If you were telling the story of a poker tournament from the perspective of a player, how would you do it? Picking a single player to shadow is a great way to show the ups and downs, highs and lows of grinding it out at the tables, but there’s an obvious problem: what happens when they bust, and your story’s hero bites the dust?
The makers of a new documentary, The Ultimate Stack, have found a smart and novel way to approach this issue: follow one player until they’re eliminated, then shift the focus to the player who just knocked them out, and repeat until just one player remains.
This way the audience gets to feel the tension and excitement of the tournament, and hear directly from the ‘protagonist’ of the story, without the story having to end before its time. We’re guaranteed to ‘follow the chips’ all the way to the final tournament, the last hand, and the ultimate stack.
The film is available to watch for free on YouTube - just click above to watch now. I recommend doing so, and here’s why.
A story told on a world-class stage
The tournament in question is no pub league affair, but rather the event with the largest live guaranteed prize pool to date: the 2023 WPT World Championship.
With its huge field and epic prizes, it’s the perfect tournament to explore, and the risk-taking narrative framework of following the chips works to a tee. With the story’s structure guaranteeing a ride all the way to the end, we’re sure to see big names and huge hands, but successfully telling a story in this way - just like poker - is a mix of luck and skill.
What if the player you need to follow doesn’t actually want to be filmed? What if there’s a language barrier? What if the pressure of the bubble, a bad beat or an intense final table means they have no time - or inclination - to contribute to the documentary?
Accidental heroes
While the makers of the documentary, Michael Bailey and POKER Films, could have had no way of knowing or preparing for the players they’d need to focus on, it would be no exaggeration to say they hit the jackpot.
The film starts with Patrick Harvey, a recreational player with little tournament experience who wins a package to play the $10K event at Wynn Las Vegas. With that tournament now almost a year in the rear-view mirror, it should be no shock to readers to say he doesn’t make it all the way to the $5M+ first prize, but in the interests of avoiding other spoilers I’ll hold back on the other players who take center-stage in this excellent, well-told tale.
There are some you won’t have heard of, some you may have, and at least one you almost certainly know plenty about - and that’s not including Dan Sepiol, the winner of the event and the literal ‘ultimate stack’.
Along the way we hear from the likes of Chris Moorman, Garrett Adelstein, Tony Dunst, Mike Holtz, Brad Owen and Adam Pliska, among many others, underlining the access-all-areas feel of this fly-on-the-felt documentary.
It does a great job of introducing the mechanics of poker to those less familiar with the game, but not so much that it’s frustrating for experienced players to watch. The use of on-screen graphics to illustrate hands is done in a great, intuitive way, and the entire film has an impressive professional sheen that belies the small production team featured in the end credits.
Much like the WPT Championship itself, The Ultimate Stack is an impressive, polished affair, packed with both star names and hopefuls, and brimming with energy and love for the game. Recommended viewing, for sure.
2024 event is just round the corner
The film also does a great job in showcasing the WPT Championship, and has been released a month before the 2024 incarnation begins, back at Wynn Las Vegas.
The eye-watering $40M guarantee of 2023 has not been repeated this year, with the WPT instead opting to run a much-publicized $5M freeroll. Check out our interview with the WPT’s Adam Pliska for an insider’s take on this decision.
Nevertheless, the WPT end-of-year blowout is shaping up to be a doozy and, as ever, PokerOrg will be bringing you all the latest news and developments throughout the event.
The 2024 festival runs December 3-23, with the $10K World Championship event taking place December 14-21.
Who will be ‘the ultimate stack’ this year?
The Ultimate Stack by POKER Films is available to watch on YouTube now.
Images courtesy of The Ultimate Stack by POKER Films.
