Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world. There are big championships, tournaments and events, important games, and big prizes.
The game became so popular that there are even lists of the best poker movies of all times. “The Rounders” (1998) is widely regarded as the ultimate poker movie. It features Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich, John Turturro, Martin Landau and Famke Janssen. And let’s not forget “Casino Royale” (2006), one of the best Bond movies from all times.
While these movies have in common the male players and characters, a brand new documentary shows the women part of the poker. “Poker Queens” is a 2020 feature length documentary launched in March, which speaks about the women playing poker, in a world with big prize tournaments.
It follows the best and most popular female poker players in this amazing world, in their adventure to win the most famous event – World Series of Poker. The movie receive fairly good reviews from U.S. Poker, CardsChat and Poker News Daily.
It was hard in the beginning for women to enter the world of live poker, the world of men. Today, however, operators like Unibet organize Ladies Event special tournaments within the Unibet Open events, like Unibet Online Series and live tournaments.
“Poker Queens” presents this world and all the challenges a female poker pro player encounters when dealing with the professional world of poker. There are players interviews, and the movie highlights the skills and the discipline women have when competing with men.
The movie features professional poker players, like Kristen Bicknell, Liv Boeree and Jennifer Harman, among others. Harman is just one of the three women having won the two World Series of Poker bracelets in open events. The documentary stresses how much money poker female players make, as much as millions of dollars.
There are too actors in this documentary, like Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly, or Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu. Tilly is also a poker pro player now, and so is director Sandra Mohr.
Negreanu, himself a pro poker player, featured in the 2007 poker movies “Lucky You” (as himself, along with Robert Downey Jr., Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall), and “The Grand” (as a poker pro, with Woody Harrelson, Dennis Farina, Ray Romano and Jason Alexander). He was also the poker player in the blockbuster “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009).
“Poker Queens” came out at the perfect time. With the World Series of Poker postponed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans can have this documentary to keep in touch and enjoy. The poker event happens every summer in Las Vegas, being regarded as the most anticipated such competition of the year, and this year is the 50th anniversary.
Another big name in the poker industry, the famous Molly Bloom, who is the star of the poker movie called “Molly’s Game” (2017), participated at one poker event in Bucharest. The movie featured some of the most popular actors, like Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera and Jeremy Strong.
Academy Award winning director Aaron Sorkin received another Oscar nomination for the Best Adapted Screenplay for this movie. It is based on the book written by “the Poker Queen” Molly Bloom.
The movie was very good received and tells the story of the poker player. She was an Olympic class skier who turns to underground poker after a terrible accident. This way, she became an FBI target through her involvement in the most exclusive high-stakes poker game. Some of the biggest Hollywood celebrities, businessmen, and professional players used to attend the events.
