The Perfect Sequel Story Line

For any poker player or fan, Rounders is a must-watch and over the last few years, rumors and potential plans for a sequel have bounced around. Last week, Poker Central Senior Editor Remko Rinkema kept the conversation going, asking how would Rounders 2 open?

What’s your favourite Rounders 2 opening scene idea? What year is it, and what’s Mike McD’s situation? Go!

— Remko Rinkema (@RemkoRinkema) April 2, 2017

Plenty of poker players interacted and some of the responses were pure gold but after discussing plot ideas on yesterday’s Poker Central Podcast and some more discussions this morning, the Las Vegas Poker Central office has hashed out the perfect Rounders 2 story line.

The movie opens the same way the original film did, with Mike McDermott slinking around his apartment. Instead of picking up pieces of his roll from hidden parts of the room, he’s instead turning off lights and preparing for bed. McDermott walks past his computer and the Full Tilt Poker client is up, with an empty table and a tournament lobby with “ProfPetrovsky”, an ode to McDermott’s former law professor, sitting atop the leaderboard. McDermott does some quick housekeeping and then makes his way to bed.

The picture fades to black and re-opens in a conference room.

A half dozen men are seated around a large table, the Washington DC skyline and a giant Department of Justice wall logo are visible. They are chatting but their conversations stop when a young, blonde lawyer walks into the room. It’s McDermott’s ex-girlfriend, Jo. She has quickly shot up the ranks and is now one of the top executives at the DOJ. There is a brief conversation among those in the room and then Jo dismisses her team. She grabs some folders from the table, one is labeled “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act”.

Jo walks back to her office and sits there for a few moments, visibly distraught. She pulls Facebook up on her computer, searches for “Mike McDermott” and finds her ex-boyfriend’s profile. She hovers her mouse over the “Message” button and clicks it. She quickly types something on her keyboard and hits “Enter”. She shuts down her computer and leaves the office.

The picture fades back to black and re-opens back in McDermott’s apartment.

McDermott wakes up in the middle of the day and slowly makes himself breakfast. Eventually, he goes to his computer and tries to load the Full Tilt Poker client, but something is wrong. The same Department of Justice logo from the last scene takes up his entire computer screen. McDermott looks around, he is confused and eventually opens Facebook. He has a few messages from poker friends but he clicks on the one from Jo Savino, his ex-girlfriend. It reads, “I’m sorry Mike.”

The picture fades to black for the last time and “ROUNDERS 2” appears on the screen. The opening credits roll.

And the Oscar goes to…