Dec 16, 2014
Weekly Flop: Molly's Game Prioritized | Busquet's One Drop | Poker Night Back
By RTR Dennis
In one of the biggest Hollywood stories in months, North Korea is rumored to be behind a hack of Sony Pictures that revealed some very sensitive information. And an interesting subplot to this story is that the drama behind the film adaptation of Molly's Game was revealed...
Many poker players who've watched the WSOP Big One for One Drop before know that it generates money for clean drinking water. But Olivier Busquet recently got to see that One Drop is about so much more...
Good news for TV poker fans - CBS is bringing Poker Night in America back. Find out the details on the renewal in this edition of the Weekly Flop!
Sony Exec has a Problem with Molly's Game Writer
Not long ago, it was revealed that A-List Hollywood screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin (Social Network, Moneyball) will adapt the script for Molly Bloom's hit book Molly's Game. And thanks to hacked emails from Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal, it's plain to see that Sorkin favors the Molly's Game project above anything else.
Pascal's email, which was sent to several top movie executives, bashes Sorkin while alleging that he's "broke," "just wants to get paid," and might be sleeping with Bloom. Here are some other revelations from an email that was released by Defamer:
"We paid him his insane fee on flashboys."
"When the poker movie came around we didn't want to not be in the Aaron business so we wanted that too."
"After social network jobs and flashboys Aaron and mark took the project to the town on the 'pretense' that we don't have money."
"They went to every studio."
"He wants to write them together or poker movie first."
"When mike told them that we wanted to write flashboys first (how long ago did they make that deal) ari sent an email saying he was pulling out of the project."
It's plain to see that Sorkin wants to get Molly's Game finished before anything else. And this is great for anybody who wants to watch the onscreen portrayal of the underground Hollywood poker ring involving Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. But it looks like he's butting some heads with Sony Pictures over his insistence on doing this film first. Since the email was leaked, Sorkin has since defended Pascal by saying, "Amy would rather cut off her own hand than intentionally hurt someone."
Olivier Busquet sees One Drop work firsthand
The $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament has been a huge success in its two years of existence, generating millions of dollars for charity. Speaking of the latter, many poker players know that the One Drop foundation's goal is to provide clean drinking water to impoverished countries. But as Olivier Busquet discovered, there's more to One Drop's work than building a well and leaving town.
Busquet was recently invited by 2014 One Drop champ Dan Colman to go to El Salvador and Honduras, where he got to see the extra work that the foundation does beyond providing water. "They don't just go into an impoverished area, build a well and then leave," Busquet said, while noting that 30-50 percent of these one-time projects fail. The EPT Super High Roller champ added, "(One Drop's) key to sustainability is making it so that these people, when their lives are transformed, they stay transformed."
A couple of things that One Drop does to create this sustainability includes helping get business loans for the residents of low-income areas, and using inventive ways (arts) to teach awareness on sanitation and hygiene level.
Obviously Busquet was touched by the trip to Central America. And hopefully, his buddy Colman, who once ranted that poker is a "dark game," also came away from the trip with some positive experiences.
CBS renews Poker Night in America
In an era where poker television seems all but dead, Poker Night in America really seems to be defying the industry trend. Focusing on player personalities and backstories, PNIA has done a great job of piquing the interests of both casual and serious players.
CBS recognizes this, which is why they've decided to renew the show for another two seasons. Starting January 5th, they're also moving PNIA to a stable time slot at 10pm EST on Monday nights. The show's sponsor, 888poker, has pledged to back PNIA for two more seasons. That said, we can all look forward to another 52 episodes of this colorful poker show.