poker and what later came to be known as the poker dream. Mike was well ahead of his time, but not long after, there’d be thousands of young guns sitting around the green felt, thinking about Vegas and fucking Mirage.
Overall Score: 9/10
