Rewatchables Reference

• Bill and Sean: 'Rolled up aces over kings' – Worm cheering Mike up after Jo leaves. 'Let's play some fucking cards.'
• Van: The final scene, Mike taking down Teddy KGB.
• CR: The last Teddy KGB hand / final showdown.

• CR: The stakes – 'their life is hanging on 15 grand... It's like real money to real people.'
• Van: The Russian mob in movies – this was their 'rookie season' before Eastern Promises, 'Training Day', and 'John Wick'.
• Sean: The allure of the hidden poker clubs of that era, now all shut down.
• Bill: The opening line ('If you can't spot the sucker...'), the narration explaining poker without clunky exposition, and Mike going to the WSOP making more sense now than in 1998.

• Van and Bill: Gretchen Mol's character Jo – the 'wet blanket sports movie girlfriend' archetype. Van: 'the older I get... it's unbearable how annoying she is.'
• Bill: Poor Eric Seidel, one of the best poker players ever, only known for getting annihilated by Johnny Chan. Seidel reportedly says: 'Thank you so much for putting a spotlight on the worst moment of my life.'
• Bill: Petrovsky giving Mike $10,000 – a huge reach given Mike's no-showed classes and beat-up face.
• Bill: Mike trash-talking Teddy KGB at the end – in reality 'he's just immediately shot to death.'

CR: 'Knish and Mike outside of KGB's the first time, the steam rising up out of the vents. So cool.'

Bill: 'Funk #49' by The James Gang, which kicks in right after 'Let's play some fucking cards.' Bill gives it the 'Kid Cudi Pursuit of Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop.'

• The Petra rejection scene – Famke Janssen shows up, knows the 1988 WSOP, throws herself at Mike, and he turns her down. All four hosts agree this is the biggest weak link.
• Koppelman and Levien confirmed it was 'the biggest mistake of the film. Probably of our entire career.'

• Van: 'This movie is actually a sequel to 'Cape Fear'. Worm hates Mike. He was in jail for years plotting how he was going to ruin Mike's life.' Also theorizes Jo gave Worm the money meant for Petrovsky.
• Sean: The biggest winner of the movie is ESPN, which 'somehow tricked people into thinking they should watch poker for 14 hours in the middle of July for 9 years.'
• CR: Mike should have spotted KGB's Oreo tell much earlier – 'He speaks like Borat and plays with Oreos.'

• Phil Helmuth was supposed to appear instead of Johnny Chan.
• Neve Campbell turned down the role of Jo (she was in her Party of Five / Scream era).

John Malkovich and his Russian accent. CR: 'This is just such a perfect time in American history where we did not care... It's Malkovich.' Preceded by 'Con Air' where he played Cyrus the Virus.

• Goran Visnjic (the ER doctor) as Roman.
• Michael Rispoli as Grandma (runner-up for Tony Soprano).
• Bill Camp in the cigar bar ('oily finish').
• Martin Landau as Petrovsky – described as 'a slow heat check.'

Johnny Chan in 2024 would be Phil Ivey (Sean's pick, Bill agrees).

• Koppelman and Levien wrote the script in a basement storage room; first script together.
• Law school scenes filmed at Rutgers University.
• Damon and Norton played the 1998 WSOP; Damon knocked out by Doyle Brunson (pocket kings vs. pocket aces).

• Damon: No – it's Bourne.
• Norton: No, but close – 'Fight Club' is about to come out; American History X just happened.
• Malkovich: No – Dangerous Liaisons (or Being John Malkovich).
• Johnny Chan: Debated between back-to-back WSOP wins or this movie.
• Binghamton: 'When's it ever been better?'

• Mike and Worm referencing Clyde Frazier and Earl Monroe as the Knicks duo – in the late '90s it should have been Rod Strickland and Mark Jackson.
• Their New York apartment is unrealistically large.
• In the first big hand, how did Teddy KGB know Mike didn't have four nines?
• Mike would realistically be murdered within 5 minutes of leaving with $60,000.
• Ed Norton refused to smoke despite Worm being written as a smoker.

• All want a sequel. Bill: 'we've been waiting... Damon's in his 50s now.'
• Van's sequel pitch: Mike gets into trouble again, but this time Worm has become the KGB figure – Mike vs. Worm at the final table.
• CR's prestige TV pitch: 'Judges Night Out' – 5 minutes of poker then a Law & Order-style case for 35 minutes.

• Could Damon and Norton have switched parts?
• Where was Teddy KGB's place located?
• What did Teddy have in the final hand?
• Was Knish a good friend or a loan shark?
• Where did Worm go after Binghamton?

• CR: Knish's bathrobe from the Russian bathhouse.
• Van: KGB's cookie rack with the 'Don't Touch' sign.
• Sean: The green Cherokee Sport truck Mike drives.
• Bill: Worm's leather jacket.

• 'If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.'
• 'We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.'
• 'You can't lose what you don't put in the middle, but you can't win much either.'
• 'In the poker game of life, women are the rake.'
• Van's favorite: 'That's not me. I see a mark, I fucking take them down' – 'the coldest line of the whole movie.'

• CR: California Split (1974).
• Van: 'Fight Club' ('this movie is almost like a reverse Fight Club').
• Sean: 'The Gambler' (1974) starring James Caan.
• Bill: 'Cape Fear' (following Van's hottest take theory).

• CR: Koppelman and Levien (the writers) – 'an incredible script... a Unicorn script.'
• Van and Bill: Poker itself – 'makes poker feel like the coolest thing in the world.' Edward Norton number two.
• Sean: Edward Norton – 'Worm is the soul of the movie.'