Rounder's

In 1998, I watched Matt Damon and Ben Affleck win Academy Awards for cowriting Good Will Hunting.  They were hooting, hollering, and acting all pumped up.  I loved the fact that they were acting their age when they were presented the coty awards on stage.  They were in their mid-20s, and were a breath of fresh air.

            That’s what I remembered when I heard that Matt was coming to the 1998 World Series of Poker.  The next thing I knew, I heard that I was invited to meet and Edward Norton at the top of the Horseshoe for a late Sunday morning brunch.  I brought my wife and two sons with me to that meeting/greeting, and later on that evening, I gave matt and Edward some private lessons game of cards.

            These guys are both brilliant! Matt went to Harvard for a time, and Edward graduated from Yale.  They both could converse philosophically, and engagingly.  Whether the subject wandered towards politics, Buddhism, or the stock market, they were both quick as a whip limit stud.

            I told them both, “Play poker card games tight, but don’t hold back when you have poker kings before the flop, or when you flop a set.” The next day, I was the first of the three of us to be eliminated! It was a rare day one exit for me in the Big One, but I stayed on in Vegas to root for Matt and Edward.

            A little while later, Edward was out.  I asked him how he had been eliminated, and he said that the flop had come down 10-9-6, and that he went out with pocket nines! His opponent had had pocket tens.  Wow!  With that hand and that flop, there wasn’t too much anyone could have done to avoid losing all of their chips

            Edward and I wandered over to find Matt to see how he was doing.  It wasn’t hard to find him; the Entertainment Tonight cameras were focused on him at all times! As I watched, Matt raised it up on the button, and Doyle Brunson reraised Matt all of his chips from the small blind, and Matt called Doyle quickly.  Matt had about poker $6,000 total, and a pair of pocket cowboys (kings) down under.  But Doyle had the pocket rockets (pocket aces)! When no help came for Matt, he gave a great interview, concluding by saying, “I lost with a great hand to a great player.  I have no complaints.  Good luck, boys.”

            Afterward, Matt, Edward, and I sat around chatting for a while on the rail.  While the three of us were talking, Harvey Weinstein (the head of Miramax) decided to run an impromptu charity event-I’m sure it was to keep the press around.  We could play a one-table freeze-out for $10,000, with the winner to choose his favorite charity.

            As depressed as I was (it is always the worst poker/business day of the year for me when I get eliminated from the Big One), it helped to have two movie stars trying to pump me up for the charity event! With Matt and Edward cheering me on, I played in the charity event, even though I wanted to crawl into a hole card games for a day.

            The three of us, Jim Albrecht, and six other lucky volunteers made 10 players total.  Sadly, Matt and Edward outlasted me again!  And this time, I watched closely as they both played a very good no-limit Hold’em game.  I was impressed; the two of them put on a fine show, especially considering that they were both basically beginners.

            Later on, after the charity game ended, we headed up to the top of the Horseshoe for a late dinner and drinks.  Of course, they kept the place open for Matt and Edward until 1:30 a.m. ! It helps to be a celebrity.  Afterward, Matt, Casey Affleck (Be’s brother), and I headed out to the Hard Rock café, where matt and I drank, smoked cigars, and played blackjack all night long.  We had a great time.

            That night poket 1 Matt and I discussed Buddhism, and the concepts of karma and “real happiness” (not that either one of us is Buddhist).  What I remember most about that that night was something Matt said to me: “Phil, just because someone is rich, and appears to be happy, doesn’t mean they have real happiness. You don’t ever know until you’re in their shoes.

If you have to get eliminated from the Big One on day one, I high low poker recommend hanging out and drinking with a genial movie star all night long.