New poker film highlights risk, hope behind practice

Doug Tirola was a 13-year-old dishwasher in Miami, Ohio, and scrubbed hard to make minimum wage. His father was a lawyer, his uncle the Vice President for Student Affairs at IU, and Tirola washed pots and pans at this first job his father made him take.

Now, more than 10 years later, Tirola has come a long way and has finished directing his newest film, “All In — The Poker Movie.”

The film is a documentary that follows the pop-culture progression of the game of poker, with celebrity interviews by actor Matt Damon, social commentator Ira Glass and sports journalist Frank Deford.

In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice also ruled that online poker playing was legal, and the film documents the meaning behind this legislation. The movie places poker as a metaphor for the American Dream and highlights the ability to “make it big quick” as a celebration of entrepreneurship.

“It doesn’t matter what you look like, who you are, (poker) just measures your ability to use your wits,” Tirola said.

Tirola has served as a producer for 13 films, some documentaries dealing with the prison system and others dealing with pro wrestling. Despite these accolades, Tirola does not describe himself as “an avid poker player” and learned to play the game from his grandfather. He is interested in the risk behind the practice.

The documentary highlights this chance, along with the hope poker brings, and then applies these states to the modern American Dream. For Tirola, these feelings represent the future — the hope for success and the hope for a better life.

“I think the American Dream is the belief that if a you come across the right opportunity, you have the ability to bring yourself to a higher level,” Tirola said.

Tirola then described this ability as students’ chances to do better on the next exam or a mailman’s son’s chance to become the next president.

“If your dad wasn’t a great athlete, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to be a great athlete,” he said.

“All In” offers individuals this chance, as Tirola said he believes documentaries “allow you to visit worlds and people and places and learn something.” Viewers can learn about the popular world and origins of the poker community from this film.

“Our movie really tells people why poker had this renaissance, this boom,” Tirola said.

The film articulates how poker rose from a game people “played in their basements” to something offered on nine channels of ESPN. The fact that many poker players often happen to be “characters,” Tirola said, only makes the video that much more engaging.

“Sports is a great metaphor for it,” Tirola said. “It’s like people saying ‘Indiana, we’re not ranked this year, why even bother to show up to the game?’ Then, we beat Kentucky.”

The movie premieres on Video On Demand and iTunes today.