Name: Fictional movies involving the World Series of Poker
Age: 22 (most popular since the ‘Moneymaker Boom’ of 2003)
Appearance: Usually as a plot device, very occasionally bearing some resemblance to the actual WSOP but rarely, if ever, filmed there
Not filmed there? I’ve watched the WSOP for years — is it fake, like the moon landings? Okay, let’s definitely circle back to that, but what you’re talking about are live streams or documentaries. I’m talking Hollywood fiction here.
Ah yes, poker movies: usually fun for everyone except poker players. Sad, but true. It’s rare for a poker movie to really nail the action, the feeling, or sometimes even the rules of a real poker game.
So why keep on trying? The drama! A poker hand is such an efficient way of telling a story. You’ve got competing characters, a battle of wills, clearly defined stakes and the whims of fate, all colliding on the turn of a card. It’s Homer’s Odyssey, Greek mythology, the Trojan War and The Bold & The Beautiful all wrapped up in a five-minute, dramatically-lit scene. It’s made for cinema.
Then why do they always get it so wrong? Because let’s face it, not every hand lives up to that promise. Most hands don’t even make it to showdown, and so much of the drama in poker is that quiet, personal kind — the bad beat you remember for years, but that not even your friends want to hear about.
Even at the WSOP? The showpiece event of the poker calendar obviously sets the stage for even more drama, ratcheting up the stakes to a point worthy of the climax of Act 3. In movies it’s the equivalent of the Olympic Games, the SuperBowl or the, err, other World Series.
But… it’s not? Oh no, it absolutely is. Let’s face it, the WSOP Main Event is a tournament every player daydreams of winning.
And do movies bring this to life? That’s a matter of opinion. In a movie like Rounders, playing the WSOP Main Event is the end goal — it represents a chance at a new life.
A new life where you’re $10K poorer? Maybe, but a life where you’re committed to pursuing your dream, far away from everything you know. Then there’s a movie like Lucky You, where the poker provides the structure for a more classic father/son drama.
What, like they’re both at the final table or something? Actually, yes.
That doesn’t sound very realistic. That’s not the half of it. The watching audience on the rail applauds every single bet, raise or call any player makes, no matter its significance.
Do they applaud folds as well? No, when someone folds they gasp. Lucky You did at least feature various real poker players.
Like who? (Deep breath) Daniel Negreanu, Sammy Farha, Erick Lindgren, John Hennigan, Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, John Juanda, Erik Seidel…
Okay, enough! That’s pretty much what audiences at the time said, too. The movie bombed at the box office.
It seems these movies aren’t really about the WSOP, but just use it as a dramatic device. Is Rocky about boxing? Was Field of Dreams about baseball? That’s the thing about sports, and poker too: the drama’s already real.
So what’s the most realistic depiction of the WSOP on film? Try The Card Counter. It’s not about poker, but at one point the lead character stops off at the WSOP, plays a side event, far from the main stage, the audiences and the cameras, and finishes as runner-up. No royal flushes, no miracle cards. He stands up, shakes hands, heads to the payout desk then gets on with the movie.
Anything even more realistic? Sure: come play an event for yourself, there’s nothing like it. Other than that, tune in to the daily live streams, there’s plenty of real drama every day, and they almost always get the rules right.
Do say: “Ain’t nothing like the real thing!”
Don’t say: “My royal flush beats your quads. Again.”
Image courtesy of Nathan DeFiesta/Unsplash.
