'High Noon,' a classic western film starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, was an immensely popular movie that thrilled audiences across America in the1950s because of its tense plot about a Town Marshall who faced a gang of killers alone.
The screenplay originated from a short story titled 'The Tin Star.' Marshall Will Kane, portrayed by Cooper, has retired from his job and is planning on leaving town with his new wife played by Grace Kelly.
But when he learns Frank Miller, a killer he sent to prison many years earlier, has been released from prison and is heading for town on a train that will arrive at noon and has vowed to get even with him, Kane knows he can't run away. He has to face Miller and his men even if nobody else in town will help him.
The camera work in 'High Noon' mesmerizes moviegoers by focusing on a ticking clock and the empty train depot. It is only a matter of time before the outlaw and the marshall will meet and time is running out.
Now some people may call this a stretch, but I think 'High Noon' and what people feel at a poker table have a lot in common.
A player enters a casino with only so many hours to play poker. The cards may or may not come to him, and so he waits. And waits. And waits.
What is he waiting for?
The rush.
Doyle Brunson, the legendary poker player, was once quoted as stating that no-limit Texas Hold'em is hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer terror. That sounds to me like the minutes of that clock moving up toward the noon hour. That is when all hell will break loose.
I know the feeling of having waited for those rushes to happen. Like many other players before me, I throw away hand after hand of poor cards waiting for the hand that feels right to me. And then I strike.
Sometimes my strikes fail and I lose a chunk of my bankroll. But often they connect and the dealer pushes me a pile of chips.
Naturally, I play the next hand regardless of what cards I catch. This is recommended by Brunson who says it makes no sense to cut off what could be the start of a rush. That is when winning cards overrun the player.
A player can either lose or break even for five or six hours and then get into a rush and literally pulverize the table in the final hour or two of play.
'High Noon' represented nearly two hours of quiet tension building up to the climax when Marshall Kane faces Miller and his gang and dispatches them one by one while the frightened townspeople hide in their houses and businesses.
He gets unexpected assistance when his wife, a peace-loving Quaker, picks up a gun and fires a shot that kills one of the gang members just before he opens fire on her husband.
Cooper is wounded in the shootout. The closing scene has him remove the tin star from his chest and drop it onto the dusty street. Then he and his wife turn their backs on the town and leave for their new life.
A fitting end for a great movie. Let the games begin.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
