It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression-era poker player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best.

This quest leads him to challenge Lancey "The Man" Howard, an older player widely considered to be the best, culminating in a climactic final poker hand between the two.

He hears that Lancey Howard, an old master of the game, is in town, and sees it as his chance to achieve recognition as the new king of five-card stud.

It starts with six players, including Shooter playing as he deals, and a relief dealer, Lady Fingers, a popular but faded gambling diva.

[7] Sam Peckinpah was hired to direct;[4] producer Martin Ransohoff fired him shortly after filming began[5] for "vulgarizing the picture".

Jewison scrapped the black-and-white footage, feeling it was a mistake to shoot a film with the red and black of playing cards in greyscale.

[9] McQueen's fee for the film was $350,000[2] The film features a theme song performed by Ray Charles,[10] the Eureka Brass Band performing a second line parade, and a scene in Preservation Hall with Emma Barrett (vocalist and pianist), Punch Miller (trumpet), Paul Crawford (trombone), George Lewis (clarinet), Cie Frazier (drums) and Allan Jaffe (helicon).

[18] Upon its 1965 release, The Cincinnati Kid was favorably reviewed by Variety, which wrote, "Martin Ransohoff has constructed a taut, well-turned-out production.

[20] Time magazine also noted the similarities to The Hustler, writing that "nearly everything about Cincinnati Kid is reminiscent" of that film, but falls short in the comparison, in part because of the subject matter.

[21] Director Jewison can put his cards on the table, let his camera cut suspensefully to the players' intent faces, but a pool shark sinking a tricky shot into a side pocket undoubtedly offers more range.

Pressure comes from a conventionally vicious Southern gentleman (Rip Torn), whose pleasures include a Negro mistress, a pistol range adjacent to his parlor, and fixed card games.

By the time all the bets are in, Cincinnati Kid appears to hold a losing hand.A retrospective review published in 2011 by the New York State Writers Institute of the University at Albany also noted the similarities the film has to The Hustler, but in contrast said The Cincinnati Kid's "stylized realism, dreamlike color, and detailed subplots give [the film] a dramatic complexity and self-awareness that The Hustler lacks".

[22] Joan Blondell was singled out for her performance as Lady Fingers, with an award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress[broken anchor].