News / Chris Edwards / 09 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Back in 1998 arguably the most popular poker film of all time 'Rounders' was released. Matt Damon and Edward Norton star as seedy professional players, Mike McDermott and Lester 'Worm' Murphy, hustling any game they can find, sometimes with disastrous consequences. It is widely credited for starting todays fascination with the game as it was the reason Chris Moneymaker started playing the game of Holdem.

To help promote the films release, both Matt Damon and Edward Norton played in the 1998 WSOP main event, which was won by Scotty Nguyen. Although not quite up to the standard of the characters they play in the film (Norton would of probably been banned from Vegas for life if he did some of Worm's tricks), both Matt and Edward received private lessons from Phil Hellmuth before the event.

Speaking after busting out on the first day, Matt describes the experience as being 'An absolute adrenaline rush, it was something I will never forget. It was great'. He was not joking, being knocked out in unforgettable fashion.

Talking enthusiastically about his exit, Matt goes on to say: 'I sat with Doyle (Brunson). I lost the way I would of wanted to, I knew coming here I was going to lose. Edward and I were saying earlier that we were probably the only people who never entertained the fantasy of winning. I knew I was going to lose, the question was how'. In his final hand, Matt held pocket Kings, but they were no match for Doyle's pocket Aces. 'Im going home with a story' concluded Damon.

Norton's departure was equally as impressive. He held pocket 9's and pushed all in on the turn, with the board reading 10-9-x-10 giving him a full house, only to run into the quad 10's of well known British player Surinder Sunar. Edward quite rightly stated that he was 'crushed by an impossible hand'.

Remembering his time with the two film stars, Phil Hellmuth described them as being very clever and academic, as well as being 'Very good No Limit Holdem players'. This is adamant in part of Norton's post tournament interview where his impressive attitude to the game is far from that of a beginners. Asked about how the professionals are different, Edward states: 'Its like anything else at the highest levels...Its a very sophisticated game that operations on a lot of levels, both mathematical, strategic and psychological. There may be luck on any given hand but over time the really terrific players will crush you'.

He concludes the interview with a fittingly Worm style quote: 'Anytime someone wants to stake us $10,000, we will be back'.