Editor

Rounders takes the unofficial title of “best poker movie ever” for millions of poker fans and for good reason, as it pulls off the tricky task of dealing with the world of high-stakes poker in a realistic, gritty fashion. Instead of corny scenes and goofball antics it delves into the world of real money poker and the effects, good and bad, it has on the people that gravitate towards that world.

Matt Damon stars as Mike McDermott, a young card sharp that’s trying to give up the highs and lows of poker for the more respectable pursuit of a law degree. He’s sticking to the straight and narrow until his childhood friend Worm (played by Ed Norton) needs help repaying his old debts, and Mike once again returns to the poker tables.

They only manage to dig a deeper hole for Worm, who reveals that his debt is owed to the same Russian mobster nicknamed Teddy KGB (played by John Malkovitch) that wiped Mike and his $30,000 bankroll out in the game that caused him to give up poker in the first place. Worm tries to convince Mike to flee the city with him but Mike persists, borrowing money from a law professor of his to sit down once again with Teddy KGB with everything on the line -- including potentially his life.

Rounders is credited by many with helping to fuel the poker boom in the US and other countries in the early 2000s, as while the film definitely shows the darker side of poker it also plays to the idea of putting it all on the line and going for broke. A sequel is rumored to be in the works with both Damon and Norton reprising their roles, so Rounders might have a little tougher competition in the near future for the title of “best poker movie”.