Movies - Rounders

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Rounders is a 1998 film about the underground world of high-stakes poker. Directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, the movie follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a huge debt. The term “rounder” refers to a person whose sole means of earning a living is by playing cards.

The movie opened to mixed reviews and only made a modest amount of money. However, with the growing popularity of Texas hold 'em and other poker games, Rounders has become a cult hit.

Plot

Rounders is about a former rounder Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) who is torn between his commitment to his girlfriend Jo (Gretchen Mol) to stop gambling, and his loyalty to his best friend “Worm” (Edward Norton). Worm has a large gambling debt and slowly convinces Mike to use his card playing skills to help him make the money to pay off the debt.

The movie opens with an overconfident Mike gathering his entire stash ($30,000) with the intention of doubling it at a high-stakes poker game with crime boss Teddy KGB (John Malkovich). However, Mike is soundly beaten by KGB and loses everything. Devastated by the loss, Mike retreats from poker and swears to his girlfriend Jo to never gamble again.

We catch up with Mike a several months later spending his time attending law school by day, and driving a truck for his former poker mentor Joey Knish (John Turturro). Mike has so far kept his promise to stop gambling, however his poker skills are as sharp as ever. One scene shows Mike making a delivery to his professor, Abe Petrovsky (Martin Landau), during a late night poker game and instantly reads every player's hand, impressing everyone at the table.

Mike's friend Worm enters the picture after being released from prison. Mike picks up Worm after his release and Worm quickly convinces Mike to join him in a night of poker playing. Mike rationalizes that it is only one night and there is not much risk as the pair plan to just cheat a few rich kids out of their money.

Unbeknownst to Mike, Worm owes $15,000 to various people and needs to make that money before they start to come looking for payment. When Mike and Worm return to New York City, Mike introduces Worm to a local high-stakes game, warns him to play straight, then leaves.

Mike returns home to his girlfriend who is suspicious of his activities. Her fears are confirmed when she discovers a wad of cash in Mike's pocket when he is taking a shower. She leaves him there but he quickly catches up with her and their law school partners to start preparing for a mock trial. However, just as Mike sits down, Knish shows up and tells Mike that Worm is cheating and ruining Mike's reputation since Mike vouched for Worm. Mike finds Worm up $10,000 and cheating two members of the Russian Mafia. He tells Worm to stop cheating and lose the money back to them before he gets hurt. Worm agrees and Mike leaves him again.

Worm however has other plans. He cashes out and takes a break from playing poker by going to a strip club. Worm is found by his old partner Gramma (Michael Rispoli), who tells Worm that he has consolidated his debts with the help of his new partner, Teddy KGB, and now Worm owes him $25,000 with only 5 days to pay it off. Gramma then assaults Worm and takes the $10,000 he has made so far.

As Mike is returning home, he meets Worm in front of his apartment building. After they go upstairs, they find that Jo has left Mike and taken most of their furniture. Worm tells Mike that when he is feeling down, poker is the only cure. Mike agrees and they both leave for Atlantic City. While there, Worm comes clean and tells Mike about his debt. When they return to the city, Mike and Worm meet with Gramma to try to buy more time. Worm ends up angering Gramma and Mike vouches for the debt to prevent Gramma from attacking Worm. When they leave Mike tells Worm that he will help, but it has to be on Mike's terms: straight games, no cheating.

After a couple of days and several games, Mike and Worm have about half the money they need. Worm gets impatient and tells Mike of a high-stakes game in Binghamton, which is about three hours away from NYC, although Mike mentions it being "Five hours each way". Mike agrees and they make the trip, only to find the game is held by a collection of state troopers. Mike tells Worm to go bowling and proceeds to play poker and increase his stake. After some time Worm shows up, sits at the table and immediately begins to cheat, much to Mike's dismay. Mike pretends to be a stranger to Worm, and tries to continue to play straight, but Worm repeatedly deals Mike cheating hands. It's not long before they are caught and are severely beaten by the off-duty policemen, who take all the money they have made. With nothing left Worm decides it is time to run, but Mike tells his friend he can not do it and they part ways.

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Movies - Rounders

Plot

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