A new documentary on poker will come out tomorrow, released by 4th Row Films, “All In: The Poker Movie.” A nice review on PokerNewsDaily suggests that director Douglas Tirola successfully met the goal of the movie: to examine the game of poker. “All In” is a movie that anyone with interest in poker can watch, whether you are a rookie or a master, or even just a spectator of the game. It is light enough to be entertaining, yet informative enough to be educational—the perfect kind of documentary.
Questions posed and answered in the film include “What attracts people to the game?” and “How has poker remained so popular over the years and now become a worldwide phenomenon?”
The 109-minute “All In” serves as a history lesson on the game of poker from the Civil War to the Mississippi River riverboats to the Gold rush and the Wild West. The movie includes an interview with notable historian Doris Kearns Goodwin who says of poker, “It is in (Americans) DNA from the start of this country, there’s something inside Americans, to take a chance.”
This theme is carried out throughout the movie as it analyses the Internet Age of Poker and seeks to answer why the poker scene blew up across the country, giving credit to the hole card camera, developed by Poker Hall of Fame member Henry Orenstein, and the presence of poker on TV, as well as a detailed depiction of the Chris Moneymaker story told by himself.
“All In” also tells the story of online poker from Planet Poker to Black Friday, explaining how millions of people around the world were suddenly spellbound by this game. It also depicts the legal adversities the game as underwent from the UIGEA to the current state of online poker in the US.
Matt Damon, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu make appearances in “All In: The Poker Movie,” giving their take on the whole poker craze. Other interviews include Bert Sugar, sports historian, and Frank Defore, former sports writer for Sports Illustrated, as well as various poker pros, tournament directors, and other poker pioneers.
To find a theater showing “All In: The Poker Movie” near you, visit allinthepokermovie.com.
