Daniel Negreanu is in X-Men.
Kid Poker
That sentence alone should be enough to keep you reading – it would have been enough to make me watch every film, cartoon and comic strip until I found Kid Poker.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an X-Men obsessive.
The films are great and I like watching them.
But seeing Kid Poker arrive with no introduction and not even a wink that it was him during a scene in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was an amazing moment!
I was enjoying the movie, but that scene really made it for me.
And it was such a surprise.
No doubt readers will be saying “how didn’t you know that?” as it’s a film that’s been around for a few years, and probably common knowledge.
Well, I don’t know either – but it made it all the more special.
It got me thinking too – is there a more surprising poker moment in cinema?
I knew there was a card-throwing mutant in X-Men, but was absolutely astounded to see a pro as an extra in the film.
Casino Royale missed a real trick.
They could have had a full table of Negreanus, Helmuths and Iveys – it would have made it much better than a guy who could fake a bleeding eye tell.
Bleeding Eye Bond villain
Anyway, I’ve put together a list.
It’s not some list of the best poker films – that’s been done a million times.
This is my top five poker surprise scenes.
So don’t go whining that Rounders isn’t in there!
With that in mind, enjoy, and let me know what you think.
Top Five Surprises!
5. Se7en
As Morgan Freeman hunts the city library for clues to catching crazed lunatic Kevin Spacey (sorry for the spoiler – but it was out 15 years ago), the city police department squeeze their hole-cards upstairs.
Producing this great little scene: Cops in the library
4. Titanic
Leading man “Never let go Jack” (Leonardo Di Caprio) and his buddy win tickets on to the Titanic in a game of cards. And unusually for Hollywood, they didn’t build it up to be two massive hands crashing into each other like…eh…a boat and an iceberg…?
Anyway, it’s the only thing in the film I liked, and for a brief moment it was even possible to identify with someone in the movie – apart from the slow roll.
The makers missed a trick though – imagine the bad beat story if you really won that ticket and had to die on board. Bit of a suck-out.
Anyway, here’s a clip to prove it: Never let go Jack
3. The Sopranos
Tempers flare at the gangster-managed poker den, with Silvio (Tony’s consiliere) losing his cool over some cheese puffs – classic poker behaviour!
Check out the nonsense here: Gangland poker
2. Goodfellas
Joe Pesci in arguably his best role – apart from Home Alone 2 – features him going crazy at teenage windbag ‘Spider’ and shooting him across a poker table. You don’t get to see much of the hand, but still a great moment.
Click here: Shooting up the spider
1. Daniel Negreanu on X-Men
He’s only in the scene for a minute, and he’s a pure extra.
He has a snooty look at Wolverine when he says he’s on $16 at a $60-$30 cash table, when he’s looking for Gambit.
I nearly fell off me chair when I saw him – no one else really got why I was so excited.
Click here: Kid Poker
Think you can come up with a better list?
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