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Thursday, June 20, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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to Max Henry & Associates. This deal
is awaiting FCC approval along with
Max Henry & Associates’ petition to
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ing the
sale or the upgrade can be sent to Max
Henry & Associates, 500 Temple‑6M,
Detroit, MI. 48201‑2659
By Peter A. Collins
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
06/20/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
D O U B L E
B U S S
B U M
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M P A
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O N E O N O N E
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S L E S
S P R A
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N E D
S T E T S
C O U P L E
S T
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T M
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D N A
C O U P E S
E Q U U S
M T A
W R E N
C R E P E S
O H N O
E D S E L
D O V E
C R Y P T S
O R E S
N E T
H O O T S
C R A F T S
A W L
H A
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S T R A P S
D R
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E F
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P O W E R T
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S T A L E R
D E A D T R E E
S C R A P E
F R Y
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06/20/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Thursday, June 20, 2019
ACROSS
1 Hogwarts
professor played
by Rickman
6 Monk style
11 “It’s __-win
situation”
14 Groovier part of
a 45?
15 Achille __:
hijacked liner
16 Baseball
commentator
Darling
17 Brief CV
20 Ristorante rice
dish
21 Votin’ no on
22 The geographic
center of the 48
states is in it
24 Make music with
one’s mouth
closed
27 Decide that one
will
29 Cargo unit
30 Spanish article
31 __ deck: cruise
ship feature
32 System starter?
34 “Paper Moon”
pair
36 Dessert potables
39 Quarterly
Nielsen ratings
periods
42 Wind up
43 Free of charge
47 Ranch
nickname
48 French pronoun
50 They may hold
rosés
52 Some facial
decor
55 Katmandu
native
56 Hard to watch
57 Indentations
59 What happens
tomorrow ... and
a hint to this
grid’s circled
letters
64 “Lord, is __?”
65 Under-the-sink
fitting
66 Get ready to
refinish
67 Writer Rand
68 Some globe
users
69 With great
passion
DOWN
1 Old conscription
agcy.
2 Bethesda-based
medical org.
3 Gussied up
4 Sub need
5 Preoccupies
a lot
6 Moral flaw
7 Terra firma
8 Disappoint, in
slang
9 1967 NHL
Rookie of the
Year
10 “The Tell-Tale
Heart” writer
11 Salad green
12 Insignificant
13 Zen harmony
18 Boy who may be
adopted
19 Took a load off
22 Kenan’s
Nickelodeon pal
23 “Green Book”
Oscar winner
Mahershala __
25 Van Morrison
hit with the line
“A fantabulous
night to make
romance”
26 Writer Rice
28 Thanksgiving
mo. in Canada
33 Fall behind
35 Reaches after
getting away, as
a safe haven
37 __-FREE:
contact lens
solution
38 Forbes rival
39 Lesser Antilles
isl. country
40 Ponderous
41 Clarify
44 Qualifying phrase
45 “Hacksaw Ridge”
director Gibson
46 Tire letters
49 Brush aside
51 Go over again
53 Rembrandt van __
54 As of yet
58 Cookbook amts.
60 Modern rte. finder
61 Tour de France
time
62 Zilch
63 Make like a mole
FOR RENT
ANNOUNCEMENT
“Rounders” is far and away the
most stressful movie I have ever
seen. The tightly wound caper of law
student and aspiring poker pro Mike
McDermott, played by a young and
devilish Matt Damon (“Downsiz-
ing”), is as compelling as it is excruci-
ating. There is a case to be made that
the film’s ceaseless momentum and
satisfying payoffs are the result of
quirky characters and strong story-
telling. However, there is a potentially
more worthwhile reason “Rounders”
still holds up so well: its understand-
ing of the actual mechanics of poker.
For this final installment of my
series on poker hands in movies, I’ll
take a look at how “Rounders” takes
advantage of the logic of poker to
sharpen its story and characters.
While the previous films I discussed,
“Maverick” and “Casino Royale,”
missed the mark in their poker games,
“Rounders” is far more reliable. It’s a
poker movie that refuses to hold a
viewer’s hand, clearly constructed
by screenwriters (David Levien and
Brian Koppelman, “Billions”) who
understand the card game and its
enigmatic draw. It would be one thing
for “Rounders” to simply employ rea-
sonable card game behavior. But the
reason I find it so entertaining on
repeat viewings is that it actually uses
poker to shape its narrative.
First, let’s take a look at the film’s
first big hand and one of its most
upsetting moments. On a confident
streak, Mike ventures to The Ches-
terfield, a seedy, noirish hideout
run by Russian mobster Teddy KGB
(John Malkovich, “Velvet Buzzsaw”).
In what starts out as a modest pot,
Mike hits a full house, nines full of
aces. After he and Teddy eventually
shove, the latter flips his higher full
house, aces full of nines. Not only
is this a realistic hand I have been
ruined by and which has ruined plen-
ty of others in poker, but it’s one that
allows Mike’s judgment to feel rea-
sonable and foolish at the same time.
He was there along with us the whole
time, explaining his methodology in
reading Teddy, squeezing maximum
money out of him. As a result of this
believable set-up, the expression
Damon wears upon
the realization of his
defeat (and loss of
$30,000) is utterly
heart-sinking.
The movie’s first
game serves more
than one purpose. It
does a decent job of
convincing a viewer
of Mike’s gambling
chops while also tak-
ing a large swing at his confidence
as a player. Everything after this bad
beat is the painfully tense process of
Mike being lured back into the game,
building back up that confidence and
putting it to the test.
One of the film’s less believable
but thoroughly entertaining scenes is
the infamous judges’ game, which is
something of an institution at Mike’s
law school. When Mike drops off a
few papers for a professor, he can’t
help but insert himself into the game.
It’s not totally clear what game the
judges are playing, though it seems
to involve community cards, multiple
rounds of betting and a low limit.
After only a few moments, Mike is
able to read every judge’s hand and
wagers for a summer clerkship with
Judge Marinachi. “Well, you were
looking for that third three, but you
forgot that Professor Green folded
it on fourth street and now you’re
representing that you have it. The
DA made his two pair but he knows
they’re no good. Judge Kaplan was
trying to squeeze out a diamond flush
but he came up short, and Mr. Eisen
is futilely hoping that his queens are
going to stand up. So like I said, the
Dean’s bet is $20,” he says with admi-
rable confidence.
On all accounts, this moment
makes no sense. It’s impossible, even
for a seasoned poker professional, to
simply glance at a group of strang-
ers and read their hands back to
them. And yet, every time I rewatch
it, I don’t care. The calm boldness
of Damon’s line-reading is so capti-
vating that it covers up the general
ridiculousness of the situation. The
scene certainly breaks the laws of
reality that govern the rest of the film.
It’s a cheat, and I’m OK with it, sim-
ply because it’s so rare for this movie
to cut corners. When it actually hap-
pens, it’s so smoothly rendered that I
can suspend my disbelief.
While I can look past the improb-
ability of the judges’ game read, the
biggest flaw of “Rounders” is the
tell of its villain, KGB. The hustling
mobster should by all means have
every part of his body language under
control. Still, he can’t refrain from
munching on a tray of Oreos that
invariably sits next to his chip stack.
From the very begin-
ning of the movie, we
see him take apart
the Oreos, cookie
from
creme,
and
either eat them or
discard them. And
when Mike finally
realizes
this
was
Teddy’s tell all along
during
the
final
game, we can’t help
but wonder why he — or anyone else
— never noticed. After admitting he
knows Teddy’s tell, he rips apart the
mobster’s aggression in a run that is
so satisfying it makes up for the stress
of everything before.
The reason that this obvious tell
stands out so unavoidably in “Round-
ers” is that the movie is otherwise
subtle with its gameplay. Like I said,
“Rounders” takes no time to explain
the complexities of Texas Hold’em.
So when it drops on the audience a
piece of information as glaring as
Teddy’s Oreo tell, we can’t help but
feel like it was unearned.
While I can’t vouch for every poker
movie I’ve mentioned on this series,
I say without a doubt that “Round-
ers” is my favorite poker movie. As
a nostalgic capsule of the ’90s and
a story that plays by realistic poker
outcomes, I return to it frequently
to learn something new each time.
“Rounders” above all demonstrates
that for poker to succeed in storytell-
ing, it must at a minimum abide by
the way the game is really played, and
at best, use the emotional swings to
develop character.
Going all-in on ‘Rounders’
ANISH TAMHANEY
Daily Arts Writer
“Rounders” is
far and away the
most stressful
movie I have
ever seen.
FILM NOTEBOOK