On April 24th, "All-In: The Poker Movie" will be released across the United States digitally via outlets like Amazon and iTunes. Prior to its digital release, American poker fans can catch the documentary about the growth of the game of poker, and its recent crackdown from the Department of Justice, as part of a 40-city theatrical release starting on March 23rd."All-In" is a poker documentary and, as such, is more focused on presenting the impact the game has had on American society than efforts like "Lucky You" and "Tilt." PocketFives had the privilege of checking out an advance copy of the movie, and the sheer volume of interviewees featured in it impressed us quite a bit.
The documentary began with poker personalities like Chris Moneymaker, Bernard Lee, Mori Eskandani, Jonathan Duhamel, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and "Rounders" star Matt Damon reminiscing about where they were on Black Friday. On that fateful day last April, the DOJ indicted the founders of, and payment possessors associated with, the three largest U.S.-facing sites at the time: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker.
Damon recalled the general public's reaction to Black Friday: "I think everybody went, 'Why are you cracking down on poker? Might as well crack down on baseball.'" Poker was firmly entrenched as an American pastime, but how did its popularity experience a meteoric rise?
Snippets from PokerStars commercials, television shows like "The Flintstones," and old movies showcased poker's popularity in U.S. society. Shots of players in poker rooms in cities like Atlantic City, Columbus, Lexington, Las Vegas, Tulsa, Biloxi, and Wichita proved that poker exists everywhere.
"All-In" then dove into the story of Moneymaker (pictured), whose win in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event helped spark the modern poker boom. Little known to some, Moneymaker used to hustle pool and dice before turning 18, when he started playing blackjack in cruise ship casinos. He then turned to sports betting and suffered tremendous adversity, including losing a $60,000 bankroll at one point.According to the movie's producers, poker started in the United States in New Orleans before expanding up the Ohio River and out West with the Gold Rush. World War II, according to World Series of Poker Media Director Nolan Dalla, served as a watershed moment for the game: "World War II may have been the single greatest booster of the game of poker as far as its popularity." Soldiers returning from combat brought their regular games to their communities, spreading poker to the masses.
In Vegas, Amarillo Slim defeated seven opponents to win the 1972 World Series of Poker Main Event. Dalla called the poker legend "very much like Babe Ruth: he was the first." In 1980, a young New Yorker, Stu Ungar, stormed onto the poker scene to win it all and followed that up with another Main Event title in 1981. Ungar, however, devolved into a world of drugs and, according to "All-In," poker's appeal promptly eroded.
Poker rooms quickly began to close across the United States. In fact, Binion's Las Vegas, home of the annual World Series of Poker at the time, didn't have a card room for 15 years. New technologies in the form of computers, as well as recreational sports like bungee jumping, sparked an air of individualism and left poker crumbling.
The documentary then turned to the Mayfair Club in New York, which attracted Wall Street traders and professional gamblers alike. Mayfair backgammon regular Phil Laak told viewers, "The guys who were in this world - half went to poker and half went to Wall Street."
Also contributing to the growth of poker in recent decades was the movie "Rounders." Damon (pictured), who is arguably the most famous celebrity to appear in "All-In," recalled, "'Rounders' is unquestionably the movie that the most people come up to me and say, 'That's the movie of yours I really like.'" Rounders came out in the late 1990s, and a sequel has been rumored for some time now.Perhaps our favorite quote from "All-In" came from Hellmuth, who is known for his incessant name-dropping. "The Poker Brat" gave his take on the popularity of poker: "It's amazing to me how many A-listers and pro athletes [love poker]. Where else can Jay-Z and LeBron James compete together?"
Interviews really provide the meat of "All-In: The Poker Movie." We were genuinely impressed at the sheer amount of work that had to have gone into compiling the vast number of them found in the flick. Here's a partial list of people you can expect to hear from:
Celebrities: Matt Damon, Frank Deford, Ira Glass, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Kenny Rogers, Bert Sugar, and Peter Alson
Poker Players: Annie Duke, Barry Greenstein, Chris Ferguson, Joe Hachem, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Howard Lederer, Isabelle Mercier, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Vanessa Rousso, and Mike Sexton
Catch "All-In" coming soon to a theater or iPod near you.
