Bet Raise Fold

'Bet Raise Fold' isn't a bad watch if you're a poker fan however there's a big portion that's old hat. Which means sitting thru a history lesson while the makers build the game up to be this wonderful creation. That is until they actually got down to taking about the main topic - 2011's Black Friday - which seemed to be the point. That moment doesn't come until the halfway point which is weird when you make it the focus of your documentary.

Soundbites from poker pros, voices of the game, but the biggest portion goes to three people's journeys. Danielle Anderson, Tony Dunst & Martin Bradstreet. As the primary focus is online, you get to see the lifestyle, then damage done and feel the effects for Tony & Danielle. Bradstreet is immune because he lives in Canada where it didn't affect him. If the thought is going thru your head of why is he even here it's a sentiment that I had already run into. The doc assumes you know nothing and talks Paradise Poker, Partypoker, Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and a host of other facts about the online game's history.

What I most appreciated about 'Bet Raise Fold' is it didn't shy away from downbeat moments. The way the game has affected their lives both positively & negatively (Black Friday aside). It's common for docs about poker to present a winning fantasy without the other side. It also shines light on some faces that should never be forgiven in their part of a scam and highlights some that maybe got off too light in the court of public opinion.

Half of this movie is wasted following a couple of wanna-be poker celebrities and their home lives. That would be fine for a different movie, but this was supposed to be about the history of on-line poker.

There are a few tantalizing nuggets - a couple of scenes from the US senate floor, Full Tilt could not be ignored - but the rest is just a muddled collection of interviews, tournament scenes, and very little in the way of actual information.

I would have liked to have seen some hard hitting questions about the software used, the accusations and suspicions of collusion and "juiced" software that creates "action" flops and hand history reports that go beyond statistical anomaly. I would have liked to have heard more in the way of figures - profits for the on-line companies, and profits for the big winners. I would have liked to have heard stories of people who had lost everything. I would have liked to have seen interviews with the big names - Dwan, Ivey, Isildur, Matusow, etc - that win and lose huge dollars online.

Overall not a good documentary, and also not very entertaining.

5/10

This is a great movie that shows what it is like to be a poker player in a positive light, following "normal" people who aren't out degening it up, but are quiet, family people who love the game of poker.

It shows the struggles all US poker players have faced these last few years due to the attack on our privileges to play poker by the government.

This isn't a sensationalized made for Hollywood account that picks and chooses some glamorous events or hands, but a view into these players' lives. It is much more like 2 months, 2 million than Rounders or Runner Runner.

You need to watch this if you or someone you love is a poker player, or you are curious as to what a real life grinder's life is like. It is a story told by the players who were immersed in the online poker boom, not an outsider.