I wondered last week whether the Vegas/poker frenzy that has been gripping the US was finally coming to its end - ratings are down for the endless tournaments on TV, and some are wondering about the effectiveness of new, poker-based advertising. I never came up with an answer, but since there is at least one more poker flick on its way, we need to add a small production company and their cast and crew to the list of those who are fervently hoping the answer is "no."

As far as I'm concerned, even if poker is dead in the water the film, entitled Deal, has a chance for one reason and one reason only: it stars Burt Reynolds. Oh hell yes. Disappointingly, however, the plot sounds incredibly cliched, not to mention exactly like the one that drove the trying-really-hard-but-incredibly-boring ESPN series, Tilt. In the movie, Reynold's character - an ex-gambler - "teaches a hot-shot college student how to 'play the player,' vs. just the cards." You'll be stunned, I'm sure, to learn that the two have a falling out which eventually finds them "competing against each other in the World Poker Tour championships." Shocking.

The film also stars Shannon Elizabeth and Charles Durning, and is expected to start shooting in New Orleans early next week.