Rounders, considered by many to be the best poker movie of all time, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The film, which was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien and released by Miramax, starred Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The former portrayed the main character Mike McDermott, who famously bluffed two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Johnny Chan, who had a big cameo in the film.
Not only did Chan make a cameo in the film, but he also appeared via real-life footage of the WSOP Main Event, specifically the 1988 WSOP Main Event when he defeated Erik Seidel heads-up to win the title for the second year in a row.
“The producers came to me and wanted me to release my footage of 1988 when I beat Erik Seidel. So, I was just going to sign them and let them do it, and then my daughter found out Matt Damon was going to be in the movie,” Chan told PokerNews. “She wanted to meet Matt Damon, so I thought ok, I’m not going to sign it unless I can either be in the movie or meet Matt Damon. So, they added that to the script for me, I wasn’t supposed to be in the movie at all, but they added that extra scene for me and we had the opportunity to meet Matt.”
As for filming his scene against Damon, that took place at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
“We were at the Taj Mahal. He doesn’t know anything about poker back then, so we get to know each other, we party a little bit, and I teach him a thing or two about poker basically. The next day we’re shooting at the Taj and the rest is history”
The film, which was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien and released by Miramax, starred Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The former portrayed the main character Mike McDermott, who famously bluffed two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Johnny Chan, who had a big cameo in the film.
Not only did Chan make a cameo in the film, but he also appeared via real-life footage of the WSOP Main Event, specifically the 1988 WSOP Main Event when he defeated Erik Seidel heads-up to win the title for the second year in a row.
“The producers came to me and wanted me to release my footage of 1988 when I beat Erik Seidel. So, I was just going to sign them and let them do it, and then my daughter found out Matt Damon was going to be in the movie,” Chan told PokerNews. “She wanted to meet Matt Damon, so I thought ok, I’m not going to sign it unless I can either be in the movie or meet Matt Damon. So, they added that to the script for me, I wasn’t supposed to be in the movie at all, but they added that extra scene for me and we had the opportunity to meet Matt.”
As for filming his scene against Damon, that took place at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
“We were at the Taj Mahal. He doesn’t know anything about poker back then, so we get to know each other, we party a little bit, and I teach him a thing or two about poker basically. The next day we’re shooting at the Taj and the rest is history”