Poker in fiction is notoriously hit or miss, with the emphasis heavily on ‘miss’. Getting the details right is everything, and even a big budget blockbuster can shoot well wide of the mark.
Take the James Bond movie Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, for example:
“This is a $100 million movie that doesn’t know the difference between a cash game and a tournament. It’s a $100 million movie in which someone spots someone who’s bluffing before they even bet. It’s a $100 million movie where the hero makes a call with a full house and then sheepishly admits to being outplayed. It’s just a cooler! It’s just unlucky! It doesn’t mean anything. And my favorite thing is how Bond tips the dealer a tournament chip. Tournament chips have no cash value!”
The above could have been said by any poker player who’s watched the scene in question, but it actually comes from the hero of Joe Stapleton and Neil Gibson’s new graphic novel, Trapped.
Poker players complaining about poker in fiction? Now that’s a story that rings truer than most poker scenes have ever got close to.
Authentically Stapes
The story in Trapped follows one Joe Stapleton, a wise-cracking poker TV commentator who makes friends easily and always has a quip - and a bad beat story - ready to go. It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s watched televised poker over the past 20 years, most notably the award-winning EPT Live broadcasts, that the character of Joe Stapleton is based on, er, the wise-cracking poker TV commentator you’ll recognize from countless winners’ interviews and trophy presentations.
The real Joe Stapleton, widely known as Stapes, may not be instantly recognizable from his appearance in Trapped. Chiseled and coiffed with hand-drawn designer stubble, comic-book Stapes fits right in within the world Trapped brings to life: a color-saturated, larger-than-life depiction of tinseltown celebrities, exclusive home games and private limousines loaded with nefarious promise.
Stapes not only provided inspiration for the lead character in Trapped, he also co-wrote its story. There’s a lot packed into a relatively small package here, and much of it will delight poker players - especially those for which the corny scenes in the likes of Casino Royale elicit sneers of derision.
While the world the story builds may be forgivably cartoon-like, with Stapes providing ‘poker consultancy’ authenticity is the watchword when it comes to the game of poker itself.
The Big Stapleton
With shades of The Big Lebowski, the story's charming protagonist bounces from casino to cocktail party, film shoot to celebrity poker game, rubbing shoulders with a cast of movie producers, musicians, TV writers and dangerous drug lords. While some of the situations are overblown, the poker is always relatable and feels real, whether it’s the resentment of missing out on a bad beat jackpot, folding the winner to a better player’s bluff, or trapping with a monster hand only to see the one card you’re scared of appearing on the river.
Also believable are the scenes in which the lead character attempts to parlay his poker skills into professional networking opportunities, live comedy gigs or paying work. He also bemoans the fact his ambitions for worldwide fame have stalled at ‘poker famous’. Is this as ‘authentically Stapes’ as the wisecracks, one-liners and floated flops?
It’s tough to say. This is still fiction, after all. But if the real Stapes is worried he may only be remembered as the guy who handed over all those trophies once the last hand was played, he can be sure of at least one more accolade: helping to produce a work of fiction where the poker made sense.
More than that, though, Trapped is a fun read. The artwork is colorful and packed with character, and the writing has genuine charm - even if a freewheeling narrative comes together perhaps too neatly at the end. The real novelty in this graphic novel comes from the fact this is a poker story that knows poker, how it works, why it works, and why there’s more than a little truth in the old adage, ‘the next best thing to playing poker and winning, is playing poker and losing’.
Rumors are already swirling that a movie adaptation may be in the works. The rumors that Daniel Craig will star, playing the part of Stapes, start here.
Trapped is available now at Twisted Comics. Use the code LOVETRAPPED for an exclusive 10% off.
Images courtesy of Trapped by Twisted Comics.
