All In: The Poker Movie is a documentary that covers poker's growth since the boom began in both the U.S. and internationally after Chris Moneymaker ran his $39 satellite into the ultimate Cinderella Story - 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. Produced by 4th Row Films, the movie is set to open early next year. The trailer was recently released in which Howard Lederer makes a statement at the end, "The hero of the story was also cheating and that's just not...the heroes of poker don't cheat."
That statement, weighed against the recent happenings in the online poker drama of Full Tilt Poker and Howard Lederer's role as an owner of the company, bring many issues to mind and leave many questions unanswered.
Poker is immensely popular and gaining ground around the world with help of The World Poker Tour, PokerStars tours, the World Series of Poker, the World Series of Poker Europe, the Aussie Millions and many, many more tournaments and live events. Poker is like any other sport, there are always some that cheat, hedge, take an unfair edge, and advantage of every loophole and trick to pad their pocket from unsuspecting victims. All of this and more is explored in All-In: The Poker Movie.
The documentary includes a look at the infamous UB.com and Absolute Poker scandal in mid 2008 when the super user accounts were discovered and the long project of sorting through the security of the software, facing poker players questions and accusations, refunds, discovery, and the sad fact that even poker site owners like a World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Russ Hamilton was not above reproach or temptation were all brought to light.
Also included in the documentary are some of the consequences and implications after April 15th, 2011 - AKA Black Friday - when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a complaint against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and UB Poker, consequently stopping activity from players in the U.s. and freezing player's poker accounts.
During the documentary several actors and famous poker players will be featured in interviews, such as Vietnamese-born Scotty Nguyen, Annie Duke and her brother Howard Lederer, and Matt Damon, super actor and part-time poker shark.
Timing is sometimes everything. This documentary is coming out at a time when the world is looking for clarification and a return of their poker playing bankrolls from Full Tilt Poker, UB Poker, and Absolute Poker. The DoJ recently changed their complaint to accuse four Full Tilt Poker owners of fraud - a Ponzi Scheme - ever since the start of Full Tilt Poker. The DoJ has issued an order to not only freeze the company accounts, but the four owners' accounts 'in rem.'
If the claim is true that Full Tilt Poker is a Ponzi Scheme, would Howard Lederer step in front of a camera and make the follow statement?
"...the heroes of poker don't cheat."
While the world waits for more news from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission on Full Tilt Poker's license, and more importantly, the return of player's funds that have been missing for months now, this poker player would still like to believe there are heroes in poker.