2. Three Card Brag (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels)
Three card brag is similar to poker in that opponents bet against one another based on the strength of their hand or their attempts at misleading their opponents. However, three card brag varies from poker not only in its number of cards per hand and slightly different hand rankings, but in its betting structure itself. In three card brag, the betting is regimented in a way that pots enlarge geometrically, putting the players at bigger and bigger risks as the hand develops. In Guy Ritchie's debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Eddy and his friends pool their money together in order for Eddy, a three card brag expert, to play against a local gangster in a high stakes match. Unknown to Eddy, the gangster has a hidden camera wired to a back room where the gangster's thug can spy on the hands and relay messages to his boss. Though Eddy steadily accumulates money throughout the game, he ends up losing the house and then some, putting he and all of his friends in mortal danger. Their resulting debt causes a chain reaction of heists and double-crosses gone wrong, making Ritchie's first film a memorable cinematic experience.