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* TheCameo: World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan plays himself in a flashback. Mike also watches a recording of Chan winning the 1988 WSOP Main Event.

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* TheCameo: World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan plays himself in a flashback. flashback and Mike also watches a recording of Chan winning the 1988 WSOP Main Event.manages to bluff him in one game.



** Mike at the very start, gambles with money he couldn't afford to lose in a high-stakes poker game. Knish tries to warn him of this,

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** Mike at the very start, gambles with money he couldn't afford to lose in a high-stakes poker game. Knish tries to warn him of this,

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* AllForNothing: Grama gives Worm and Mike 5 days to collect $15,000 to pay Worm's debt. Mike spends 3 days without sleep rounding and cleaning out various games around New York. [[spoiler:Then he loses it all on day 3 when Worm is caught cheating]].



* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). {{Lampshaded|Trope}} in his ending narration when he says he's back to where he started.

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* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). {{Lampshaded|Trope}} in his ending narration when he says mentions he's back to where he started.



* TheCameo: World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan plays himself in a flashback.

to:

* TheCameo: World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan plays himself in a flashback. Mike also watches a recording of Chan winning the 1988 WSOP Main Event.



* DidntThinkThisThrough: It looks like Mike is going to get hit by this trope during the game against Teddy KGB at the climax; he had won enough to pay off Worm's debt and still have half of what he needed to pay back to Petrovsky left over, only to have the poker game he lost at the beginning of the film rubbed in his face, making him opt to continue playing, and wind up one hand away from losing everything again.

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* DidntThinkThisThrough: DidntThinkThisThrough:
** Mike at the very start, gambles with money he couldn't afford to lose in a high-stakes poker game. Knish tries to warn him of this,
**
It looks like Mike is going to get hit by this trope during the game against Teddy KGB at the climax; he had won enough to pay off Worm's debt and still have half of what he needed to pay back to Petrovsky left over, only to have the poker game he lost at the beginning of the film [[EvilGloating rubbed in his face, face]], making him opt to continue playing, and wind up one hand away from losing everything again.



** The film also drops a lot of gambling jargon, but there's usually enough context to figure their meanings. Most of them can be [[https://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/jimp/personal/poker/glossary.html found here]].

to:

** The film also drops a lot of gambling jargon, but there's usually leaves enough context to figure their meanings. Most of them can be [[https://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/jimp/personal/poker/glossary.html found here]].



* ShaggyDogStory: Grama gives Worm and Mike 5 days to collect $15,000 to pay Worm's debt. Mike spends 3 days without sleep rounding and cleaning out various games around New York. [[spoiler:Then he loses it all on day 3 when Worm is caught cheating]].

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* ShaggyDogStory: Grama gives Worm and Mike 5 days to collect $15,000 to pay Worm's debt. Mike spends 3 days without sleep rounding and cleaning out ProfessionalGambler: The movie's title comes from the definition of a "rounder"--a gambler who makes most of their income going around various games around New York. [[spoiler:Then locations and playing poker. Mike was earning enough to pay his law school tuition, until he loses it lost all on day 3 when Worm is caught cheating]].his funds to KGB. His associates at the Chesterfield are also proficient poker players.

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* MeaningfulLook: Used in several poker games when players are looking for tells.
** At the cops game, [[spoiler:one of them takes a close look at Worm and catches him bottom-dealing to Mike.]]
** Early during the climactic poker game, Mike spots [[spoiler:KGB picking up, but ''not'' eating his Oreos after being put all-in.]]



* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Teddy KGB throws out his Oreos and messily splashes his chips after Mike exposes his Tell. Then he really freaks out after experiencing a bad beat and losing the film's climactic poker match to Mike. Thankfully, he's honorable enough to recognize that he lost fair and square and he gives Mike his winnings rather than ordering his goons to beat Mike to a pulp.]]

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* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Teddy KGB throws out his Oreos and messily splashes his chips after Mike exposes his Tell. Then he really freaks out after experiencing a bad beat and losing the film's climactic poker match to Mike. Thankfully, he's honorable enough to recognize that he lost fair and square fair-and-square and he gives Mike his winnings rather than ordering his goons to beat Mike to a pulp.]]
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Minor typo fix


** The film also drops a lot of gambling jargon, but there's usually enough context to figure their meanings. Most of them can be [[https://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/jimp/personal/poker/glossary.htmlfound here]].

to:

** The film also drops a lot of gambling jargon, but there's usually enough context to figure their meanings. Most of them can be [[https://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/jimp/personal/poker/glossary.htmlfound html found here]].
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%%ZCE * FixingTheGame: Lester just can't help himself. It's like Chronic Cheating Disorder.

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%%ZCE * FixingTheGame: Despite Mike's repeated warnings to not cheat (especially when the stakes are high), Lester just can't help himself. It's like Chronic Cheating Disorder.



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** The film also drops a lot of gambling jargon, but there's usually enough context to figure their meanings. Most of them can be [[https://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/jimp/personal/poker/glossary.htmlfound here]].

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Mike [=McDermott=] once had dreams of winning the World Series of Poker, but instead lost spectacularly while trying to raise the funds he needed to travel to Las Vegas. Now a talented law student, he seeks to improve his lot in life without going back to his gambling days—but then his childhood friend Worm shows up, owing a substantial debt and asking Mike to help him out. Can Mike help out his oldest friend without getting drawn back into the life? Or will the thrill of the game beat out his attempt to go straight?

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Mike [=McDermott=] once had dreams of winning the World Series of Poker, but instead lost spectacularly while trying to raise the funds he needed to travel to Las Vegas. Now a talented law student, he seeks to improve his lot in life without going back to his gambling days—but days--but then his childhood friend Worm shows up, owing a substantial debt and asking Mike to help him out. Can Mike help out his oldest friend without getting drawn back into the life? Or will the thrill of the game beat out his attempt to go straight?



* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). {{Lampshaded|Trope}} in his ending narration when he says he's back to where he started.



* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). {{Lampshaded|Trope}} in his ending narration when he says he's back to where he started.



-->'''Knish:''' You did it to yourself. You had to put it all on the line for some Vegas pipedream.
-->'''Mike:''' Yeah, I took a risk. I took a risk. You, you see all the angles, you never have the fuckin' stones to play one.
-->'''Knish:''' Stones? You little punk. I'm not playing for the thrill of fucking victory here. I owe rent, alimony, child support. I play for money. My kids eat. I got stones enough not to chase cards, action, the fucking pipedreams of winning the World Series on ESPN.

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-->'''Knish:''' You did it to yourself. You had to put it all on the line for some Vegas pipedream.
-->'''Mike:'''
pipedream. \\
'''Mike:'''
Yeah, I took a risk. I took a risk. You, [[IronicEcho you see all the angles, you never have the fuckin' stones to play one.
-->'''Knish:'''
one]]. \\
'''Knish:'''
Stones? You little punk. I'm not playing for the thrill of fucking victory here. I owe rent, alimony, child support. I play for money. My kids eat. I got stones enough not to chase cards, action, the fucking pipedreams of winning the World Series on ESPN.



* IOweYouMyLife: Why Mike goes out of his way to help Worm instead of leaving him to rot. Aside from being {{childhood friend}}s, Worm [[TakingTheHeat took the fall]] when a betting scam they planned was exposed.

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* HateSink: Lester [[MeaningfulName "Worm"]] Murphy is a liar, a [[FixingTheGame cheat]], a DirtyCoward and a {{toxic friend|Influence}}.
* IOweYouMyLife: Why Mike goes out of his way to help Worm instead of leaving him to rot. Aside from being {{childhood friend}}s, Worm [[TakingTheHeat took the fall]] when a betting scam they planned was got exposed.



* InsistentTerminology: Worm wasn't ''printing'' those (counterfeit) credit cards, he was distributing. It's different!

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* InsistentTerminology: Worm wasn't ''printing'' those (counterfeit) credit cards, he was distributing."distributing". It's different!



* MeaningfulName: Lester "Worm" Murphy is a liar, a cheat, and a coward.



* ShaggyDogStory: Grama gives Worm and Mike 5 days to collect $15,000 to pay Worm's debt. Mike spends 3 days without sleep rounding and cleaning out various games around New York. [[spoiler:They lose it all on day 3 when Worm is caught cheating]].

to:

* ShaggyDogStory: Grama gives Worm and Mike 5 days to collect $15,000 to pay Worm's debt. Mike spends 3 days without sleep rounding and cleaning out various games around New York. [[spoiler:They lose [[spoiler:Then he loses it all on day 3 when Worm is caught cheating]].



* TheTell: Mike figures out in the film's climactic poker match that [[spoiler:Teddy [=KGB=]'s tell is linked to the Oreo cookies he always has: when he pulls apart a cookie but doesn't eat it, he has nothing and he's bluffing; when he does eat it, he really does have a winning hand. Mike, who needs to win ''quickly'', then reveals the tell to Teddy to rattle him into making a bigger mistake.]]

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* TheTell: Mike figures out in the film's climactic poker match that [[spoiler:Teddy [=KGB=]'s KGB's tell is linked to the Oreo cookies he always has: when he pulls apart a cookie but doesn't eat it, he has nothing and he's bluffing; when he does eat it, he really does have a winning hand. Mike, who needs to win ''quickly'', then reveals the tell to Teddy to rattle him into making a bigger mistake.]]



* ToxicFriendInfluence: Worm to Mike, but it's played with. They grew up together and Mike always looks out for Worm like a brother, but Worm's cheating and unscrupulous nature nearly gets Mike killed in the end. [[spoiler:But Mike goes back to his dream of playing in the World Series of Poker in the end of the movie, which is presented as, if not a ''positive'' thing, at least an ''inevitability'' for him. Worm brought Mike back into "rounding," but Mike ultimately ''chooses'' to stay there. Like Mike's law professor tells him, you can't go against your nature.]]

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* ToxicFriendInfluence: Worm to Mike, but it's played with. They grew up together and Mike always looks out for Worm like a brother, but Worm's cheating and unscrupulous nature nearly gets Mike killed in the end. [[spoiler:But Mike goes back to his dream of playing in the World Series of Poker in the end of the movie, movie]], which is presented as, if not a ''positive'' thing, at least an ''inevitability'' for him. Worm brought Mike back into "rounding," but Mike ultimately ''chooses'' to stay there. Like Mike's law professor tells him, you can't go against your nature.]]



* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Teddy [=KGB=] throws out his Oreos and messily splashes his chips after Mike exposes his Tell. Then he really freaks out after experiencing a bad beat and losing the film's climactic poker match to Mike. Thankfully, he's honorable enough to recognize that he lost fair and square and he gives Mike his winnings rather than ordering his goons to beat Mike to a pulp.]]

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* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Teddy [=KGB=] KGB throws out his Oreos and messily splashes his chips after Mike exposes his Tell. Then he really freaks out after experiencing a bad beat and losing the film's climactic poker match to Mike. Thankfully, he's honorable enough to recognize that he lost fair and square and he gives Mike his winnings rather than ordering his goons to beat Mike to a pulp.]]



%%ZCE * WorkOffTheDebt

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%%ZCE * WorkOffTheDebt
WithFriendsLikeThese: One of the first things Worm does after getting out of prison is borrow money from Mike's account, putting Mike $2000, then $7000 in debt (despite having won more than enough to pay it back). Mike also mentions that Worm tends to [[NeverMyFault avoid responsibility]] and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run away]] from his problems. And when Mike tries to negotiate with Grama, Worm's [[IdioticPartnerConfession big mouth]] leads to Grama putting Worm's debt on both their heads and Mike scrambling to WorkOffTheDebt to save both their skins.
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* MeaningfulName: Lester "Worm" Murphy is a liar, a cheat, a coward, and a PoisonousFriend.

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* MeaningfulName: Lester "Worm" Murphy is a liar, a cheat, a coward, and a PoisonousFriend.coward.
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* DidntThinkThisThrough: It looks like Mike is going to get hit by this trope during the game against Teddy KGB at the climax; he had won enough to pay off Worm's debt and still have half of what he needed to pay back to Petrovsky left over, only to have the poker game he lost at the beginning of the film rubbed in his face, making him opt to continue playing, and wind up one hand away from losing everything again.
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* LoanShark: Worm had accumulated several fairly small poker debts before going to jail. His former partner, Gramma, sensing an opportunity for a good score, goes around and buys off all Worm's creditors, meaning that Worm now has one ''big'' debt to him. Gramma states at least once that he's more than willing to use the traditional loan-shark "collection methods", but the real threat to Worm -- and by extension, Mike -- is [[spoiler: fellow poker player and underground poker club owner Teddy KGB, who is called KGB because of his strong connections to the Russian mob. Turns out that Teddy provided the money for Gramma's business venture, figuring they'd both make a nice profit from the interest.]]

to:

* LoanShark: Worm had accumulated several fairly small poker debts before going to jail. His former partner, Gramma, Grama, sensing an opportunity for a good score, goes around and buys off all Worm's creditors, meaning that Worm now has one ''big'' debt to him. Gramma Grama states at least once that he's more than willing to use the traditional loan-shark "collection methods", but the real threat to Worm -- and by extension, Mike -- is [[spoiler: fellow poker player and underground poker club owner Teddy KGB, who is called KGB because of his strong connections to the Russian mob. Turns out that Teddy provided the money for Gramma's Grama's business venture, figuring they'd both make a nice profit from the interest.]]
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* IntentionalMessMaking: Teddy KGB aims to unnerve his opponent by spilling his chips into the pot haphazardly. Mike asks Teddy not to "splash the pot," but Teddy persists in this messy betting, because he's an arrogant {{Jerkass}}.

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* BigBrotherMentor: Knish has shades of this. When Mike loses his bankroll to Teddy KGB at the start of the film, Knish sets him up with a part-time job to help make ends meet, tries to school Mike on how to set himself up to get by in life, and essentially how not to gamble with more than he can afford to lose.

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* BigBrotherMentor: Knish has shades of this. BigBrotherMentor: When Mike loses his bankroll to Teddy KGB at the start of the film, Knish sets him up with a part-time job to help make ends meet, tries to school Mike on how to set himself up to get by in life, and essentially how not to gamble with more than he can afford to lose.



* TheCameo: World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan as himself, in a flashback.

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* TheCameo: World Series of Poker champion Johnny Chan as himself, plays himself in a flashback.



* DuelToTheDeath: Strongly implied in the climactic match, though only on Mike's side. If Mike failed to win enough to cover the debt, Grama was present to make his bones with Teddy's organization—and the most common way to do that was killing someone. He would have ''really'' preferred killing Worm, but was quite content to make his bones with Mike. [[spoiler:When Teddy lost, he told his mooks to pay Mike off and let him go, leaving a disappointed Grama to flip a table and stalk off, bones ummade.]]



* FixingTheGame: Lester just can't help himself. It's like Chronic Cheating Disorder.

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%%ZCE * FixingTheGame: Lester just can't help himself. It's like Chronic Cheating Disorder.



* LargeHam: Teddy KGB.

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%%ZCE * LargeHam: Teddy KGB.



** The hand between Mike and Johnny Chan that occurred before the events of the movie took place at a limit game with bets of three hundred and six hundred dollars. As told, after Mike's re-re-re-raise of Chan pre-flop, the size of the pot would be about 2,625 dollars, and Chan would need to put in 300 dollars more to continue in the hand. Meaning he is getting close to nine-to-one on a call. It makes no sense to fold in those circumstances, and even an amateur would be aware of that, much less a world-champion with millions dollars. Obviously done so Mike can have a moment where he outplays a professional to feed his confidence.

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** The hand between Mike and Johnny Chan that occurred before the events of the movie took place at a limit game with bets of three hundred and six hundred dollars. As told, after Mike's re-re-re-raise of Chan pre-flop, the size of the pot would be about 2,625 dollars, and Chan would need to put in 300 dollars more to continue in the hand. Meaning he is getting close to nine-to-one on a call. It makes no sense to fold in those circumstances, and even an amateur would be aware of that, much less a world-champion with millions of dollars. Obviously done so Mike can have a moment where he outplays a professional to feed his confidence.



* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:Worm and Mike catch one when they get caught cheating in a game against state troopers.]]

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* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:Worm and Mike catch one get beaten to a pulp when they get caught cheating in a game against state troopers.]]



* OldFriend: The basic relationship between Mike and Worm after Worm is released from prison.

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%%ZCE * OldFriend: The basic relationship between Mike and Worm after Worm is released from prison.



* SherlockScan: Mike, when reading the table at his law school professor's poker game, impressing everyone.

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* SherlockScan: Mike, when reading the table at his law school professor's poker game, correctly reads each and every person at the table, impressing everyone.



* WeDoNotKnowEachOther: Mike and Worm use this trope when they work together at the same poker table several times throughout the movie. [[spoiler:This backfires in a major way during their final game, where Worm gets caught cheating when dealing a winning full house to Mike, thereby pissing off a room full of New York state cops and getting the both of them beaten to a pulp.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: Mike gets hit with this from both Knish and Petrovsky when he tells them how much he's in debt for: $15,000.

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* WeDoNotKnowEachOther: Mike and Worm use this trope pretend to be strangers when they work together at the same poker table several times throughout the movie. [[spoiler:This backfires in a major way during their final game, where Worm gets caught cheating when dealing a winning full house to Mike, thereby pissing off a room full of New York state cops and getting the both of them beaten to a pulp.]]
%%ZCE * WhatTheHellHero: Mike gets hit with this from both Knish and Petrovsky when he tells them how much he's in debt for: $15,000.



* WorkOffTheDebt
* WorthyOpponent: When [[spoiler:Mike beats Teddy KGB in the climactic poker game]] at the end of the movie, he treats Mike as this, knowing how honest Mike is compared to Worm.
--> '''KGB:''' [[spoiler:"He beat me. Straight up. Pay him. Pay that man his money."]]

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%%ZCE * WorkOffTheDebt
* WorthyOpponent: When [[spoiler:Mike beats Teddy KGB in the climactic poker game]] at the end of the movie, he treats Mike as this, knowing how honest Mike is compared to Worm.
--> '''KGB:''' [[spoiler:"He beat me. Straight up. Pay him. Pay that man his money."]]
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"this example is an example"


* BoringButPractical: Knish's playstyle perfectly exemplifies this, as he says when running down Mike for getting himself into so much trouble.

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* BoringButPractical: Knish's playstyle perfectly exemplifies this, is very safe, as he says when running down Mike for getting himself into so much trouble.
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* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). Lampshaded in his ending narration when he says he's back to where he started.

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* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). Lampshaded {{Lampshaded|Trope}} in his ending narration when he says he's back to where he started.



* EvilDebtCollector: Grama.

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* EvilDebtCollector: Grama.Grama uses threats and violence to collect.



* IOweYouMyLife: Why Mike goes out of his way to help Worm instead of leaving him to rot. Aside from being {{childhood friend}}s, Worm [[TakingTheHeat took the fall]] when a betting scam they planned was exposed.



* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Grama, who is a thoroughly mean and sadistic brute. In the end the only comeuppance he gets is that he's cheated out of killing Worm—but in exchange he (along with Teddy KGB) gets a share of about sixty thousand dollars, the money Worm owed plus interest.]]

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* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Grama, who is a thoroughly mean and sadistic brute. In the end the only comeuppance he gets is that he's cheated out of killing Worm—but Worm-—but in exchange he (along with Teddy KGB) gets a share of about sixty thousand dollars, the money Worm owed plus interest.]]



* LoanShark: Worm had accumulated several fairly small poker debts before going to jail. His former partner, Gramma, sensing an opportunity for a good score, goes around and buys off all Worm's creditors, meaning that Worm now has one ''big'' debt to him. Gramma states at least once that he's more than willing to use the traditional loan-shark "collection methods", but the real threat to Worm -- and by extension, Mike -- is [[spoiler: fellow poker player and underground poker club owner Teddy KGB, who is called KGB because of his strong connections to the Russian mob. Turns out that Teddy provided the money for Gramma's business venture, figuring they'd both make a nice profit from the interest.]]



* ShaggyDogStory: Grama gives Worm and Mike 5 days to collect $15,000 to pay Worm's debt. Mike spends 3 days without sleep rounding and cleaning out various games around New York. [[spoiler:They lose it all on day 3 when Worm is caught cheating]].



* TooDumbToLive: Lester decides to cheat at poker in a room full of New York state cops. When he gets caught, the cops beat the shit out of him and Mike and take away all their winnings.

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* TooDumbToLive: Lester decides to cheat at poker [[spoiler: in a room full of New York state cops. When he gets caught, the cops beat the shit out of him and Mike and take away all their winnings.]]



* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Teddy [=KGB=] really freaks out after experiencing a bad beat and losing the film's climactic poker match to Mike. Thankfully, he's honorable enough to recognize that he lost fair and square and he gives Mike his winnings rather than ordering his goons to beat Mike to a pulp.]]

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* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Teddy [=KGB=] throws out his Oreos and messily splashes his chips after Mike exposes his Tell. Then he really freaks out after experiencing a bad beat and losing the film's climactic poker match to Mike. Thankfully, he's honorable enough to recognize that he lost fair and square and he gives Mike his winnings rather than ordering his goons to beat Mike to a pulp.]]

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* BookEnds: Mike starts and ends with "three stacks of high society" ($30,000). Lampshaded in his ending narration when he says he's back to where he started.



* CardSharp: Mike's old buddy Lester "Worm" Murphy is really good at cheating in poker and not getting caught—up to a point. Mike notes that Lester's greed gives him away because he wins far too often to be plausibly playing fair.

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* CardSharp: Mike's old buddy Lester "Worm" Murphy is really good at cheating in poker and not getting caught—up caught--up to a point. Mike notes that Lester's greed gives him away because he wins far too often to be plausibly playing fair.



* TheMafiya: Teddy KGB has all the trappings of a ''vor v zakone'', and looks to recruit Grama as one of his goons. If Mike loses his final poker game, Grama gets to make his bones—on Mike's body.

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* TheMafiya: Teddy KGB has all the trappings of a ''vor v zakone'', and looks to recruit Grama as one of his goons. If Mike loses his final poker game, Grama gets to make his bones—on bones--on Mike's body.



* PragmaticVillainy: After Mike ends up with the winning hand at the end, KGB is pissed, but knows he lost fair. His mooks are on the verge of kicking the shit out of Mike, but KGB pulls them up short on their leashes and tells them to give Mike his money and let him go. Not only was this a case of EvenEvilHasStandards, but when you look at the scene, the place was full of other people who'd suspended their games to come over and watch the showdown between KGB and Mike. KGB has to be pragmatic. It would be very bad for his underground poker game business if word got around that he lost fair and square, then refused to pay the man who won and let his mooks beat the shit out of him.

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* PragmaticVillainy: After Mike ends up with the winning hand at the end, KGB is pissed, but knows he lost fair. His mooks are on the verge of kicking the shit out of Mike, but KGB pulls them up short on their leashes and tells them to give Mike his money and let him go. Not only was this a case of EvenEvilHasStandards, but when you look at the scene, the place was full of other people who'd suspended their games to come over and watch the showdown between KGB and Mike. KGB has to be pragmatic. It pragmatic--It would be very bad for his underground poker game business if word got around that he lost fair and square, then refused to pay the man who won and let his mooks beat the shit out of him.
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* PragmaticVillainy: After Mike ends up with winning hand at the end, KGB is pissed, but knows he lost fair. His mooks are on the verge of kicking the shit out of Mike, but KGB pulls them up short on their leashes and tells them to give Mike his money and let him go. Not only was this a case of EvenEvilHasStandards, but when you look at the scene, the place was full of other people who'd suspended their games to come over and watch the showdown between KGB and Mike. KGB has to be pragmatic. It would be very bad for his underground poker game business if word got around that he lost fair and square, then refused to pay the man who won and let his mooks beat the shit out of him.

to:

* PragmaticVillainy: After Mike ends up with the winning hand at the end, KGB is pissed, but knows he lost fair. His mooks are on the verge of kicking the shit out of Mike, but KGB pulls them up short on their leashes and tells them to give Mike his money and let him go. Not only was this a case of EvenEvilHasStandards, but when you look at the scene, the place was full of other people who'd suspended their games to come over and watch the showdown between KGB and Mike. KGB has to be pragmatic. It would be very bad for his underground poker game business if word got around that he lost fair and square, then refused to pay the man who won and let his mooks beat the shit out of him.



* StockFootage: From the World Series of Poker, specifically the 1988 main event's final hand between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel. (Chan also makes a cameo.)

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* StockFootage: From the World Series of Poker, specifically the 1988 main event's final hand between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel. (Chan also makes a cameo.cameo in a flashback.)



* WhatTheHellHero?: Mike gets hit with this from both Knish and Petrovsky when he tells them how much he's in debt for: $15,000.

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* WhatTheHellHero?: WhatTheHellHero: Mike gets hit with this from both Knish and Petrovsky when he tells them how much he's in debt for: $15,000.
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* CriticalResearchFailure: The final hand between Mike and KGB. KGB is the dealer for this hand, yet Mike acts first pre-flop by min-raising with 98 suited. In heads up Texas Holdem, the dealer acts first pre-flop. The rest of the hand plays out correctly under the assumption that KGB is the dealer, by having Mike act first on the flop, turn, and river, with KGB acting second.
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* InformedAttribute: When they first meet on screen, Grama is implied by Worm to have been his dumb lackey in the past, before Worm went to jail. However, Grandma behaves in such an opposite way - he's smart, savvy, tough as nails and a dangerous threat - that it's difficult to envision him as ever having worked for Worm.

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* InformedAttribute: When they first meet on screen, Grama is implied by Worm to have been his dumb lackey in the past, before Worm went to jail. However, Grandma Grama behaves in such an opposite way - he's smart, savvy, tough as nails and a dangerous threat - that it's difficult to envision him as ever having worked for Worm.
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* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Worm's cheating sabotages Mike's efforts to play straight and win, even though both of them are talented enough to play fair and make plenty of money.


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* InformedAttribute: When they first meet on screen, Grama is implied by Worm to have been his dumb lackey in the past, before Worm went to jail. However, Grandma behaves in such an opposite way - he's smart, savvy, tough as nails and a dangerous threat - that it's difficult to envision him as ever having worked for Worm.
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* BigApplesauce

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* BigApplesauceBigApplesauce: New York City is apparently full of underground poker games, legal and illegal.
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* WorthyOpponent: When Mike beats Teddy KGB in the climactic poker game at the end of the movie, he treats Mike as this, knowing how honest Mike is compared to Worm.
--> '''KGB:''' "He beat me. Straight up. Pay him. Pay that man his money."

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* WorthyOpponent: When Mike [[spoiler:Mike beats Teddy KGB in the climactic poker game game]] at the end of the movie, he treats Mike as this, knowing how honest Mike is compared to Worm.
--> '''KGB:''' "He [[spoiler:"He beat me. Straight up. Pay him. Pay that man his money."
"]]

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Changed: 538

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* MeaningfulEcho: Worm dismisses Mike's mentor Knish by saying "He sees all the angles, but he never has the fuckin' stones to play one." Later, when Mike [[spoiler:asks Knish for a huge loan and Knish (understandably) refuses]], Mike says the same line right to Knish's face. Worm's influence has been rubbing off on Mike.



* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: {{Subverted}} by Jo, who spends most of her screen time acting cold and distrustful towards Mike... however, she's entirely justified in fearing that he'll fall into his old habits, [[spoiler: and they don't wind up together at the end of the film. Even though Mike is back in the black, she correctly realizes that she's not cut out to deal with the ups and downs of the gambling lifestyle that he can't leave behind.]]

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* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: {{Subverted}} by Jo, who spends most of her screen time acting cold and distrustful towards Mike... Mike; however, she's entirely justified in fearing that he'll fall into his old habits, [[spoiler: and [[spoiler:and they don't wind up together at the end of the film. Even though Mike is back in the black, she correctly realizes that she's not cut out to deal with the ups and downs of the gambling lifestyle that he can't leave behind.behind the gambling lifestyle, and she's not prepared to follow him into that life.]]



* ToxicFriendInfluence: Lester is to Mike. They grew up together and Mike always looks out for Lester like a brother, but Lester's cheating and unscrupulous nature nearly gets Mike killed in the end.

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* ToxicFriendInfluence: Lester is Worm to Mike. Mike, but it's played with. They grew up together and Mike always looks out for Lester Worm like a brother, but Lester's Worm's cheating and unscrupulous nature nearly gets Mike killed in the end.end. [[spoiler:But Mike goes back to his dream of playing in the World Series of Poker in the end of the movie, which is presented as, if not a ''positive'' thing, at least an ''inevitability'' for him. Worm brought Mike back into "rounding," but Mike ultimately ''chooses'' to stay there. Like Mike's law professor tells him, you can't go against your nature.]]
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'''-->Knish:''' You did it to yourself. You had to put it all on the line for some Vegas pipedream.
'''-->Mike:''' Yeah, I took a risk. I took a risk. You, you see all the angles, you never have the fuckin' stones to play one.
'''-->Knish:''' Stones? You little punk. I'm not playing for the thrill of fucking victory here. I owe rent, alimony, child support. I play for money. My kids eat. I got stones enough not to chase cards, action, the fucking pipedreams of winning the World Series on ESPN.

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'''-->Knish:''' -->'''Knish:''' You did it to yourself. You had to put it all on the line for some Vegas pipedream.
'''-->Mike:''' -->'''Mike:''' Yeah, I took a risk. I took a risk. You, you see all the angles, you never have the fuckin' stones to play one.
'''-->Knish:''' -->'''Knish:''' Stones? You little punk. I'm not playing for the thrill of fucking victory here. I owe rent, alimony, child support. I play for money. My kids eat. I got stones enough not to chase cards, action, the fucking pipedreams of winning the World Series on ESPN.

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