There are numerous films that feature gambling and specific casino games, and many of them are considered to be classics.
The protagonists of the films frequently put their lives in danger, incur debts, and are left penniless. Most are set in the United States, specifically in the Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos.
Our article looks at the top gambling games featured in movies.
Texas Hold’em
The most popular form of poker in the United States made its way to the big screen and it’s featured in many films over the years. ‘The Cincinnati Kid’, a 1965 film starring Steve McQueen, takes place in 1930 in New Orleans, and two players are engaged in a game of Five Card Stud, a variation of Texas Hold’ em.
This film ranks among the most interesting in terms of showing the game on the big screen. ‘Rounders’ from 1998, ‘High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story’ from 2003, and ‘Molly’s Game’ from 2017 are a few more films about Texas Hold’ em.
Blackjack
Blackjack and casinos are inextricably linked, and this card game has been featured in several films. ‘License to Kill’, which was released in 1989, is one of the first films featuring blackjack that immediately springs to mind. Timothy Dalton played James Bond, an MI6 agent who relishes live casino, hot girls, and his shaken, not stirred, martinis.
Another excellent film is 1988’s ‘Rain Man’. The film follows Dustin Hoffman, an autistic man with the ability to count cards, who is taken to a casino by his brother (played by Tom Cruise) to play Blackjack.
2008’s ’21’ cannot be missed off this list. The film focuses on Kevin Spacey’s character Micky Rosa, an MIT professor, and his students. The plot follows the group as they learn how to defeat the house in Blackjack.
We cannot forget to mention a movie not produced by Hollywood: ‘Croupier’ which debuted in 1998. Clive Owen plays a croupier who is cynical about casinos and enjoys seeing gamblers lose their money.
Roulette
If you’ve ever visited a casino without playing at least one game of roulette, it’s the equivalent of going to a bar and returning with a bottle of water. Roulette is undoubtedly the first and most prominent of all the casino games depicted in movies. ‘Casablanca,’ one of the greatest movies of all time, has an iconic scene depicting a roulette game.
Another notable example is the 1974 film ‘California Split’, which is focuses entirely on gambling and includes a few scenes with roulette. The German experimental masterpiece ‘Run Lola Run’ of 1998, sees Lola trying to win 100,000 Deutschmarks by playing roulette to save her boyfriend.
Craps
Craps is a renowned dice-based casino game, and no discussion of craps in movies would be complete without visiting Martin Scorsese’s 1995 cult favorite ‘Casino’. Sharon Stone’s iconic scene is phenomenal.
The film ‘Hard Eight’, released in 1996, is director Paul Thomas Anderson’s first screenplay and it’s about a compulsive gambler. Sydney, a gambling maestro, guides his young prodigy on how to play craps. 1989’s ‘Harlem Nights’, 1973’s ‘Walking Tall’, 1971’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, and 1987’s ‘The Big Town’ are among the other movies featuring craps that should be included on this list.
Poker
The game of poker appears in lots of movies, with many iconic poker games making cameo appearances in well-known films. A famous example can be found in the James Bond movie ‘Casino Royale’. The 2006 movie, sees Bond compete in many high-risk poker games against Le Chiffre, a notorious gambler and a financier of terrorist activities. In the original novel, they partake in a game of Baccarat, yet in the movie they play a poker variant of Texas Hold ‘Em.
Another example is Tom Cruise’s character in 1988 renowned comedy ‘Cocktail’. He plays a bartending genius who switches to casino games to make a little extra cash. While the majority of the movie setting is in New York City, it has a poignant moment where Cruise’s character plays poker in a casino in the Bahamas.
The opening scene of “Ocean’s Eleven”, a film set primarily in Vegas, features an iconic poker scene where Brad Pitt instructs several VIP guests poker tutorials and is rudely interrupted by George Clooney.
Closing Thoughts
You can relive the thrills of these classic casino games online. There’s a lot to choose from, with sites like gambleonline.co/en-ca/ offering slots, video poker, and other traditional casino games.
