Cutting Cards

"Who's got the losing hand...forearm...elbow? Find out in a shockingly high stakes game of poker."

--DVD description for the episode

Cutting Cards
Season	2
Episode	3
Airdate	April 21, 1990
Comic Source	Tales From the Crypt #32
Next Episode	'Til Death

Plot

Reno and Sam are a pair of hardcore gamblers who don't play for fun. They challenge each other in a simple game of cards, and the end result could be deadlier then they could've ever bargained for.

Summary

Gambling cowboy Reno Crevice returns home after spending a year in Las Vegas...only to head right for the city casino. After gaining access to a high stakes poker table, he gets a drink at the bar. The bartender warns Reno about the chip leader Sam Forney, but the cowboy is fearless, due to several previous encounters with the man.

The cowboy walks to the table to find Sam playing solitaire by himself (after bankrupting every player in town). They exchange taunts — Reno had previously won $10,000 from Sam, and Sam had won a Cadillac off of Reno (which he had to explain to his wife). It’s clear how lost from reality these two are every time they make an outrageous bet against each other.

Reno wants to play a game, despite being broke; Sam agrees on the condition that Reno leaves town should he lose. They agree and both roll a pair of die — each rolling two 6’s. Reno then boldly suggests they play Russian Roulette. While Sam is hesitant at first, he caves and says he has a gun in his car. They relocate to the parking lot to retrieve his gun. Sam puts a bullet in one of the chambers and one by one, they pull the trigger and pass the gun back and forth. Eventually, they get it down to the last chamber, but Reno finds out the bullet is a dud. The frustrated men accuse each other of cheating, but Sam recommends a new game for them to settle this: Chop Poker.

The two gamblers play a game of five card poker in a secluded spot with two bodyguards and a dealer watching over them. Reno wins the first hand (3 queens over a two pair) and chops off Sam‘s right pinky finger with a meat cleaver. As the dealer shuffles, Reno laughs at how Sam can never shuffle again. Reno wins another hand and chops off Sam’s right ring finger. After this, he jokes about pickling Sam’s fingers in a jar to show to his friends. Sam is angry and in massive pain, but he wins the next hand. Reno cowardly tries to trade Sam one of his fingers back, but a determined Sam chops off Reno’s left index finger.

Some time later, the two are in the hospital playing checkers. Both are missing their arms. They get into another heated argument over who’s the better checker player and who has the more luck. Sam threatens to “pass the gun” and the two lifetime enemies butt heads as the episode ends.

Cast

Lance Henriksen - Reno Crevice

Kevin Tighe - Sam Forney

Opening Segment

"You know, kiddies, after a night of slithering through the sickening slime of my crawly crypt, I take a tip from the Marquis de Sade. He likes to unwind with a little red hot poker. Tonight's tale from my collection of terror tomes is about a couple of real sharpies who'll do anything for a stab at the jackpot. So, ante up, fellows. The game's about to begin."

Closing Segment

"I've heard of giving someone the finger, but this is ridiculous! But at the risk of

going out on a limb, I've got to hand it to Crevis and Forney...they'd do anything to elbow their way to the top. Dinner time!"

Trivia

- The chop poker scene was remade twice on the show: in Season 6’s “The Assassin” between the Cryptkeeper and Death (William Sadler reprising his role from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey) and in the Bordello of Blood movie between The Cryptkeeper and a mummy (also played by William Sadler).

Gallery

Mike Vosburg's comic cover

Reno Crevice

Sam Forney