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| Cincinnati Kid – Poker Movie Review; www.highrollerradioshow.com | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 13 2012, 02:53 PM (219 Views) | |
| ronjonsilver | Aug 13 2012, 02:53 PM Post #1 |
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Director: Norman Jewison. Good film…but pokerwise… It ignored table stakes and the reigning stud champion won the decisive hand in absurd fashion…straight flush over aces full….The movie was released in October, 1965 and it got everyone’s attention because it was the first to really examine the poker world. The movie has an array of fine actors including Steve McQueen in the title role of The Kid, Edward G. Robinson as “the Man”, Rip Torn, Joan Blondell, Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden, Jack Weston, Cab Calloway, and more. Interesting to note, the Cincinnati Kid doesn’t play poker in Cincinnati, he plays poker in New Orleans. Aside from poker, the movie is special for other reasons as well... Rip Torn is shown in bed with a black woman, Steve McQueen is buddies with a black card player, Cab Calloway. These things were new, bold, and welcomed by the public in 1960s film making. Markers are big in the movie - IOUs made by gamblers, considered honorable debts to be paid even before baby gets a new pair of shoes. Markers again reflect a different time in poker than the sixties; they were prevalent in the thirties. They were issued by a loser when a bet couldn’t be covered. It isn’t clear in the movie what would happen if the player with the money didn’t accept the loser’s marker. Does the player with the money then win the hand by default? The custom of accepting markers, and the custom’s obvious shortcomings, were replaced in later years by establishing “table stakes”, no money on or off the table during play and, if the player couldn’t cover the bet, he covered what he could and that’s all he could win. The table stakes rule was deeply in effect by the 1960s, especially in games among top players. There are markers all over the place in this film, most of them held by The Kid. In fact, there are so many markers held by The Kid, he can’t play in most of the local poker games because all he’d be winning is more markers. The Kid (Steve McQueen) is the top player in New Orleans and The Man (Edward G. Robinson) is coming to town. The Man has long been considered the best five card stud player in the land. The Kid must play The Man, much the same as Fast Eddie must play Minnesota Fats in The Hustler. Shooter (Karl Malden) says to The Man, “You want to play The Kid?” The Man says, “There’s always a kid, isn’t there?” This is also from The Man: “To the true gambler, money is not the end in itself. It’s merely a tool, as language is for thought.” All the poker scenes are well filmed. They look real and are played real; the actors are very convincing. One of the things we notice is the early hands are won by jack high over ten high and other such simple differences common in five stud. However, in the hands played by The Man in another poker game before he meets The Kid, the winning hands have been increased from ace high to two pair winning over another two pair, and then, as the story progresses, moved up again to three of a kind over another set of trips. As the story and the drama build, the value of the hands gets higher. We’re a little confused by Shooter (Karl Malden). He is chosen to deal the big game because he has a reputation of honesty. How straight is he? Well, he plays, “Just the percentages. Don’t win much, don’t lose much.” Yet he is the card manipulator who can’t be spotted cheating. “I’m too good a mechanic,” he says. Is this consistent? There are other players, besides the two major contenders, at the table. “People sit down at the table with you so they can say they played with The Man.” (This kind of participation still goes on today.) Before this final table scene, Jewison has allowed only two or so of his acting bunch in a scene at the same time. When all of them sit down together at the table, we are impressed. They have a decided screen presence. We know this will be a helluva game. When the other players go broke or get tired, or both, the game settles down to The Kid and The Man. The Man has already taken money out of his jacket pocket during the play of a hand and The Kid gets money from off the table in the play of another hand. Hmmm. Permitted, yes…but I still squirmed in my chair. In the last and deciding hand, The Man moves The Kid all-in and takes his marker for $5,000. The suspense has been built well and we’re on the edge of our seats The Kid’s aces full will be beaten by The Man’s straight flush. It fits the drama, but it will always be objected to by stud poker players everywhere. The Man calls the biggest series of betting in the game to draw to a straight flush while he’s looking at The Kid’s obvious two pair. Actually, it wouldn’t have mattered in the hand if The Kid only had a pair of aces. But The Kid’s full house on the last card, while losing to a straight flush, serves to effectively add to the drama. ![]() Article provided by www.highrollerradioshow.com and www.localsgaming.com High Roller Radio Forum |
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