10 Of The Greatest Movies About Gamblers

The film makes us feel like we’re having the curtain lifted from a scene that we really should avert our eyes from for our own safety. De Niro portrays a bookie who has to run Vegas casinos for his mob bosses, while Joe Pesci’s character Nicky Santoro is a thief and a killer whose recklessly violent behaviour puts them both in danger. For more information about the movie, read our special Casino movie review.

And while the notion of breaking into a casino vault and walking away with $150m has no grounding in reality, it is among one of the most popular casino films ever made. 21 is a favourite among gamblers for several reasons; one it highlights the game of blackjack and two, it is a classic underdog story where the player beats the house. In it, Spacey plays the role of Jack Abramoff, a powerful Washington DC lobbyist.

top gambling movies

Featuring a youthful Matt Damon, Rounders is the tale of an entrepreneur who pays for his university fees by winning at the poker table. The film is full of famous faces, with John Malkovich and Edward Norton also making appearances. The movie’s showdown culminates in a dazzling high stakes game, with Malkovich playing the irrepressible poker baron that Damon must try and defeat. The film is carried along by brilliant performances – Norton, in particular, is spectacular – and authentic depictions of poker strategy and table banter that few other gambling movies render so successfully.

The Color Of Money

Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson, the story follows oddball journalist Raoul Duke and his psychopathic lawyer Dr. Gonzo as they head to Las Vegas in search of the American Dream. All three are owned by gambling mogul Terry Benedict, and share a state of the art vault that will house $150m during a high-profile boxing match. Le Chiffre beats the other players, but then bond seals victory with a straight flush. The $10m buy-in would unsettle most professional players, but as ever when it comes to Bond there is much more at stake than just money. Power, greed, deception, love; Casino has all the ingredients for a mobster classic, which is why it remains a must-watch for gamblers to this day.

There’s a high-stake poker game and a creation of a fake betting parlour, and many twists and turns when the mobster wants to buy the betting parlour. A classic any way you look at it, The Hustler is a tale set in an era when online gambling was about as close in reality to mankind living on Mars. Paul Newman’s “Fast” Eddie Felson is the upstart with an attitude trying to pit his pool skills against the legend that was Minnesota Fats.

Honeymoon In Vegas ( Pg

This is a biographical movie that tries to describe the fascinating life of this famous gambler. The director features everything about his life up to the point where he lost his winnings and caved in. We positioned the movie as number one because of its unique plot and modern view of the well-known idea about counting Blackjack cards. We cannot miss saying that the movie 21 is based on the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. It’s also one of the best gambling movies on Netflix, so don’t miss out. Scorsese directed Mean Streets, The Color Of Money, Goodfellas and Casino do not fell short.

top gambling movies

The final, improbable, ball-breaking hand brings four players all in, with successively impressive cards. But it’s not exactly a shocker when we learn who emerges top dog in this show — even if he does undergo some testicular torture of his own once the game moves outside the casino. This all comes down to a high-stakes poker game between Bond and those trying to launder money. This comes to https://filmthreat.com/features/top-5-gambling-movies-of-all-time-2/ life later in the film, and shows you how a casino is opened, what is put in place and all of the work behind the scenes. He was a gangster and owned many betting parlours, with the ambition being to crack Las Vegas and own a casino. You may think from the name that this film is about a game of rounders, but a rounder is someone who looks around to find high-staking underground poker games.

The following movies are NOT worth viewing and are all related to gambling in one way or another. The following movies are also worth viewing and are all related to gambling in one way or another. Following receipt of a large bonus from work, Griswold takes the family on a vacation to Las Vegas. Much hilarity ensues, as is the signature of the National Lampoon films.

  • For more information about the movie, read our special Casino movie review.
  • Gambling movies rarely have as many twists and turns as you’ll find here, as the ‘long con’ gets ever more complicated and the danger levels for both protagonists reaches a crescendo.
  • Bob, an old gangster and gambler is almost broke, so he decides in spite of the warnings of a friend, a high official from the police, to rob a gambling casino in Dauville.
  • Ocean’s Eleven tells the story of how eleven robbers plan and then execute three casino robberies at the same time in Las Vegas in this action-packed and suspenseful film that makes for great drama.
  • Casino Royale remains one of the most loved and watched movies in the Bond franchise.

Talented poker player loses a load of money to a mobster, turns his back on the game, but is then forced back into competition to help a friend and save his own back. The film tells the story of a bunch of M.I.T math wizards who learn the dark art of card counting to take on several US casinos for millions of dollars. Over the past sixty years there have been hundreds of gambling and casino films released, with many going on to achieve box office success, critical acclaim and classic status among audiences all over the world. The movie Croupier takes a rather different take on conventional gambling films, showing another side of the industry. It’s one filled with tears and joy, brokenness and affluence, and much more. If you love casino heist films, the chances are very good that you have watched Steven Soderbergh’s crown jewel Ocean’s Eleven.

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+ to participate.Every online gambler deserves a safe and fair place to play. Another film with a host of good performances, The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen, tells the story of an up-and-coming gambler who pits his wits against the high roller of the day, Lancey Howard. Played with verve by Edward G. Howard, Lancey agrees to take on McQueen, seeing as the Kid had made his name only in backroom games with little serious competition. The Kid is further hampered by a series of distractions – not least a beautiful girl – which threaten to topple his chances. The film culminates with both players raising their stakes and, in an exciting finale, one of them thrillingly coming out on top.

Everything becomes more interesting when we realize it’s a game for 115 million dollars. Casino Royale puts the fight into the cards instead of guns, when Bond and the terrorist banker Le Chiffre are dealt against one another. It’s probably the best movie that captures the real tension of Poker, especially when the characters are playing against each other in an all or nothing game. There are so many good movies about gambling that it was really difficult for us to pick just five.

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