DVD Movie Review: "HIGH ROLLER: The Stu Ungar Story" ****

[Mark Heide]

This movie kept my interest from beginning to end. This is well written and provides possible insights as to why Stu lived his life on the edge. His downfall was his vices of gambling and later drugs which the later probably contributed to his downfall. What I found most interesting is that Stu could not imagine himself doing anything other than gambling for a living and pleasure.
The movie does not present any real insights for card smarts. Unfortunately, it was written by someone that still believes tells are the most important skill as demonstrated in a Gin Rummy scene that reminded me of the Rounders when Matt Damon tells all the players what their tells mean. Anyway, we have had this tells argument for sometime on this forum, but we know that it really is not important if you are playing mid-limit or higher because most people are aware of tells and will either try to trick you or they just don't give off any. But, the movie did mention the scientists and mathematicians that came to make a living in Vegas, so I give them credit for that.
The DVD extras don't add to the value of the movie. The comentary was boring, mostly talking about how they filmed a scene. I would have rather had them make comments on real events or rummors about Stu and the poker world.

For the movie entertainment value this gets my rating of excellent.

Happy Viewing

Mark