Rounders (released on Sept. 11, 1998) arrived just before the global explosion of Texas Hold ’em, serving as both a prescient look at professional card playing and a gritty, character-driven drama. The film eschews the typical flashy tropes of Las Vegas for the smoke-filled backrooms of New York City, capturing the psychological warfare and subculture of “rounders”—those who travel from game to game making a living on their wits and nerves.
Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) is a law student with a prodigious talent for poker.
After losing his entire $30,000 tuition fund in a high-stakes game against a Russian mobster known as Teddy KGB (John Malkovich), Mike swears off the game to focus on his studies and his girlfriend, Jo (Gretchen Mol).
He finds a mentor in Professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau), who encourages his legal aspirations.
However, Mike’s resolve is tested when his childhood friend, “Worm” (Edward Norton), is released from prison.
Worm is a charming but reckless hustler who quickly accumulates a massive debt to a dangerous group of loan sharks.
To save his friend’s life, Mike is pulled back into the underground circuit.
Along the way, he navigates the advice of the more cautious “grinder” Joey Knish (John Turturro) and the allure of Petra (Famke Janssen), who runs one of the city’s private clubs.
As the debt comes due, Mike realizes that his only path to salvation is to confront his past and sit back down across the table from Teddy KGB for one final, all-or-nothing game.
The film builds to a tense, psychological showdown where Mike must prove that poker isn’t about luck, but about reading the man across from him.
John Dahl (Kill Me Again, Red Rock West, The Last Seduction) directed the film.
Matt Damon in Rounders (Photo/Miramax)
Reception for Rounders
Rounders grossed $8.5 million on its opening weekend, finishing No. 1 at the box office.
The film would gross $22.9 million worldwide.
Roger Ebert gave Rounders three out of four stars in his review.
Legacy
The legacy of Rounders is inextricably linked to the “Poker Boom” of the early 2000s.
While it was only a modest success upon its initial release, it found a second life on home video and cable, becoming a cult classic that many professional players cite as their primary inspiration for taking up the game.
It is widely praised for its technical accuracy, specifically its focus on bankroll management, the “tells” of opponents, and the terminology that would soon become household language.
Beyond the cards, the film is remembered for the electric chemistry between Damon and Norton, and for Malkovich’s deliciously over-the-top performance as the Oreo-munching villain.
It successfully elevated the sports movie formula by applying it to a game of the mind, proving that a hand of cards could be as cinematic as a last-minute touchdown.
Rounders stands as the gold standard of gambling films, a gritty and atmospheric exploration of a world where “cards are just a way of keeping score” and the greatest risk is not playing at all.
