Rounders (1998)

Listen to your gut, Mike. This week we're sitting down at the table for Rounders (1998) — the underground poker cult classic that didn't just capture a world, it helped create one. This is the movie that launched a thousand poker careers, and we're dealing every single card.Directed by John Dahl and written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the film follows Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), a gifted New York law student and poker prodigy who loses his entire bankroll to Russian mobster and underground card room operator Teddy KGB (John Malkovich). He goes straight — until his fast-talking, self-destructive childhood friend Lester "Worm" Murphy (Edward Norton) walks out of prison and drags him back into the game, deeper and more dangerous than ever before. Also starring John Turturro, Gretchen Mol, Martin Landau, and Famke Janssen.We're going all in on everything: Malkovich's unhinged, Oreo-munching, accent-mangling performance as Teddy KGB (one of the great movie villains of the 90s), the film's eerily accurate portrait of underground poker culture, Edward Norton at his most slippery and electric, and why Rounders — a modest box office performer in 1998 — became the bible of the poker boom that exploded in the early 2000s. Pro players like Brian Rast, Hevad Khan, and Gavin Griffin have all credited the film with getting them into the game, and it's not hard to see why. This movie makes you want to shuffle up and deal.Is Rounders the greatest gambling movie ever made? How does it hold up as a film about obsession, loyalty, and following your calling against all common sense? And just how did Koppelman and Levien get the underground poker world so right? We answer all of it.Whether you're a poker fanatic, a Matt Damon completist, a fan of late-90s crime dramas, a cult movie devotee, or someone who just loves a film that completely immerses you in a world — this episode belongs in your stack.Topics covered: Rounders 1998 | Matt Damon | Edward Norton | John Malkovich Teddy KGB | best poker movies | underground poker | Texas Hold'em movies | gambling movies | John Dahl director | Brian Koppelman | David Levien | cult classic films | late 90s movies | crime drama films | best films of the 1990s | poker culture | World Series of Poker | movie review podcast | film analysis | Good Will Hunting Matt Damon | John Turturro | Martin Landau | Famke Janssen | underground gambling films | best gambling scenes in movies | poker boom 2000s Subscribe, rate, and leave us a review — and tell us: are you a Mike McDermott or a Worm?YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@RegularorMentholContact us: [email protected]