With the massive popularity of online poker in the last several years, let's take a look at what started it all. No, not the "World Series of Poker." No, not the multitude of online poker sites like Titan Poker, Tony G Poker and others. Today, card sharks, we're going to recap the movie that started it all ten years ago: "Rounders".

Before most people even knew what online poker meant, a movie was released starring fresh-off-his-Oscar Matt Damon, about to make it huge in "Fight Club" Edward Norton, and already legendary and creepy actor John Malkovich. While "Rounders" didn't strike gold at the box office, it developed a cult following and is widely credited for helping jumpstart both the offline and online poker craze today.

Damon plays Mike McD, a young card shark who's trying to balance his poker habit with his law school education. Although he's trying to quit, as his girlfriend desires, it's not so easy when his best friend Worm (Norton) gets released from the slammer and begs Mike to use his super-talents to dig Worm out of debt. As luck would have it, Worm doesn't associate with the best of characters so when Mike agrees to say yes, he says yes to more than he bargained for.

The movie takes us through numerous games where Mike and Worm have varied experiences, sometimes cleaning up and sometimes getting hurt pretty bad. While you shouldn't expect online poker to expose you to severe beatdowns, it's always a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows just like we see in the movie. In one scene, the two gamblers find their way into a game with state troopers. Worm pretends not to know Mike, makes the decision to cheat, and they both get beat up badly by the angry law enforcement agents.

Now deep in debt and running out of time, Mike borrows $10,000 from his law school mentor, taking us to the climax: the showdown with Teddy KGB, the Russian mobster played memorably by Malkovich. This isn't your typical online poker game; this game is truly high stakes: physical health at best, death at worst.

***SPOILER ALERT!***

McD comes through when he needs to by picking up on Teddy KGB's tell, separating and eating Oreos. That definitely doesn't come up in online poker but there are nonetheless tells (although they mostly involve the speed of the players' moves.)

Though overlooked in the theaters at its time of release, "Rounders" is an absolute classic, an incredibly realistic look at poker. It's tense, the players know what they're doing, and the dialogue and characters are memorable. If you're looking to break into online or offline poker, this is a good place to start.