Rounders

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[Man Narrating]

Listen, here's the thing.

If you can't spot the sucker

in your first half hour at the table,

then you are the sucker.

Guys around here'll tell ya...

you play for a living.

It's like any other job.

You don't gamble. You grind it out.

Your goal is to win

one big bet an hour, that's it.

Get your money in when you have the best

of it, and protect it when you don't.

Don't give anything away.

That's how I've paid my way

through half of law school.

A true grinder.

See, I learned how to win a little at

a time. But finally, I've learned this...

If you're too careful, your

whole life can become a f***in' grind.

This is Teddy KGB's place.

- [Man] Five hundred.

- You won't find it in the Yellow Pages.

Nope.

Not tonight.

No? What?

Give me three stacks

of high society.

Thirty thousand.

Count it.

- That's good.

- So, you're sitting the apple.

- Good. Want a cookie?

- No.

[Narrating]

He doesn't look like much,

but KGB is connected all the way

to the top of the Russian mob.

He's the one guy in the game

you don't want to f*** with.

But if you're looking

for high stakes,

this is the only place

in town.

They all know me as a small-timer,

but that's about to change.

Joey Knish

is a New York legend.

He's been a rounder,

earning his living at cards...

since he was 19 years old.

What are you,

holdin' those for somebody?

Uh, yeah,

I'm holding 'em for you.

- You should be.

- [Chuckles]

'Cause I hope you're not thinking

of putting all that glimmer in play.

[Narrating] He's as close to a friend

as there is in this place.

- Come here.

- [Narrator] But tonight,

I don't want to see him.

Now, you don't wanna

butt onions with these guys.

'Cause they'll chew you up,

take your whole bankroll.

- So you say.

- There's plenty of easy games.

We get outta here, get some coffee,

ride over to that soft seat in Queens.

I know what I'm doing.

You're making a run at it,

aren't you?

Rolling up a stake

and going to Vegas.

I'm right, right?

- I can beat the game.

- Maybe.

Maybe this is a game

can be beat.

But you know you can beat the 10-20

at the Chesterfield and the Hi-Low...

at that goulash joint

on 79th Street.

Okay.

I understand.

I understand.

Back to battle.

[Narrating] The game in question is

No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em.

Minimum buy-in $25,000.

A game like this doesn't come together

often outside the casinos.

The stakes attract

rich flounders,

and they in turn

attract the sharks.

No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em

is the Cadillac of poker.

Each player is dealt

two cards face down.

Five cards are then dealt

face up across the middle.

These are community cards everyone can

use to make the best five card hand.

The key to the game is playing

the man, not the cards.

Bet an eight ball.

There's no other game in which fortunes

can change so much from hand to hand.

A brilliant player can get

a strong hand cracked, go on tilt...

and lose his mind along with

every single chip in front of him.

This is why the World Series of Poker is

decided over a No-Limit Hold 'Em table.

Some people, pros even,

won't play No-Limit.

They can't handle

the swings.

But there are others,

like Doyle Brunson,

who consider No-Limit

the only pure game left.

Like Papa Wallenda said..."Life is on

the wire. The rest is just waiting."

Pass it to you.

All right, I raise.

- I'm gonna raise five hundred.

- [Man] Fold.

It's a position raise.

I call it.

[Narrating]

Here's the beauty of this game.

- Go ahead.

- [Narrating] I just got

top two pair on the flop,

and I want to keep him

in the hand.

Against your average guy,

I'd set a bear trap, hardly bet at all.

Let him walk into it.

But KGB's too smart for that.

So, what I've got to do

is over-bet the pot,

make it look like

I'm trying to buy it.

- I bet $2,000.

- Then he plays back at me,

and I get paid off.

Call.

[Narrating]

My guess is Teddy's on a flush draw.

Burn and turn.

[Narrating]

There's my money card, nine of hearts.

I got a full house.

- To the bettor.

- Check's good.

[Narrating] Now I hope

a spade falls and Teddy makes his flush.

That way he'll bet strong, and I'll beat

him with my nines full over aces.

I'm going to bet...

Bet...

$15,000.

Time.

[Narrating] I want him to think

that I'm pondering a call,

but all I'm really thinking about

is Vegas and the f***ing Mirage.

All right, your 15, plus

I have another 33 to raise you.

Um...

Yeah, I'm gonna go all in, 'cause

I don't think you got the spades.

You are right.

I don't have spades.

[Narrating] I know before

the cards are even turned over.

Aces full, Mike.

Get up.

Come on.

Come on.

- Want some?

- No.

I'm down to the felt, Knish.

I lost everything.

Man, I lost my case money.

I lost my tuition.

It happens to everyone.

Time to time, everyone goes bust.

You'll be back in the game

before you know it.

I'm done.

I'm out of it.

They all say that

at first.

Hey, man, let me stake you.

Standard deal, you know.

Fifty percent of your winnings.

If you lose, it's on me.

I'd just throw it away.

- You still got the truck?

- Sure.

Come on.

[Mike Narrating] You don't hear much

about guys who take their shot and miss,

but I'll tell you

what happens to 'em.

They end up humping crappy jobs

on graveyard shifts,

trying to figure out

how they came up short.

See, I had this picture

in my head.

Me sitting at the big table,

Doyle to my left,

Amarillo Slim to my right,

playing in the World Series of Poker.

And I let that vision

blind me at the table against KGB.

Now, the closest I get

to Vegas is west New York,

driving this lousy route

handed down from Knish...

to rounders who forget

the cardinal f***in' rule...

Always leave yourself outs.

- Hey, Moogie.

- Let me ask you a question.

In a legal sense, can f***in'

Steinbrenner just move the Yankees?

Does he have the f***in' right

to just move them?

I don't know.

How should I know that?

- You didn't learn that yet?

- No, we get to Steinbrenner

in the third year of law school.

Oh.

- Take care, man.

- Yeah.

- [Chattering]

- [Poker Chips Clattering]

[Mike Narrating]

The judges' game.

I'd heard about it for years on the

street, before I was even in law school.

A rotating group of ten or twelve

judges, prosecutors and professors.

They all have money,

and in my playing days...

it would have been pretty sweet to have

any one of them owing me favors.

Only problem is, no one

can get in the game anymore.

One rounder, Crispy Linetta,

sat under some pretense,

but they found out he was a pro,

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