BEST POKER MOVIE There’s always plenty of heated debate through the chat-boxes as to the best poker film ever to hit the big screen. It’s usually a close call between Matt Damon’s “Rounders” (1998) and Steve McQueen’s “Cincinnati Kid”(1965) with some deference shown to Robert Altman’s “California Split”. The latter featured a cameo of Hold’em hero Amarillo Slim. All of the foregoing titles are excellent movies for poker fans but far and away the best film in this idiom is the little known “Music of Chance” (1993). M.Emmet Walsh’s portrayal is celluloid magic weaved through a film which uses poker as an analogy for life itself. If you haven’t seen it, you haven’t been dealt the full deck. Do so.
FREQUENTLY ASKED POKER QUESTIONS Q: I have played a lot of video poker as I like being one on one with a random machine. What are the biggest disadvantages with moving on to regular online poker? A: Well, if you land three of a kind at video poker you KNOW you’re going to get a payout. At Texas Hold’em or Omaha there’s always the chance that one of the other players trumps you with a flush. However, the advantages out-weigh the disadvantages many times over. Texas Hold’em and Omaha are a challenging battle of wits and guts. Video poker is a fun pastime. It’s not a mental gymnasium. On that rare occasion when you land a Royal Flush at video poker it is true it pays out sixteen times more than an ordinary straight flush whereas in Hold’em both hands are valued pretty much the same in that either hand is almost certainly the winner of any game in which it appears. The chances of both appearing in the same game are about as likely as Anthea Turner playing Lady Macbeth at the Globe Theatre.
Q: How common is collusion within online poker games? A: If it happens at all these days it happens in high stakes games. Extensive software programmes are in action on all the big sites constantly scanning for unusual betting patterns. If you ever suspect it is happening, immediately let the site know. In ninety nine per cent of all cases their detection processes will already be bearing down on the colluders and freezing their money. There are other detection methods now in action which we are not allowed to describe. Very CIA and very effective.
ALL THE ACES poker column: Saturday, February 25, 2006: Best Poker Movies: 'Music Of Chance' Tops Our List
