Poker Hands - Teddy KGB Takes A Ludicrous Line
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- They say that Teddy KGB is the one guy in the game you don't want to mess with. Maybe that's because he's completely unpredictable. Only an insane man would flat Aces preflop and 3x pot the river. That's how you know someone is truly dangerous.
Doug takes a closer look at this infamous hand from the movie Rounders. The blinds appear to be 50/100, with effective stacks of about $50,000. As always, Doug offers his unique perspective on how this hand should have played, scripted or not!
Stay tuned for more special editions of Poker Hands featuring Mike McDermot (Matt Damon) and Teddy KGB (John Malkovich)
FOLLOW DOUG:
Snapchat ► / wcgrider
Twitter ► / dougpolkpoker
Instagram ► / dougpolkpoker
Facebook ► / dougpolkpoker
Twitch ► / dougpolkpoker
Matt Damon should make a youtube video analysis on Doug's acting skills.
Lmao
Hahahahaha
this is the best comment i’ve seen in youtube lmao
Before that Matt Damon needs to learn acting himself.
has doug ever tried acting?
I can't believe nobody has thought to do this before (as far as I know). Brilliant vid as usual Doug.
+Jack Price Thanks Jack, I try to keep it creative around here.
The Poker Guys have done it before.
Was very common even at WSOP before the Moneymaker boom.
oh fair enough, well Doug did it well anyway.
Yeah man I don't know how easy the added visuals were, but they were totally great. I kind of secretly want to watch the entire movie right now with them added. Talk to Brian K and get it done! But then it was funny when even with the numbers on screen you either misspoke or miscalculated the 2k bet as 2x pot when 1250 was in there. But I already mentioned that. Since you guys are kind enough to GIVE US such amazing content almost constantly, it is funny when something slips through like "folding here having missed our draws" when you actually hit the str8 for 2nd nuts. It wasn't you who did this - I won't call out who but it was pretty comical. GJ!
Plot twist - Mike has quad nines and slow-rolls the fucking shit out of Teddy KGB. It breaks his soul so much, that Teddy quits playing poker. 18 years later, Mike who's now a 10 time bracelet winner and is rolling in the bucks finds Teddy homeless walking the streets of New York. He feels guilty for slow-rolling him, and gives Teddy a pep-talk about how he was the best player he ever played against (EVEN BETTER THAN JOHNNY FUCKING CHAN!). He tells Teddy he will buy into the WSOP Main Event for him. They spend the next 6 months training, with some cool fucking montages of Teddy stacking fools.
Teddy is dated in his poker skills, and his bet sizing is all over the fucking place and he tilts harder than Phil Hellmuth when some fish sucks out on him. He loses half of his stack in the first hour. Mike calls a time out, and gives Teddy another pep talk. "Remember small-ball poker and be ZEN!" he reminds Teddy. Teddy eats an OREO like a boss, and starts crushing fools.
Before you know it, he's the chip leader. The screen cuts to black with Teddy holding the WSOP ME bracelet, with Mike cheering him on. Joey Knish is in the background with a sour look on his face.
Roll credits.
It's a low budget sequel. The sharknado of poker movies.
In a sense that has probably happened to some degree to most of the players that could have become great but had to give up after losing confidence and too much of their roll. If I won that big one at the Borgata back in 2011, I'd be in Vegas now, but instead I wake up in the middle of the night screaming "Why did he call a 25 BB shove on the bubble with AQ and suck out on me??!!!!" and then I roll over out of my box and go dumpster diving.
Amazing
Sean Ó Briain you sir are a genius
Dont mess with Joey Knish and his leather ass
I love that you analyze a hand like this lol
what iam missing is, asside from the card aspect, to analyze the talk. going all in with the sentence "i dont think you have the spades" is a terrible try to lure him into a call.
that said, its sad that they train like police for action scenes but couldnt work on their chip handling skills. both are supposed to be pros playing 16 hours a day. but specially mat handles his chips as he plays once every 6 months in a home game which he probably did
and the body language of both is terrible too.
This movie was written and shot in 1997. A lot of guys still handled their chips in an 'old school' way. The game hadn't evolved to the uniformity there is now, where everyone copies what they see on TV.
McDermot is a bad reg
Stick to ur NLH "online only" cash games bud. I'll buy into the Main Event for 1/3 of my bankroll and show you who's boss.
+Mike McDermott WP there Mike, I'll see you back at the chesterfield
There was a deleted scene in which right after this Teddy KGB got his donger out
Thspinnage b careful, you're gonna start a twitter war
wanna crossbook this WSOP though guy?
I think McDermot could have a better Bankroll management
LOL i wrote it before hearing you say it at the end
Either that or not overplay A9 because 9's full isn't that strong.
@@wesk2675 Isn't that strong? There's only one hand that beats him on that board!
@@dk2853 He contradicted his own advice though. He said "put all your money in with best of it and protect it if you don't." And he played A9 and got to cocky with nines full.
Yeah they should have made McDermot grinding cash game every day on 16+ tables. What a movie this would have been! ; )
good thing Mikey never picked up on KGB not balancing his Oreo listen with his weak hands as well. incredible video. hahaha.
I like the small detail that Mike dealt his own losing hand, and KGB dealt his own losing hand at the end of the movie. So no possible rigged decks. (Am I thinking too much about this? hahaha)
I noticed this too. It doesn't guarantee anything though. A great cheater will have you deal yourself a losing hand like this by switching the deck as he cuts the cards after your shuffle
@@mwbrazier He's going to switch out the deck while cutting it? Wow
@@coscanoe yeah, it happens. Watch another poker movie called Shade with Jamie Foxx & Sylvester Stallone. This happens to Foxx's character. Someone switches the deck on his deal, so that he deals himself 10-10-10-10-K & deals someone else J-J-J-J-K. Obviously this is only a movie, but slick cheaters really have been pulling this off for many years.
@@coscanoe th-cam.com/video/TDt9P_N5lCI/w-d-xo.html Here's the link for the hand. It's later in the movie when he finds out that he was cheated.
@@coscanoe here's the later scene where he discovers how it happened th-cam.com/video/QeoL6G4bW4U/w-d-xo.html
I love the screen grabs you used for the players whole cards, lmao!
I was going to write a post on my blog about Rounders about what Italian poker pros think about the movie and its characters. Now I have a juicy video to add to my post. Thank you, Mr. Polk. You're amazing!
loved this one. also love the bank roll management talk at the end. it's something that's extremely important in the game if people desiring to be professional
Bankroll management? Mike's dream is to play in the Main Event. His plan for achieving this is to buy into a mobbed up cash game for 3 Main Event buyins.
Only Doug Polk could criticize this hand and make it hilarious at the same time, well done sir
I just subscribed to your channel because you did this analysis. So many times I looked for it and no one has ever done it. Thanks!
Great idea to analize this scene! I've played hold em with some old school vets, and flatting aces would be considered-not that strange, back in the early 90's. Also, Mikey dubbed Teddy as "tricky", so Teddy might have been playing on Mikeys aggression, as opposed to a random trap with aces. As we later discover in the film, Mikeys hero is Johnny Chan, and that group of players could have been considered to be "aggressive" for that era. As far as the obvious tension building, betting sizes; after the over bet on the flop, nature kind of took its course. As mentioned is the other comments, you should do Casino Royale, but do a statistical analysis of those ridiculous odds to have occurred.
yeah some great analization
... I love how you provide visuals by showing the hole cards to the viewer + cards on the flop as well.Just gives the average layman an easier time to digest what is going on in the hand.Nice review dude.
.. Would like to see you do the final hand where Edward G Robinson's straight flush beats Steve McQueen's full house (Aces over 10's) from the movie 'The Cincinnati Kid'.What Robinson did in that hand was insane.
The teddy and mike thumbnail pics are hilarious Hahahaha
KGBs bet backfires if Mike has 9 9.
This is by far my favourite poker channel on YT right now! Well done Doug
Great movie, Malkovich and Damon, great actors....but the part I like best is that graphic :-) Thanks Doug....you're ACES !!!
Biggest mistake in this scene is Teddy didn't have the nuts and Mikey never showed his hand or mucked before they took his chips.
I think it’s because Mike didn’t turn over quad nines quickly and looks disappointed, they probably think he wouldn’t slowroll, but I agree as a formality they should’ve waited
Absolutely love the idea of a confirmed high stakes professional breaking down a hollywood hand.... Brilliant video, and amazingly great information for it being 100% fiction you are analyzing. Love you youtubers/streamers that are so willing to give away mountains of information you broke your bank to amass, for free. Earned a sub the hard way my friend, but earned it none the less haha. If I ever get back into serious(well serious for me anyway haha) poker when Ohio finally legalizes online, I feel like guys like you, tonkaa, staples and all the others basically gave me thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of coaching for free. Heartfelt thank you.
Great job on the avatar pics for the hole card graphic. I LOLed.
Great video. You are correct, something seems fishy about that deck!! Is this where KGB stands up & says "Hey Mikey, HOW YOU LIKE THEM APPLES!!!"
i honestly think this was the best hand analysis youve done. great work brotha
Phil Hellmuth said he would've just faltted
Phil Hellmuth actually woulda just folded pre. Just like his QQ with 8 blinds.
He actually said this on the players commentary on the DVD.
It's funny that everybody talks about the cookie tell. But there's another more realistic tell. When Teddy says "It is position raise, I call". Teddy doesn't often comment on hands while playing. He's pretty tight lipped so why is he mentioning that? Usually when players want you to think they have a marginal hand it's usually NOT a marginal hand. This alone might have been enough information to make Mike D. tread more carefully.
Hey, can you make the hand from james bond ? with the straight flush vs nut full house ?
I know this hand doesnt make sense whatsoever, but its exactly why its so funny from a poker point of view :D
I love the thumbnail pics you used of them next to their poker hands. Lol
It's ok Mike.... Go back to that soft seat in Queens, rebuild your roll, and hook up with Petra. The end.
lol love the graphics!
douh you're hilarious. a tounge-in-cheek commentary on your DMCA notices . well played.
Hah, good vid Doug. This is genius. Can't wait to watch the rest!
Top job with the graphics, needs percentages too though lol
LoL Should had a deleted scene in the movie where 9♦️ falls on the river.
I wrote a poker movie where, after anyone's busted at final table, they take a ten minute break to adjust lighting and sound. Of COURSE, they don't do that in real life, but I used creative license to allow the players to interact off the table.
One of my fav movies of all time, thanks for the video!
"I see your $2000 and raise you 5 Oreo Cookies.: (In my fake Russian accent)
Hahahaha
Send this to Matt Damon, I'm sure he'd get a laugh out of it.
For me, the $15000 bet on the river was brilliant, as Mike raised pre flop and bombed the flop, which made Teddy think he had something really good. He was probably expecting Mike to just call and pay him off, not go all in.
At least it introduces the concept of overbetting and the freedom to bet any amount at any time
@@SmartDumbNerdyCoolthat is a good point, it teaches the concept of over betting to the audience
And nice barreling with the AQ vs the jacks the hong kong buisness man had..love the pwer moves
+yehchuck TY! Power poker brah
Teddy KGB needs to understand that everything you do at the table coveys information
lol your thumbnails are so great :D
Haha. Nicely done Doug. Been anxiously anticipating the next installment of this series. Enjoy the vacation. If you guys get 30 min south of Chi; toss me a line. Double date dinner on me. Would love to meet the legend.
Doug this was superb. Laughed all the way through.
lol fun video analyzing this hand
Rounders series! Best film!!! Please moreeeee
Analysing poker hands from a movie. Genius :)
It's a movie. Bigger bets add drama and suspense. Nice video.
Hey Doug - Thanks on taking the time to do these! I think you do a great job and I have learned a lot from your analysis! This Video is great because it also shows how poker has come so far with Value betting - mathematics - hand ranges - EV - etc... Thanks and keep up the good work!
Great idea Doug. This is $1337. I just ordered Rounders on Blu-ray because of this.
KGB is looking fired up in his thumbnail.
Aw man I'd love for Mike just to roll over 99 at the end when teddy goes to scoop the pot.
The 3x pot lead on the river is a great play as a bluff, because it can sometimes get a flush to fold, and all the worse hands. When you have such a great bluffing size, you want to balance it sometimes with huge hands like AA.
Always hope Mikey shows up with quad nines instead of A9C. Teddy woulda got stacked lol
Quick movie if that happened!
I think Doug should've taken into account that this was in the 90s poker strategy has come along way going all in preflop was a rarity so flatting with aces was much more common and people still do it as more of a trapping hand
Rounders series ftw. This hand brings laughs every time I see it.
First, great break down. Second, I've particularly not liked this movie because of poker technicalities. A)In this scene, you see Matt Damon splash the pot with his All-in motion, then later in the movie, he will tell KGB to not splash the pot. B)In the final game, KGB bets $5k but puts out 3 even stacks of black chips. To me, this looks like $6k.
And finally, I just noticed in this video... they are using very nice KEM plastic playing cards. I do like that they make them look quite used as KGB shows his Aces and you can see black dirt spots. However, just before that when Matt Damon lays down the deck to call time, you can see the top card drift easily off the top of the deck, meaning it is a new unused deck with no grime and dirt.
The End
How did I end up here at this point of my life??? Anyway, great analysis, like always Doug!
Really appreciate what you are doing. I think you are one of the best poker players at the moment. I would love to take some one on one classes.
Looking a little too cas(ual) there Teddy. hahaha - great stuff Doug!
Nice breakdown papi! I don't like Mike Macds raise on the river.
Teddy is pretty polarized on the river and when you factor in the equity of the game being rigged, I think a call is best. Teddy might also bet 3x/fold most of his flushes if he decided to take this line and he probably only chooses this sizing with the Nut Flush but that hand might be scared of a slowplay full house (fun player logic) so it would bet less. Teddy also seems like the type of fun player who wouldn't choose this sizing with 89 or 88 because he is still scared of a slow played A9 or AA and also is more likely to raise those hands on the flop against Mikes lead. I think when you factor those things in, it becomes a pretty clear call from Mike.
On a deeper level, there is some chance Teddy is turning a 9 into a bluff in this situation and Mike thinks Teddy will bet/call the river with enough worse hands in his range to make it a shove. Nothing we've seen up until this point of the match would give credence to that thought but it is a possibility. Thinking about our range in Mikes spot a bit more, this might be a good spot to turn an Ace into a bluff. If Teddy knows Mike is capable of doing that, it makes the dynamic much more interesting.
+joeingram1 lol Joey, I see you trolling over there
It might not be applicable to this exact hand but very applicable to the spot in general for poker players out there!! You want to consider all angles of a situation and try to take something away to improve your own approach to the game!!!
+Doug Polk WAIT!! You really think it is always, 100%, a shove in Mike Macd spot?? With the stakes that are on the line and with rigged equity being involved??? What hands can Teddy really have with this sizing in this spot?
Also Mike has to think he has a pretty big edge against Teddy and it probably isn't worth it to take the risk in a spot like this. Warning bells have to be going off when you are playing in a home game and something super unusual happens in a spot like this.
Nothing wrong with what you said Joe..it's the great game of Pot limit omaha that swayed your thinking, FH vs FH doesn't happen often in NLHE :P
I love the graphics and the pics lmao
What I think Teddy was doing was trying to represent a flush so mike felt confident in betting
Spot on. These poker vloggers are robots... Mike's endgame is to win big... KGB's endgame is to bust people big... KGB isn't hosting this game in his basement to value bet Aces...
Awesome graphics showing the players hole cards and pictures!
Hahaha, you are crazy dougie!!
There is something hysterical about analyzing this fictional hand haha
7:24 did i hear Vanessa Selbst in the back saying : '' string bet, that's the bet ''
OMFG WHY HAVE I JUST SEEN THIS?!?!?! I'M FUCKING DYING. i fast forwarded to 0:41 doug: "Our action begins with..."
are we not going to acknowledge the fact that Lyn string bet the river? lol
Very good video well done and we when they can expect in twitch?
Someone should create an alternate ending where Mike slow rolls Teddy and reveals his 99 as he scoops the pot.
Then the movie will just be 15mins long 😆
best movie review ever.
I actually took away a very important lesson from this video.
If you bet into someone and they tank, eat an oreo you PROCEED WITH CAUTION
now i gotta watch Rounders again
If only Mike had pocket 9’s then the Oreo junky wouldn’t have felt so smug.
Cincinnati kid should be analyzed
Same lesson about bankroll management.
mike mcDermot tried to angle shoot by saying he didnt think he had spades and got punished lol
Keep in mind it's 4 handed. There's not a lot of logic raising the aces pre. He's also not on the button: he mentions he feels that Damon's raise is a position raise...and check calls flop. He's out of position, not on the button.
There's no hand I won't review - Doug Polk
If the 3x pot gets flushes to fold, why not bluff?
"If bluffing is so dumb that you should always fold, why not always bluff? Right? Why not just bluff everytime?"" -Doug Polk
... If you are bluffing, why not balance it with value?
The one time I flatted with aces I got beaten by 8-3 off. No joke, lesson learned.
Hey Doug, love your videos man. I was just wondering, is there anyway to justify just flatting Teddy KGB's 3x pot overbet on the river? I know we have the 2nd nuts that includes a blocker to the nuts, but if Teddy is the person that Mike McD and everyone thinks he is, is he really just flatting the overbet on the flop, leading out on the river for 3x pot, and then calling a shove with worse than A9? I feel like the only hands that could play that way and be worse by the river that aren't bluffs are 88 or 89. I don't believe he'd 3x pot with any flush.
I'd like to see more hand analyses of hands from movies. Of course, most of them are completely ridiculous and usually are some kind of no limit 5 card draw where people start throwing watches and shit into the pot
BUT WHAT IF MIKE HAD HAD QUAD 9s???
Teddy is not even waiting for Mike to turn over his cards, which proves that he RIGGED THE HAND!!!
If Teddy had barreled back pre flop this would have been a very different story. On the upside we'd probably still be playing stud as the #1 game in the card rooms now instead of struggling to find a non NLHE game.
how epic would it have been if after teddy shows his hand and the big guy starts dragging the pot for Mike to flip quad nines. gg teddy showers.
Marder farker. You marder farker! You trapped me!
I like the flat with the aces, it disguises the hand which leads to the big pot.
Fell asleep and woke up to hear, 'You are very deep and as you become deeper........' What. The. Fuck? Had to make sure I was still on TH-cam.
On average Teddy eats 1 Oreo biscuit every 221 hands. A packet of them lasts a week.
Another reason not to 3bet is that Mcdermot opened to 6x, so you don't have much of a 3bet bluffing range
:D good choice. You got a good youtube grind going.
Do you have a system where people can ask for hands to review? I'd be interested in what you think of the Kanit vs Carrel EPT hand (when Carrel has kings, flats preflop and folds river to a 3barrel on 36697), maybe it's not a famous enough hand for your segment though
Teddy KGB acts like he has the nuts but the nuts are pocket 9s.
The avatars are too funny!!
this video is so quality LUL
Kids got alligator blood
This hand is such a setup
Reviewed so many of OTB's hands and he does this flop over bet on this type of board, too... and from these exact positions. Five years ago I thought this bet was terrible. Now I am realizing on these medium straight draw flush draw boards that this over bet is probably good.
I think theatrically it was important for Teddy to lead the river to keep the action simple.
What makes his bankroll management even worse is that he never even needed to be in that game to begin with to accomplish his goal. The buy in to the WSOP main even is ten grand. He starts the game with $30,000, which would be easily enough to buy in to the main event, cover any bills and stuff while he was gone, pay for flight and hotel, and have a very nice chunk left if he lost, to bankroll himself again when he got home. And buy the time he gets to this hand, hes up to about $50,000 so should have just walked. I will always love this movie, but there is definitely some insane inaccuracies