Good movie, but I feel it enables poker addiction. This is the story running in the back of every player's mind, just need one more hand and you too can sit down and beat Johnny C or a mafia bruiser.
@@andrewshouse9840 I heard a great review of the movie saying he won as soon as he was told to pursue his destiny by the professor. The 10 grand he was given and winning against KGB was just all part of the plan.
Horrible accent, but Malkovich is the character. Pet theory of mine- he is a Russian immigrant, but speaks perfect English, puts on this persona to intimidate and distract.
Sure…like a lot of people “don’t know” shit Trump says all the time. A lot of people don’t realize KGB is played by the same guy in “Being John Malkovich” years later.
@@why-even-try-brotendo I’ve seen some wise guys do it before, but I honestly don’t see the point cause it’s genuinely just a race between who hits and who doesn’t
Mike is the very definition of how NOT to play poker in this movie. Knish is the real hero here: a grinder, not some hero WSP wannabe who takes huge chances all the time. They should make a sequel called "Grinders" starring John Turturro as Knish again lol.
Justin Gomez Yup, exactly like I was thinking. It's why Ivey's never won a bracelet; he has to wade through a swamp of donks to even get relatively deep in the tournament. Any idiot can take a world champ out in a tournament, which is why I prefer cash games.
joydivsion77 I do definitely agree with you but Ivey has won many bracelets, unless you meant the Main Event then you're absolutely right. It's full of so many donks the top pros really struggle to make their way through so many terrible players sucking out on them.
I still hope to play in a bracelet event in some WSOP in the future and if, and that's HUUUUGE if LOL, I won then and only then would I play the Main Event.
Justin Gomez Yes, I was referring to the Main Event specifically. I really wish it was invitation only (I think it was like that in the '70's). If you are a rich sob and play tennis, you can't just enter Wimbledon because you have money; only the top 120 players IN THE WORLD get in. It should be the same in poker, go with a ranking system that starts just after WSOP and ends just before. Take maybe the first 1000 on the list and it would make the tourney so much more entertaining.
Absolutely. I’m sure these guys had never had any real poker experience prior to shooting this film. So obviously, there was a tremendous amount of coaching from the pros. The acting, the facial expressions, the table presence, all the optics are what we would see in actual pro games.
My wife is Russian and I made her watch this movie with me, knowing Teddy’s accent was just godawful. Of course she just rolled her eyes during all his scenes, but now I get to talk to her in Teddy’s accent and she knows where it comes from. My favorite lines are, “very ah-grey-ess-eeve” and “Mr. Son of a beetch, let’s play sahm cardz.” Of, and of course, “pyay heem, pyay dat man heez myanee.”
Malkovich usually never does accents in his movies when playing historical/foreign characters. He usually sticks to his American accent. I wonder what made him change his ways in this movie. But KGB is sure as hell a character to remember.
rounders is about good bankrollmanagement: first he loses all his roll on a cooler and is broke because of bad money management. then he gets into a whole lot of trouble and has to play heads up with the villain for his life. he wins and is free to go. but then he gets provoked and playes another round for his life. he learned his lesson :) OG, original gambler. love it!
Really? If you have a good read on an opponent and you understand their game you might consider it. Mike couldn't call. It was either raise all in or fold.
More like a crushingly good read. Players will think they're good with QQ, JJ, or AK. So if you read them for a 'good' hand and fold you are losing way more value than you're gaining.
@@DixiePokerAce First, you never fold KK heads up. There is a 0.5% chance you are behind and even if you are you still have a 20% chance to win the hand. If you're the kind of guy that throws away $1000 with those odds then poker is not the game for you. Second, Mike can flat call here and really take KGB to the cleaners on later streets by disguising the strength of his hand. Since almost everybody expects Mike to jam all-in here with KK they will eliminate that hand from his range and they will likely stack off to him if they hit a pair of Jacks or Queens or even Kings.
@@connman8d617 for 10 grand, if I know my opponent has AA I can easily lay it down. It isn't something I would do often but if I played against someone over a long period of time and I was sure they had AA, I could make the fold. If I am going to put 10 grand in the middle I would like to have the best hand. A 1 in 5 shot isn't going to cut it. I play a lot of poker for a decent amount of money but I don't usually go all in preflop unless it is absolutely neccessary.
@@DixiePokerAce okay. Let me put this another way. If somebody is so tight that their 3 bet range heads up includes AA and only AA then they are the nittiest nit that ever lived and you will destroy them long term by aggressing into them and folding any time they push back. But since those players would lose such a ridiculous amount of money playing heads up you would never encounter one heads up. So your "strategy" of folding KK heads up is about as useful as having a plan for what to do in case of a yeti bite.
Best acting by Malkovich in the movie at :40 seconds when Damon goes all in. He says nothing but his face says it all, has an awwwwwwww shit I just got fucked look. Notice the slight nervous tweek of his cheek at :50 seconds. Great stuff. Taaaaaaaake eeeet down......
Justin Bridges Good h'and, cetching thèt jack on the turran, you got lucky there. Zo, thèt's it then, hm? Jast laik a yang màn caming in for a qvikie. I.. feel.. so unsjiètisfied. You must feel proud and good, strong enough to beat the world!
So, let me get this straight. After Mike re raises and goes all in KGB has to put in 5 grand to try and win 15 grand. So his pot odds are 3 to 1. How could he possibly fold? Hollywood I guess...
Head's up is a way different world. If he had pocket As, he's calling a shove pre-flop. No question there. But his re-raise is representing and he's likely working with an ace, probably ace-face. I don't see him folding on AK in head's up, either, so more likely it's AQ or AJ. Also possible he could have a mid pair, but if it isn't ace-face then it's more likely the other end, A5 or A4. Either way, he knew with the almost immediate shove that he ran into a high pair, and folded.
"He beat me. Straight up. Pay him. Pay that man his money." My favorite role by John Malkovich playing "K.G.B" -- an endearingly honest, Russian-mob-connected owner of an underground poker den, that figures in the movie's opening and closing scenes. I think it's my favorite starring role by Matt Damon -- as "Mike McDermott" -- a young master card player who initially trades the rounds of poker playing for a New York City law school. Also my favorite role by Edward Norton as Mike's incorrigible (just-out-of-prison) inveterate gambling addicted friend -- risking life and limb, cheating at cards. Okay, one more favorite -- John Turturro: terrific, in a supporting role (his best, I think). A 23 year old movie I didn't see for the first time until 2015! And there it was 'for rent' on cable: Was it really that good, I wondered? I had such fond memories about it -- especially the ending. I couldn't recall the exact details but I know the resolution was so plausible and made me feel good. Mike's former girlfriend, a pretty blonde law student, says at the end: "Call me sometime . . . if you need a lawyer." Matt Damon's character: "I will. And I will!" Last scene, in the back of a cab: "Take me to Kennedy Airport". The driver: "Where are you headed?" "Las Vegas." "Good luck, man." And we hear young Mike McDermott thinking out loud: "First prize to the winner of the world poker championship is a million bucks. Does it have my name on it? I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Thanks for sharing TheBmat. Celebrated at Sinatra Family Forum - "My Favorite Things" - What's in your DVD player? What are you watching? sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php/21618-What-Is-On-Your-DVD-Player-What-Are-You-Watching-Now/page502
They still should have gone after Worm! Even after Mike “cleared” the debt. Seems like a hurt to their street cred if all you have to do to get out of debt is to point to another guy and go “he’s good for my fuck up” and then run
The point is the first time he wanted to earn more money for vegas. The second time he owed KGB a lot of money and paid that off, then had the 30k over. But I see your point as well.
Malkovich great range, what an actor. He plays a Russian Mob guy perfectly! By the way P*tin needs to play Russian Roulette with his band of thieves and killers.
Well he tells the story to john tururro that he when he was in atlantic city, johnny chan was at the table playing......so he sat down...played one hand and actually beat him. This is what gave him the mentality that if he could be a poker great like chan on one hand, he could beat anybody. SO, he took his money to KGB. So....as for him going "straight away," i dont think it would have been possible without those two event unfolding the way that they did,
I’ve played lots of cards, poker pitch. It all boils down to, where’s that one card that makes or breaks your hand. Is it out or still in the deck? It’s all in how you play that one card.
The way he plays kings there is what messed me up. I used to play like that with almost every hand I played. I'd try to constantly just get all my money in. Worked for a bit then lost several nights in a row.
Chin(k) from asia here.......this movie would have been more believable if teddy kgb shouted cyka blyat every now and then.but i give thumbs up for the adidas tracksuit.
Random question: why do they play with chips nowadays? You'd think it could be done electronically where you can punch in your bets and not have to count chips.
The part that's dumb about the first hand is that KGB (or any player for that matter) would never take their time if they had AA preflop. Not much drama with the cookie unless it's the worst slow roll in history
Vote up if you know what KGB is doing during he is holding the cookie not only before the flop, but on the flop and after in the movie... If you know... at least, you definitely are not a fish. ;)
I don’t understand why Grama wanted Mike to lose after continuing to play. If Mike lost it all back, he wouldn’t be able to pay Grama what he owed. And Grama would have to kill him.
