It’s 20 years since Rounders was released to widespread critical acclaim. The film, starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, focused on the dirty side of underground poker. The name ‘rounder’ referred to someone who travels from city-to-city seeking high-stakes poker games.
Box Office takings were slightly underwhelming for the film on its initial release – only $22.9 million – but just like the Shawshank Redemption and other mainstream flops, Rounders went on to become a cult classic years after its release.
Let’s take a look at what made Rounders a well-known and well-loved American drama on the 20th anniversary of its cinematic release.
The story
Rounders centres on Matt Damon’s character Mike McDermott, a law student who’s a gifted poker player. Mike dreams of competing in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
However, he goes down the wrong path to quest for glory and starts playing Texas Hold ‘Em in underground poker rooms. Inevitably, things take a turn for the worse when Mike gets over-confident and risks his entire bankroll of $30,000 on a risky hand.
As a result, Mike quits playing poker and commits himself to earning an honest living – partly to placate his parents and his girlfriend. Then, when his childhood friend Worm (Edward Norton) is released from prison, Mike helps him to pay off an outstanding debt – returning to the shady poker tables to fund his benevolent gesture.
Worm wins $10,000, but decides against paying back Mike. The film develops around the relationship between Mike and Worm, and the impact this has on Mike’s family and girlfriend.
How does Rounders compare to other great gambling films?
Rounders has the perfect blend of lows and highs to keep the viewer intrigued and emotionally invested in the tension and drama – which are sustained throughout its two-hour screen time. One factor that sets it apart from other gambling movies is its cinematography – it juxtaposes a noir look, which captures an edgy underworld perfectly, and a sports picture that evokes the elation of winners.
Ocean’s Eleven and 21 are perhaps the only other films made after Rounders that rival it – however, neither have the same gritty drama as Rounders. While they’re both entertaining films that hold their weight in the gambling genre, it’s unlikely there’ll be any eulogies written about them two decades from now.
How would a Rounders sequel look?
The gambling landscape has changed dramatically since 1998. Firstly, the legalisation of a plethora of gambling activities in the US has reduced the prevalence of underground betting cells.
Plus, there’s been another seismic change over the past 20 years: the internet. If a law student were looking to make it big in poker in 2018, then they would probably just log into an online casino site on their MacBook rather than embarking in the gritty world of underground poker.
Players across the world can now play poker against some of the best in the world from the comfort of their own home.
There are so many online gambling operators offering run-of-the-mill online casinos. Then others have taken it to the next level. The Mr Green online casino has surpassed other online casinos by providing customers with their Live Beyond Live feature – immersing players in a real casino environment where they’re playing with real-life dealers and other players in a stunningly engaging live online casino powered by virtual reality.
It’s this shift to online gambling that’s got Matt Damon interested in rebooting Rounders for the modern age. Of course, a sequel of Rounders would look very different to the original – and a reboot would most probably lack the noir vibe that gave the film its initial appeal.
