When did a stack become a barrel? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Flynn]

All barrels are stacks but not all stacks are barrels

 

[GenghisKhan]

Sometimes you can get a stacked Rack to fit in a barrel ....

View attachment 88035

How long have you been waiting to use THAT photo? Lol.

 

[gopherblue]

So I'm guessing Rounders kind of picked and chose certain semantics for terminology in the movie. Like when Mike asks for three stacks of high society.

From what I can tell, high society means either $10k in chips, or a stack (barrel) of the joint's highest denomination.

So at KGB's club, we can see that Mike is not given three stacks (he received three racks), nor was he given the highest denominated chip ($500).

He was given $30k in an arbitrary amount of chips, but he also could have been given three stacks (60 chips) of $500 chips, which also yields $30k.

So in real life, which definition is more prevalent...$10k value or 20 chips of the highest denomination?

And given that the highest denomination at KGB's was $500, which in stack form represents $10k, should he not have just given Mike three stacks (instead of the three racks)?

I am pretty certain that that was a dialogue error in the movie. They meant three racks.

 

[pedrofisk]

I am pretty certain that that was a dialogue error in the movie. They meant three racks.

Agreed, there is also a moment where he announces a bet and then puts in the wrong amount. The Doug Polk hand break downs of scenes from the movie are hilarious.

 

[Wils]

All barrels are stacks but not all stacks are barrels

But is a barrel a stack even when it's in a rack?

 

[upNdown]

Agreed, there is also a moment where he announces a bet and then puts in the wrong amount. The Doug Polk hand break downs of scenes from the movie are hilarious.

You guys really thinknthe writers, director, and actors didn't know the difference between a rack and a stack?

 

[pedrofisk]

You guys really thinknthe writers, director, and actors didn't know the difference between a rack and a stack?

It does not have anything to do with if they know better or not.

I've worked on many, many film shoots and it is not an academic exercise. Two things that are important to remember. First is a shoot has two speeds, sit and wait followed by hyper-speed during actual shooting. During the shoot it is very easy to miss inconsistencies which is why there is an actual job for continuity. This is especially true on older film shoots without instant playback.

Second is the director is always, always, always going to select the take with the best performance in editing no matter what else went wrong in the scene. The technical consultants (which Rounders did have) and script writers can raise as much noise as they want. The best performance is going in even if the actor changed a line.

 

[upNdown]

It does not have anything to do with if they know better or not.

I've worked on many, many film shoots and it is not an academic exercise. Two things that are important to remember. First is a shoot has two speeds, sit and wait followed by hyper-speed during actual shooting. During the shoot it is very easy to miss inconsistencies which is why there is an actual job for continuity. This is especially true on older film shoots without instant playback.

Second is the director is always, always, always going to select the take with the best performance in editing no matter what else went wrong in the scene. The technical consultants (which Rounders did have) and script writers can raise as much noise as they want. The best performance is going in even if the actor changed a line.

That all makes tons of sense. I just think they got it right.
Assuming "high society" means the highest denom chip, and
Assuming the highest demon chip was $500:
He had $30k
He asked for 3 stacks of high society, which is $30k - 3 x 20 x $500
(3 RACKS of high society would be $150k)
They gave him $30k in smaller chips, likely because the biggest game there that night was $25/$50 (or maybe $50/$100, I'm not sure) - a self-dealt game with no dealer to make change from a tray.

I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing; I just love the movie.

 

[WedgeRock]

You guys really thinknthe writers, director, and actors didn't know the difference between a rack and a stack?

My favorite was calling time out when faced with a decision...

The Doug Polk hand break downs of scenes from the movie are hilarious.

For those that haven't seen them:

 

[Poker Zombie]

I had to Google up the Doug Polk videos that @pedrofisk mentioned. I thought Rounders did a fairly decent job with the poker action. Clearly I was just swept up in the movie.

There were 2 others, but I didn't post them because nobody should ever be exposed to more than 10 minutes of Doug Polk's Jersey shore squiddy-ness.

 

[Mental Nomad]

I've worked on many, many film shoots and it is not an academic exercise.

Having also been involved in production, I agree with @pedrofisk here, 100%.

Sometimes there are completely unexpected technical or continuity reasons why a particular shot needs to be chosen over others, and some details that we may care deeply about simply pale in comparison to what others care deeply about - especially those trying to create the film.

All barrels are stacks but not all stacks are barrels

Well, if you use the rule that when you lay it down in a rack, it's a barrel....

Then all barrels are stacks only if you get the right racks for your chips. Otherwise, a barrel may be 19 or 21 chips... (And this will never end...)

 

[WedgeRock]

Pretty sure stacks become barrels once placed in a bun.

 

[Jeff]

A barrel (20 chips) has been a barrel since the beginning of time. It is a specific term. A stack is the same as a pile is the same as a bunch, same as a shitload. A generic term.

Those working in an industry and customers of said industry often have overlapping but different nomenclature. The real question is how many cows in a heard?

All of them. (The cows)

 

[Blaster]

All of them. (The cows)

A COW is a cell-site-on Wheels to those in the cellular industry.

 

[pedrofisk]

This is the best philosophy discussion I've been involved in for a very long time.

Mobius loop: which came first, the stack or the barrel?

Schrödinger's cat: if the chips are in a closed box are they in a state of being both a stack and a barrel at the same time? Will opening the box collapse the chips from a quantum state to reality?

 

[Blaster]

This is the best philosophy discussion I've been involved in for a very long time.

Mobius loop: which came first, the stack or the barrel?

Schrödinger's cat: if the chips are in a closed box are they in a state of being both a stack and a barrel at the same time? Will opening the box collapse the chips from a quantum state to reality?

Like, Wow, Man.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Schrödinger's cat: if the chips are in a closed box are they in a state of being both a stack and a barrel at the same time? Will opening the box collapse the chips from a quantum state to reality?

If the chips are already in a box, you aren't using them and should just ship them to me.

PM with address incoming...

 

[rowlin]

I've only been doing this for about a decade, and my involvement has largely been limited to these forums, so I have been exposed more to the term "barrel" than to "stack."

In my mind, a stack does not have a predefined height, so a barrel would be a particular type of stack the same way a square is a particular type of rectangle.

 

[kmccormick100]

i think i get it now.

And this is a great song too.

You just bumped up a notch in my book

 

[MatB]

You just bumped up a notch in my book

I like going from the poop on the bottom of your shoe, to just the poop you haven't stepped in !!

 

[BGinGA]

If 20 chips in a chip rack is a barrel, what is 20 chips in a chip box? Barrel? Stack? Row?

And if removing them from the rack/box, do they remain a barrel, or magically transform into a stack? Or both?

Just knock 'em over, and call it a pile. /thread

 

[upNdown]

Just knock 'em over, and call it a pile. /thread

Like this guy did?
Has anybody ever seen anybody go all-in like this? I haven't.

 

[Mac128k]

I noticed that in my time off between CT and here, barrel became way more commonplace.
I didn’t remeber it from back on the day so I even checked to see how far back it went on CT. It had been around a while so I figured it was just my bad memory

 

[Chicken Rob]

I had never heard barrel before joining chip talk. And a stack is both a generic term as well as a unit of measure meaning 20 chips.

 

[harveyspecter]

That all makes tons of sense. I just think they got it right.
Assuming "high society" means the highest denom chip, and
Assuming the highest demon chip was $500:
He had $30k
He asked for 3 stacks of high society, which is $30k - 3 x 20 x $500
(3 RACKS of high society would be $150k)
They gave him $30k in smaller chips, likely because the biggest game there that night was $25/$50 (or maybe $50/$100, I'm not sure) - a self-dealt game with no dealer to make change from a tray.

I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing; I just love the movie.

You're not arguing...none of us are... we're just discussing finer details of a movie we all love.

Your answer conflates the meaning of my question. You chose high society to be a barrel of highest denom chips. Under such context, Mike should have been given three barrels of $500 chips. But the movie implies high society in this case is $10k, rendering # of barrels irrelevant. So his request for three stacks of high society is received in the form of three racks. Now, maybe Mike actually wanted three barrels, we don't know. I find the notion that the playing conditions mandated him to be given three racks of $100s unimportant...as he can be seen later at the table playing with $25s and $500s.

The fact that KGB's highest denom chips were $500 should have ruled out any confusion on the meaning of high society since a barrel satisfies both definitions here. But asking for three stacks, and not receiving such, completely screwed it up.

 

[pltrgyst]

....The real question is how many cows in a heard?

A sufficient quantity such that one cannot roller skate.

 

[MatB]

He asks for 3 stacks of High Society.

if "High Society" is 10k he woldn't care how it is given to him.

 

[Duck]

My favorite was calling time out when faced with a decision...



For those that haven't seen them:

Oh man these are great lol, thanks for sharing. Guilty pleasure movie of mine, but man are they playing terrible poker.

 

[bobcattk]

This. Starting stacks can be any number of chips. Players may stack their chips in any amount: 10, 20, 40, etc. Players refer to dirty stacks.

A barrel = 20 chips. Period.

BTW, I don't understand the poll question.

Thanks!