High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story
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High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story

Duration:
120 min | USA:110 min
Genres:
Biography | Drama
IMDB rate:
6.1
Director:
A.W. Vidmer
Awards:
3 wins
Details
Country: USA
Filming Locations: USA
Cast
Actor
Character
Al Bernstein
Himself
Andrew N.S. Glazer
Himself
Michael Imperioli
Stu Ungar
Brian Kaplan
John Strzemp
Michael Pasternak
The Stranger
Jonathan Press
Young Stu
Evan Broder
Goldstein
Todd Susman
Max Ungar
Tommy Canary
Sol
Peggy Walton-Walker
Flo Unger
A.W. Vidmer
Gin Victim
Lon Gary
Poker Player #1
David Dwyer
Poker Player #2 (as David S. Dwyer)
Steve Schirripa
Anthony (as Steven R. Schirripa)
Johnny Dark
Johnny
Pat Morita
Mr. Leo
Renee Faia
Angela
Richard Cowl
Gus
Robert Archer Lynn
Waiter (as Robert Lynn)
Matthew Carlton
Carmine (as Matt Carlton)
Jeffrey Alfiero
Spud
Perry Poston
Gino
Nate Bynum
Gerald
Bob Dellaposta
Emcee
Cynthia Brimhall
Sondra
Diana Saunders
Poker Hostess
Vincent Van Patten
Jimmy D.
Ransom Gates
Arnie
Joe La Due
DJ (as Joe LaDue)
John Lombardo
Mario
Andy Jarrell
WSOP Announcer
James A. Fulton
WSOP Opponent
Joe Keenan
Herman
William Johnson
Walter (as William Patrick Johnson)
Eric Randall
TV Announcer
Shaina Krashin
Young Nicole
Anthony DiMaria
Tony
Sam Phaphol
Asian Poker Player
Bill Allison
Floorman (as William Allison)
Schatar Sapphira
Dealer (as Schatar Sapphirra White)
Vanessa Rene Gall
Older Nicole
Kelly Adkins
Escort in Limo (uncredited)
Antonio Badrani
Waiter (uncredited)
Justine Baker
Cocktail Waitress (uncredited)
Larry Bartels
Dealer (uncredited)
Kerry Bishop
Kate (uncredited)
Jon Krehbiel
Angry poker player beaten by young Stuey (uncredited)
Harv Lawrence
Old Duffer (uncredited)
Douglas Mold
Extra (uncredited)
Elizabeth Regal
Casino Girl (uncredited)
Craig Sawyer
Book Vendor (uncredited)
Lina So
Dancer (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
The scene where DJ (Joe La Due) bluffs his opponent, Mario, off of pocket Kings, while holding 7-2 off-suit, is based upon an actual hand that occurred between Jack "Treetop" Straus and an unknown opponent. The story goes, that while playing in a high stakes cash game, Straus had won several pots in row and decided that he would play the "rush" and raise the next hand regardless of what his cards were. When he looked down at his hole cards, he found that he'd been dealt 7-2 off-suit, the worst starting hand in Texas Hold'em. But he decided to raise anyway, he was called by a single opponent, and the flop read; 7 3 3. Straus bet and his opponent re-raised, indicating an over-pair to the board. Straus decided to call, in the hopes that he could perhaps bluff his opponent off of his hand on the turn or river. The turn brought a 2. It was no help to Straus though, as he could only play his two pair sevens and threes. The deuce didn't play. And it also meant that if his opponent did in fact have an over-pair, such as Kings or Queens, that Straus was way behind. Straus decided to bet again on the turn anyway, which made his opponent seriously consider whether to call or fold. Straus knew that if he were called, his chances of outdrawing his opponent were very slim, with only one card to go. After several minutes, Straus offered a proposition to his opponent, for $25 his opponent could choose either one of Straus' hole cards and Straus would show it to him. After more consideration, the opponent finally decided to take the deal, he tossed Straus $25 and chose a card, it turned out to be the deuce. Straus' opponent deduced that since he showed him one card, the other must be of the same value and so, he naturally assumed that Straus must have had pocket deuces, giving him a full house, deuces full of threes. It was considered one the most celebrated bluffs in all of poker history.
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Goofs
When Stuey first walks into a casino when he arrives in Las Vegas, the scene is supposed to take place in 1973. However the video slots on the other side of the glass doors he enters weren't invented until a couple decades after.
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Quotes
Stu 'Stuey' Ungar: [narrating] The math guys call it "positive expectation". It's how all these big casinos get built. You throw down your cash hour after hour, and the casinos edge on the game just whittles it away. Sometimes it's just a tiny edge, but it's always there. They know if you win, it's just temporary, so they buy you your and your dinner, and they smile and wait for you to lay your money down again until eventually you lose. And that's what we did, too. Just waited for ya. In the sixties, guys who wore cowboy hats and had cutesy names played poker. By 1980, some of them were still around, but they weren't the best no more. The new pros were math teachers, bankers, lawyers, scientists. Guys who stopped in Vegas for a vacation and figured out they could make more money doing this than any shitty 9-5er. Some of them made money. Some went broke and ran back to real life. Our favorite thing was to beat the shit outta some young hotshot. Some jerk-off who dominated his home poker game and thought he could make a livin' playin' it. Just destroy him. And the great thing for us was that Texas Hold'em was such an easy game. You get two private cards, five others are dealt up. Whoever makes the best five-card hand wins. Piece of cake. And more assholes showed up every day to prove they had it knocked. It was a fuckin' feast. 'Cause these donkeys never figured out that the game wasn't about cards. It was about people.
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Stu 'Stuey' Ungar: [narrating] Some people said I was crazy to take a dominated hand like Ace-four against Ace-eight. But, wherever you are, you gotta consider all your outs. See, sometimes they save you. But, sometimes you really ain't got no outs at all.
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Vincent: Eat your scone.
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Photos from cast
Michael Nouri
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