Review by dbdumonteil

The subject is not new : the gambler , his addiction, was treated many many times from Jacques Feyder ("pension Mimosas") to Jacques Demy ("La Baie Des Anges" .In the latter, the central character was a woman (Jeanne Moreau);in Catherine Corsini ,it's also a woman,who plays poker .The fake dollars trick had already been used by Bertrand Tavernier in his sketch from "L'Amour Et La Chance".

The problem with "poker" is the screenplay : it's muddled ,some roles are too underwritten (Pierre Arditi's) ,and the story never takes off. The games are filmed without "suspense" ,we never really enter the (clandestine) circles ,we never feel the heroine's plight .Besides ,the writers introduce a bizarre character,the gambler's brother whom she mothers in an ambiguous way (see their last scene together;it looks like an incest ).

Because the heroine is a strong woman, and all the reviewers spoke highly of Caroline Cellier's performance ,quite rightly so .She is the asset for the movie ;if it hadn't been for her ,I would have given up halfway through. The depiction of those shady places in night Paris,enhanced by jazz music ,is another redeeming quality.