Rounders.

Movie fanatics and poker enthusiasts will know the name. After all, this is one of the best movies on poker shot in the last 40 years. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we’d want to look into it a bit more and analyze some of the best-played hands.

However, before we get down to business, here’s just a few interesting facts about Rounders and its crew:

• It was originally intended that Norton would be an avid smoker. However, the actor who played Norton is against smoking on camera, so he refused to smoke in the Worm script.;
• In the first version of the script, the main character was supposed to bluff Johnny Chan, not Phil Helmuth;
• Norton and Damon played in the 1998 World Series main event as part of a promotional campaign. However, Damon was knocked out by Doyle Brunson with a pair of aces, and Norton flopped against the rack;
• The scene of Edward Norton eating a hot dog was, for some reason, very unsatisfying for the director John Dahl. In the end, it took 17 hot dogs to get it just right.
• The screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levine can be spotted in the scene with the reading of Tells Amateurs in Atlantic City.

Rounders: A Bit of Backstory

Poker is a fairly popular film topic. There’ve been enough movies made about it to make it a moot point; and yet, Rounders is still remains one of the best to ever do it.

It’s success could be attributed to to both a well-crafted script and a solid director. Considering the movie starred John Malkovich, John Turturro, Edward Norton, and Matt Damon, there were no problems on that end. One thing’s for sure – it wasn’t just Moneymaker’s triumph in 2003 that brought American players to poker, it was Rounders.

So, what’s the actual plot?

Mike McDermott, played by Matt Damon, was a solid poker player before he went to law school. He mastered both the psychology of the game and the math behind it, However, this didn’t prove to be be enough. Mike paid a price for his carelessness with money. Teddy KGB, a bearded Russian gangster portrayed by John Malkovich, was a crafty and sly opponent who once forced him to bet all of his money and lose it.

As soon as Mike left the club, his friend, Knish, played by John Turturro, was waiting for him. He told him that he’s still a great player and that he (Knish) is willing to sponsor him if they split his winnings. However, Mike declines, quitting poker thinking that he has to pay a price for his mistake.

After, Mike went on to university – everything was fine. For a while. That is, until Mike sees his professor playing poker with some lawyers. Showing off his poker skills, Mike told everyone what they had in their hand. In response, Professor Petrovsky encourages him not to bury his talent.

Soon Mike’s childhood friend and part-time Ludo maniac nicknamed “Worm”, played by Edward Norton, comes out of prison. As a result, Mike needs money to help his friend, so why not giver poker another shot? After that the story really gets going.

If you’re still hesitant, check out the Rounders trailer for yourselves.

A Game Against the Champion

While quintessential for the plot., this game is fairly dull from a poker perspective. Johnny Chen, the world poker champion, was playing in Atlantic City. The main character gets seated at the same table with a short stack. After some time, he enters the game. The champion raises pre-flop, and Mike raises with a weak hand. Later, they re-raise, but Chen folds after a long look into Mike’s eyes.

Analysis

No matter how you go about it, there’s zero sense in how this round goes down. Especially when you consider they’re playing Limit Hold’em.

Such actions could only be considered a poker face test, albeit an expensive one. The reasoning was probably something along the lines of “if Johnny Chen didn’t recognize whether I’m bluffing, Teddy KGB certainly wouldn’t”.

Teddy KGB and the Lost Hope

Having gotten himself into the underground gambling club of Teddy KGB, our protagonist, Mike decides to risk it all and crack into the bigger Las Vegas scene, somewhat mistakenly encouraged by a lucky win in Atlantic City. As a result, nothing goes as planned…

There are four players at the table. Blinds are 50$ and 100$. Teddy’s on the big blind, Mike’s on the button. The player in the first position folds. Mike has A-9 and raises 500 — the small blind passes. However, Teddy KGB, feeling suspicious, calls.

On the flop lay A-9-8. Mike makes a bet of $2,000. His opponent leisurely calls the bet. A 9 is added, and both check.

Teddy then bets 15,000 on the flop with 3 and Mike says “I don’t think you have spades” and bets his remaining $33,000. However, his opponent calls and opens the hand with A-A. McDermott is bankrupt.

Analysis

The game at the short table has its laws and this hand raises a lot of questions.

The pre-flop is played very standard: Teddy KGB calls with a pair of Aces and McDermott bets with a strong master Ace. Naturally, re-raising is the traditional move, but Teddy tries to trap his opponent by hiding the power of his hand. Although it’s a bold and risky move, it worked perfectly here.

Mike goes against it following the flop. With the idea that Teddy would see his large over-bet as an effort to steal the pot and may try a re-raise with nothing behind him, he captures two high pairs. Teddy, holding a set of Aces, simply calls without trying to defend himself against either a flush draw or straight draw. 

Mike decided his opponent had a flush draw. A full house appears on the flop and both check. The third spade comes down and Teddy bets three pots with the best possible hand.

There was almost no way to guard against the way Teddy played his hand in this scene. It was both a risky play and a passive one at that.

The Cowboys

The second meeting between Mike and Teddy is a less pleasant one. The course of the game is controlled by Teddy’s KGB thugs, with Mike risking not to see the sunrise. Even the $10,000 he lent from Professor Petrovsky is not enough.

The game starts as a No-Limit Texas Hold’em with blinds of $25 and $50.

On the first hand, Mike gets $1000 thanks to a good distribution of K-K. Teddy KGB raises to $5,000, and Mike briefly bets his entire pot. His opponent threw his cards away. There is practically nothing to analyze with this play. So far, Teddy KGB hasn’t done anything warranting awe.

Luck on the Turn

Mike takes the victory in the first game, winning half of his chips first-hand. However, it is more interesting to look at the last hand.

On the turn 4-7-7-J, Mike bets $1000. Teddy bets the same. After seeing the river – 2s, Teddy checks, after which Mike bets all the money the Russian has – $2,500.

Teddy calls. Mike opens the hand with J-T, reveling a pair of Jacks, whereupon Teddy KGB discards the cards and comments on Mike’s good luck. The winner doesn’t deny it.

This, however, isn’t entirely true. On the flop, the main character had a flash draw and two over-cards. As it reads, both players had equal chances.

How the Cookie Crumbles

In the second game, things go better for Teddy KGB. The blinds are twice as high at $50-$100 and the bets have increased to $20,000 per players.

At a certain point, Teddy KGB has most of the chips in the bank. The game seems to be set. The next round should be the last.

5-3-A appear on the table. Initially, Mike is ready to bet, but changes his mind and says “Check.“

Teddy is immediately against it and bets himself. Mike readily passes and reveals his hand, which is A-5. 

He claims to have a straight. Teddy guessing that he’s been read by the cookie, throws the box against the wall. Mike is pleased.

Again, there’s not much to go around. If you trust your gut, don’t play. Mike easily reads his opponent and passes a strong hand of highest pairs without any regrets.

What Was in Teddy KGB’s Hand?

It’s come time to discuss the main distribution for the entire film.

Till this day, there are still debates about what was in John Malkovich’s hands. Even professional players were unable to give an accurate answer.

It comes to the point that Mike had a bigger stack than Teddy. From 9s to 8s, the main character makes a mini-raise after the limp, while Teddy bets the same amount.

As 6-7-10 appear on the flop, this gives Mike the highest hand and he becomes completely safe. Aggressively, Teddy bets $2,000. Here, Mike plays along as if he has nothing, but calls anyway.

As 2c falls on the turn, Mike checks again, and Teddy puts the pot. Mike is just passively calling again. The last one on the river comes As, with the main character checking out right after. Teddy, saying that aces will not help him in any way, going all in.

“Yes“, Mike answered him, “aces won’t help me, because I have a straight flop“.

He wins again.

Analysis

Mike’s game is non-negotiable. He got the strongest hand and became completely safe. The most interesting thing is the check on the river. With this decision, Mike provokes the opponent’s bluff. The ace embarrassed Teddy too, but he continued his aggression.

But what did Teddy have?

The writers left that much to the imagination. However, there are two versions.

In the first version, he has a pair of aces or a dozen. He does not raise the pre-flop, then aggressively bets on the flop and turn, continuing the attack.

In the second option, he simply has nothing. This is an opinion of some professional players, including Chris Ferguson. The logic is as follows: if you think your opponent has an underdrawn straight draw, why should you call on the river? Only to knock him out of the pot and not to show your bluff.

If you’re wondering about the last scene, we’d recommend streaming the entire Rounders movie first!