The poker world is a constantly evolving state of affairs with a quickly changing game.
Every one to two week fortnight there is a plethora of poker news items to choose from. Picking which ones to focus on and cover can be challenging with the influx of poker.
Having a quickly available source for poker news to recap recent events, controversies, and happenings in the poker world is key to getting into the poker scene more.
In this August bulletin, we take a look at some big live events as well as news of poker entering the mainstream at the theaters.
August Live Events
August is usually a somewhat slower month for live poker in general. However, this is never the case for online poker which is buzzing 24/7.
The world series of poker in Las Vegas was the centerpiece of the poker world for all of June and July.
With all the energy given to the WSOP, from players and staff alike, August typically becomes a little bit of a wind down from that intense two month period.
In recent news, WSOP is to remain in Las Vegas until 2044 in a $500M landmark deal.
EPT Barcelona
With that being said, there are still some big tournaments starting at the end of the month to create some live poker news.
One of those is EPT Barcelona, which is always the largest poker series in Europe.
The casino right on the beach in an extremely busy hotspot of the beautiful Catalonian city always draws record setting European poker crowds.
The series begins August 26 and goes through September 8.
WSOP Circuit Cherokee
Outside of that there are a few WSOP circuit events around the United States that run in August as players look to get some more tournament action in the later parts of the summer.
One of the biggest versions of that is in Cherokee, NC which always draws massive crowds. The location of the Harrah’s Cherokee casino in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina is the only major casino within that whole region of the south.
Therefore it draws players from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia (most notably the Atlanta area) and more. Those dynamics always create the largest stop on the circuit calendar.
This stop happens four times a year and this version earlier in August produced a Main Event repeat winner.
Cherokee regular Donovan Dean won his second Cherokee Main Event, with his first title coming in December 2022. $326,206 was the prize he got for topping the 1,502 entrant field.
Poker Movies
In the poker world, we are always excited when our game is represented in mainstream media.
Poker can feel like your whole world when you are immersed in the poker world as often as we are as members of the media or as much as players are.
But in reality, it is a very niche activity or profession to get involved in. So whenever there is poker news or poker representation in a more mainstream medium, it is definitely something worth paying attention to.
One of the most exciting versions of this is a big budget movie. There are very few movies out there that depict poker. And even the ones that do often portray poker in a way that is pretty unrealistic.
Unrealistic Portrayal – “Casino Royale” (2006)
A prime example is in Casino Royale where Daniel Craig played James Bond.
Bond engages in a scene involving a high stakes cash game poker hand which quite frankly becomes almost like a ridiculous parody of a poker hand.
Players dump millions of dollars into a gargantuan pot with hands that would never win in that scenario.
In the end, Bond is portrayed as the ultimate cool guy for being the beneficiary of the ultimate straight flush over a full house cooler to win the $47 million dollar pot.
Accurate Portrayal – “Rounders” (1998)
Serious poker movies that actually portray the game in a somewhat realistic way are even more rare. The classic example of this is Rounders.
Released in 1998, it has survived the test of times since the late 90s and remains today as the quintessential “poker movie”.
Despite some dramatic indulgences and exaggerations, Rounders is still a fairly accurate poker movie that many poker people enjoy.
There are a few other examples in recent years with solid poker movies. Such as Mississippi Grind, Molly’s Game, and The Card Counter.
All of which portray poker as a serious and important part of the plot while also focusing on the larger plot at large.
A Promising Film – “Dead Money” (2024)
That brings us to the next version of this type of poker movie, “Dead Money”.
The official trailer for this movie was just released with the film hitting the big screen on September 13, 2024. After watching the trailer a few times, there are some key takeaways that we noticed.
Trailer Breakdown
- The trailer starts with the line “Poker is math”. This goes against the typical portrayal of poker as a game of tells, bravado and emotion. The concept that poker is more number based is a recent development, and it will be fascinating to see how closely the movie sticks to that idea.
- “The killers at the table, they notice everything too. Tells, betting patterns”. This line gets into the more “sexy” part of the game that movies like to portray. The mention of betting patterns is interesting.
- The game appears to take place in a dark basement-type setting giving the feeling of a serious invitation to a private game.
- The trailer then kicks off in dramatic style as the private game is the target of an armed robbery which shows that poker will likely become the background of a crime heist movie.
- The main character played by Emile Hirsch then talks about downswings being a part of the game as the robbery seems to have left him in a lurch.
- An interesting part of the trailer is how Hirsch narrates the action with some poker lingo. This could indicate that even though the movie will become an exciting heist movie with violence and murder, while poker is still the key component.
- Intense action scenes are intercut with poker which shows that poker is central throughout this movie.
- The trailer ends with Hirsch pushing all his chips forward with a classic “all in”.
