The movie stars Bret Harrison, Burt Reynolds and Shannon Elizabeth, and includes short appearances of poker personalities playing themselves such as Antonio Esfandiari, Joe Hachem, Phil Laak, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Vincent Van Patten.

The plot is about ex-gambler Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds) who teaches a cocky, hot shot, card playing senior named Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison) at Yale University some tips about playing cards. They gradually become friends, pair up and master every tournament they enter. The problem begins when they are both pulled into the World Series of Poker, where Tommy’s apprentice is his roughest competition.

“Deal” truly captures the essence of the game, which has not been correctly portrayed since the poker movie “Rounders” debuted in 1998. A similar plot worked well in the movie “The Color of Money”, back in 1986, starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise.

Reviews of the movie are yet to be stated, although some of the poker stars, which have a roll in the movie, said that: “It’s the real deal” and that “It captures the poker world like it is.” One thing is for sure: after the box office “21”, it will be very hard if not impossible for “Deal” to make headlines, as “21” was a huge success and still continues to be one of the most viewed movies of this month.