Know About The Best Film Ever Made Over Poker “Rounders”
The world of online poker has widened a lot in the past 20 years! Don’t you agree? Earlier poker played in casinos and as a game poker was not an inch popular to the Indian people. But now, with technology booming, the game of poker online is also spreading its wings. During the 1990’s, the scenario of poker world was totally different from now.
11th September 1998 was the fateful day for American drama film, Rounders. In fact, Rounders has become the synonymous movie for the game of online poker. Starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, the movie was based on the theme of poker game. It has been 20 years that the movie has hit the silver screen.
“Rounders” Completed 20 Years
Back then, the film, which cost $12 million estimated to make, wasn’t exactly a hit. It earned $8,459,126 in its opening weekend. And it came to $22,905,674 by the end of its theatrical run on November 8, 1998.
The plot of the movie was based on the underground world of high-stakes poker and two friends have to pay off a large debt and for that they need to play and win at high-stakes poker. Back then, the movie had mixed reviews. But with the boom in the online poker industry in the 2000s, the movie became and hit and now referred as the first example of a poker based movie.
Majorly, the later success of this John Dahl-directed film, fuelled by “Poker Boom” when Chris Moneymaker won World Series of Poker2003 Main Event. The movie was promoted in the WSOP and in that effort of promotion, both the leads of the film Matt Damon and Edward Norton – competed in $10,000 Main Event that year. Damon was notably eliminated by poker legend Doyle Brunson after running kings into aces.
Here are some fun facts and trivia about Rounders as listed on IMDB:
1] Lester “Worm” Murphy (Edward Norton) was originally supposed to smoke however ardent non smoker Edward Norton refused.
2] Writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman have cameos in the Atlantic City poker scene. They are two of the players used to show giveaway tells.
3] Scream queen Neve Campbell refused the role of Jo, which was bagged by Gretchen Mol.
4] In the original version of the script, Mike McDermott was going to make a move on Phil Hellmuth in the Atlantic City big-money game, not Johnny Chan.
5] The chips used in both KGB’s place and the Chesterfield Club were made by Atlantic Standard Molding (ASM) which makes custom chips for casinos and home games.
6] Rounders was set in New York City but all of the law school scenes were filmed in and around Rutgers Law School in Newark, NJ.
If you still haven’t watched the film and you are an online poker fan, this is the right time to watch it with your other poker friends and honour the 20 year completion of the film.
Have a happy online poker time!