Poker has been a popular motif for filmmakers through the years, and Darren Elias recently offered up some reviews of card-playing scenes.
The four-time World Poker Tour champion was a guest on the Business Insider YouTube channel and gave his thoughts on films ranging from Rounders to Casino Royale to Molly’s Game and more. The Bond flick stood out for the unlikely hand that helped the secret agent vanquish his opponent. Others at the table held surprisingly solid hands as well.
“In movies, you’re always going to see these huge hands,” Elias said. “Really, the unrealistic part comes when everybody has these hands at the same time. It’s like winning the lottery while getting struck by lightning.”
Elias went on to comment on other, more realistic films, including the famous “Oreo scene” from Rounders. He broke down the action while also explaining how the game is played. The movie is realistic, he notes, but finding a tell based on an opponent eating cookies may stretch that realism a bit.
“Mikey McD laying down ace-five there,” he says. “I could see recognizing a tell and folding a good hand. That probably wouldn’t be as obvious as a guy only eats his Oreos when he has the best hand. It would probably be something a little more subtle.”
The Pennsylvania native had two other criticisms about the film.
“The only knock on Rounders would be bet sizing, I think, where there’s $400 in this pot and Teddy KGB bets $2,000. So, for a player to bet $2,000, five times the pot, on the flop, is pretty uncharacteristic. It doesn’t happen very often. And you would think a player who, Teddy KGB, although fictional, is regarded as a decent player, probably wouldn’t be betting five times the pot here. Also, they would probably have a dealer, is the only other unrealistic aspect, where they probably wouldn’t just be dealing to each other.”
The types of underground games seen in the film are real, Elias says, and can come with some risk for players. He complimented the 1998 film on its realism and Mike’s attempts to trap Teddy, giving the scene an eight out of 10.
Molly’s Game also drew nice reviews, but some others, such as a poker scene in John Wick 4, didn’t fare as well. The scene features an interesting cast of characters gathered around a poker table, with their lives on the line depending on the outcome of the poker game.
The game is five-card draw, and Wick shows aces and eights, also known as “dead man’s hand” after famous gambler, lawman, and gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok allegedly held the hand when he was shot dead in the back of a saloon in Deadwood in the Dakota Territory in 1876.
Despite Wick’s solid hand, three opponents were dealt the highly unlikely hands of four of a kind, a royal flush, and five of a kind (apparently there were wild cards). Elias notes that the scenario is “pretty absurd.”
“Probably the most realistic part of the scene is John Wick cutting the guy’s throat with a playing card, where that could actually happen,” he said. “Lower-quality playing cards are made of paper or card stock. But if you’re in a casino or you’re playing with a nice deck of cards, they’re made of plastic, and they do have an edge. So, a man of John Wick’s skill sets could probably cut somebody with a playing card. I’ve seen players that can throw a card and cut through a banana or a cucumber or things like that.”
However, the scene did not earn a positive review. Elias, who has almost $14 million in live tournament winnings, gave the scene a one out of 10. Watch the complete video below.
A few more films have been added to the poker genre in recent years. In November, a documentary about the WPT World Championship was released. The 2024 movie Dead Money with Emile Hirsch also drew some nice reviews.
