And so I came around fairly quickly to the idea that this was pretty cool. So for me, it was exciting that he was going to direct a poker movie. I had been a fan of his, I had seen Red Rock West, and The Last Seduction I thought was awesome. 'But I don't think it took me too long to realize, first of all, there was a lot of truth in it I didn't play particularly well against Chan, and second of all, I thought it was very cool John Dahl, who was the director, would be making a poker film. 'I was a little taken aback by what was written originally from that one scene where he's watching Chan,' Seidel told PokerNews. Understandably, Seidel, who was in his late 20s in the now legendary clip, wasn't too fond of his portrayal when he was initially approached about appearing in the movie. 'And he owns him.' Erik Seidel & Johnny Chan in the 1988 WSOP Main Event 'He (Chan) knows his man (Seidel) well enough to check it all the way and risk winning nothing with those cards,' states Petra, a character in the film played by Famke Janssen. In the final hand of the tournament, Seidel bets into Chan on each street before eventually moving all in on the river, only to learn that Chan had been slow-playing a flopped straight. Mike McDermott, played by Damon, sits in his apartment watching the heads-up battle between Seidel and Chan that led to Chan winning his second consecutive Main Event. PokerNews recently caught up with Seidel to learn more about his Rounders cameo, getting to play with Matt Damon and the movie's accurate portrayal of the New York poker underground.Īnyone who has watched the movie knows the scene in question. In fact, the Teddy KGB-operated Chesterfield Club at the center of Rounders was inspired by the real-life Mayfair Club.Īnother poker legend who came up in the New York underground is Erik Seidel, who made a cameo in the film via real-life footage of his heads-up match against Johnny Chan in the 1988 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The list goes on.Īnother reason for Rounders' success is its accurate depiction of New York City's underground poker world, including of the fabled Mayfair Club, where the likes of Stu Ungar and Steve Zolotow cut their teeth and established themselves as poker greats. There are many reasons Rounders, which this week is celebrating its 25th anniversary, is universally recognized as one of the greatest poker movies of all time.

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