Darren Elias, a four-time World Poker Tour champion, rates poker scenes in movies and television for realism.
Elias breaks down the realism of Texas hold ’em games in movies, such as the high-stakes casino poker game in “Casino Royale,” with Daniel Craig and Mads Mikkelsen; the underground poker scenes in “Rounders,” starring Matt Damon; and “Molly’s Game,” with Jessica Chastain, Michael Cera, and Jeremy Strong. He looks at scenes featuring five-card draw as well as the basic rules of poker, such as explaining poker hand rankings and detecting tells in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” with Keanu Reeves and Donnie Yen; and cheating scenes in “Ocean’s Eleven,” with Brad Pitt and George Clooney; and “The Sting,” with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. He explains the realism of poker scenes in Western movies, such as the dead man’s hand in “Ballad of Buster of Scruggs,” with Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, and Liam Neeson; and the saloon poker game in “Maverick,” starring Mel Gibson and Jodi Foster. He also looks at the online poker scene in “The Simpsons” S24E4 (2012), the World Series of Poker tournament in “Lucky You,” with Eric Bana and Robert Duvall, and blackjack card-counting scenes in “21.”
Elias holds the record for most World Poker Tour titles, with four. He also participates in online poker tournaments, winning two World Championship of Online Poker titles and a Full Tilt Online Poker Series title. He has been BetMGM’s poker ambassador since 2021.
You can follow Darren on X or read his online column.
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