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Thursday, June 20, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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CENTRAL CAMPUS, 
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ternet, rent from $700 and up. Call 
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SMG GROUP HAS 
sold WFHD‑LPTV in Ann Arbor, MI., 
to Max Henry & Associates. This deal 
is awaiting FCC approval along with 
Max Henry & Associates’ petition to 
modify the outlet from a low power 
translator station to a Class A TV 
outlet. All comments regard 
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

I
M P A
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R
O N E O N O N E

A
I
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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L
L S
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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F T S
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
S A S S
S H
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F T S

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