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.

[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