casino movies

The poker is treated with real love and there is even some genuine discussion on pre-internet poker theory, while there are some truly iconic scenes including one involving an Oreo cookie and a bizarre tell. Give it a spin and try and resist opening up an online poker table immediately after it finishes. Bugsy is a biographical crime thriller that centers on the life and times of the infamous titular criminal and New York gangster, Ben “Bugsy” Siegel (played by Warren Beatty), as well as the origins of Las Vegas. Bugsy https://true-fortune.us/bonus/ creates an opulent hotel and casino in the middle of the Nevada desert and popularizes Vegas as a romantic visionary and psychotic killer. Ocean’s Eleven has stood the test of time for over twenty years, encapsulating not only the divided identities of Las Vegas but also the contemporary heist movies era. In addition, it’s one of the best films Steven Soderbergh has ever made, and it’s humorous, exciting, all-around enjoyable, and one of the best Las Vegas movies that brings out the best and worst of the city.

Best GAMBLING movies

It is also probably the most violent movie involving casinos as the story does not shy away from the Mob related behaviour in Las Vegas at the time. The MIT gang from 21 can be happy they never card counted at one of Frank Rosenthal’s casinos. In short, Netflix has a bunch of awesome movies all about casinos that cater to different tastes. Whether you like action-packed heists, tense poker games, or stories about interesting characters, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Axel Freed, played by James Caan, appears successful with a good job and a generally stable life.

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Thanks to Martin Scorsese’s direction, plus an award-winning turn from Tom Cruise, The Color of Money is proof that not all sequels have to be scams, even when they are, in fact, about scams. Paul Schrader makes stern, austere and existential movies about stern, austere and existential people. The Card Counter is less about cards and more about grief, trauma and faith, and it delivers those themes through the dark dazzling eyes of Oscar Isaac. You take a risk every time you buy a ticket at the theater, or queue up a movie from your couch. There’s always a risk when it comes to picking a movie, but there are ways of limiting that risk; like, say, reading a list of the best movies in the genre.

HIGH ROLLER: THE STU UNGAR STORY (

There is a trove of exceptional movies about gambling that match Peaky Blinder’s level of entertainment. Fans of poker, roulette, or just placing bets on sports teams understand the adrenaline and despair that can occur with the make-it-or-break-it atmosphere of gambling. Filmmakers from Spike Lee to Martin Scorsese understand this all-in mindset of gambling and infuse it into their awesome films.

TWO FOR THE MONEY (

In doing this, it promotes gambling safety, and that’s something that should be celebrated. Maverick is a 1994 Western comedy film starring Mel Gibson, directed by Richard Donner, gaining a 7/10 IMDb rating and 68% Rotten Tomatoes. As in other best casino films about gambling, Maverick explores Bret Maverick, a gambler requiring money to join a poker tournament. Based on a 1950s television series created by Roy Huggins, earning a box office of $183,000,000. I didn’t do any of my tells.’ To which Maverick replied, ‘You held your breath. Croupier is one of the best casino movies of all time, featuring Clive Owen starring Jack Manfred, an unlucky writer.

casino movies

Roll the Dice: The Top Five Gambling Films

Have you ever had one of those days at the race course where you can’t stop winning? If there is one film that both transports viewers to Las Vegas and reminds them of Casino, it’s Bugsy. But unlike a typical gangster movie, this one also features a unique tale of equals falling in love, a depiction of a dreamer, and a cast of intriguing underworld characters that viewers cannot help but mesmerize. It was also a time when elaborate cons seemed like a perfectly acceptable way to earn a living. Paul Newman and Robert Redford play a couple of grifters who set up an elaborate ploy to scheme a crime boss out of half a million bucks. As the film unfolds, so do the layers of the scam, with the audience finally being let in on the very complicated con.

  • As the British secret services seem to be out of their depth, they cannot outright go and arrest Le Chiffre, but what they can do is get close, play with the man’s hand, and beat him at a game of poker.
  • Of course, it’s also about British secret intelligence operatives and the undercover workings thereof.
  • Truth is he shouldn’t have dipped into Michael’s – the scary gangster – bag of money.
  • These films enchant audiences and leave lasting impressions by capturing the essence of the gambling world and its multifaceted characters.
  • The immersive plots and stunning visuals of these casino movies cause viewers to become fully invested in the characters and their gripping stories.
  • If you’ve not read the book by Ben Mezrich then this US made-for-TV dramatised documentary will be a fascinating watch.

The 12 Best Las Vegas Movies Like ‘Casino’

Starring an ensemble cast of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, and Carl Reiner, the gang comes together to pull off the biggest Vegas heists of all time. There’s nothing the casino can do if someone’s playing hot and winning a lot of money—unless they send in “The Cooler,” anyway. Played with a timid, nervous energy by William H. Macy, “The Cooler” is naturally unlucky, and he works for the casino by jinxing players and spreading his misfortune. The main characters in these films are upping the ante by risking their lives on the big score, falling into debt or addiction—or trying to game the system. Sometimes, they’re running underworld operations; sometimes those involved are super spies.

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He makes a series of hasty decisions in what can only be called one of the best gambling movies you’ll ever watch. The worst gambling addicts are the ones who seem to be addicted to losing yet always think they have a shot at winning, and Eddie Garrett (Jake Johnson) in Netflix’s original comedy film Win It All fits that bill perfectly. Eddie stupidly begins gambling the money in the bag and is somehow saved from himself in the end thanks to a small heart attack.

Color of money

While most gambling-based movies are about the player, this one is unique since it is about a blackjack dealer. Jack Manfred is a writer who takes a croupier job just to make ends meet. He breaks casino policy, getting involved with a fellow employee despite having a girlfriend. The scene where Jack deals to his boss is one that lives on as one of the best in any blackjack movie.

‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ (

As the British secret services seem to be out of their depth, they cannot outright go and arrest Le Chiffre, but what they can do is get close, play with the man’s hand, and beat him at a game of poker. Of course, there is no better-qualified agent to embark on this task than 007 himself. Raymond who has never been to a casino before looks confused and befuddled. Charlie, who has realised that Raymond is literally a walking calculator, leads him to the blackjack table where, you guessed it, they win big.

  • The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a thriving nation of nearly 200,000 people.
  • However, John is doing well until he develops feelings for cocktail waiter Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow).
  • Pale Flower is Japanese film about a yakuza hitman drawn to gambling by a beautiful woman who is constantly losing large sums of money.
  • Heist films are the ultimate guilty pleasure, a scheming world of cons and quips with the audience along for the ride as accomplices.
  • George Clooney’s celebrity-packed Ocean’s 11 (2001) rebooted the genre.
  • We celebrate a vibrant heritage of resilience and spirit, and today, we have no greater purpose than empowering each and every Choctaw to live a life filled with possibility.

Gambling hasn’t lost its cultural vitality over decades, and the same is true for great gambling films like 1974’s The Gambler. James Cann as gambling addict Axel Freed is obsessed with the thrill of gambling, even if it ends in self-destructive losses, and director Karel Reisz depicts the downward spiral of addiction with depressing accuracy. Freed gambles with more than his and other people’s money; he gambles with his life, putting himself in dangerous situations for his sadistic enjoyment. Besides a stellar cast including The Goodfellas’ Paul Sorvino and American Gigolo’s Lauren Hutton, The Gambler is a psychological thriller masked as a gambling movie. Ocean’s Eleven isn’t just one of the greatest gambling movies, it could appear on lists for the best heist movies, best George Clooney movies, best movies from Las Vegas, and even best movies snubbed by the Academy Awards.

  • It is also probably the most violent movie involving casinos as the story does not shy away from the Mob related behaviour in Las Vegas at the time.
  • Swingers is blessed with a beautifully quotable screenplay, one of the most electrifying and intelligent ever written, demonstrating that in modern Hollywood, sincerity and compassion are not incompatible with humor.
  • A 10-out-of-14 rating is more than enough for this remake to earn a spot on the list of Casino Movies to watch in 2022.
  • Manfred takes a job as a croupier, similar to a dealer, to inspire his writing.
  • The answer is so surprising that it touches the boundaries of credibility, if not go beyond that.
  • He is assisted by the gorgeous Eva Green who serves as a distraction and an aid to Mr Bond, setting up the plot for one of the best gambling movies on Netflix worth seeing.

The Gambler ( – The Philosophy of High Stakes

Based on the book by renowned Chinese author Yan Geling, A City Called Macao is jam packed with multiple SAR locations, including the Ruins of St Paul, Macao Airport and the casinos at the Lisboa, Grand Lisboa and Venetian. A team of four street magicians known as the Four Horsemen, who use their skills to conduct seemingly impossible heists, is the premise of Now You See Me 2. The sequel takes the crew from the US to Macao, where they are tasked with having to steal a computer chip on behalf of a wealthy young businessman. Released during the Chinese New Year holiday period, the films proved to be a major box office success in China, with the third movie earning a total of 1.1 billion yuan against a budget of 250 million yuan. “It was imperative that we shoot the film in a real casino to be believable,” said Choi in a promotional video.

To get away with your bulls in this game show, you must be able to put on a credible poker face. It is not enough to have a budget when you want to gamble at the casino. In a parlay bet, every selection in the wager has to win to secure a fast payout. We have paid partnerships with the online casino operators featured on our site. However, these partnerships do not affect our reviews, recommendations, or analysis.

Maybe it is the glamour of the casino or the links to the Mafia or just human nature to gamble, Hollywood has created some memorable movies and scenes based around casinos and gambling. Hollywood and television have a rich history of using gambling and casinos in their productions. Wild West movies often depict cowboys pulling their guns over a game of cards, James Bond is no stranger to the baccarat table and even Mr Bean has been known to enjoy the slot machines. Mark Wahlberg stars in this thriller about reckless gambling and the mounting debt that so many players can fall into. An educated professor at Harvard with a perfect personal life, yet he is incapable of stopping himself from throwing everything away.

  • Steve McQueen stars herein as Eric “The Kid” Stoner, an up-and-coming poker player in New Orleans.
  • The Card Counter is a revenge thriller about an ex-military interrogator turned gambler who is haunted by his past.
  • The lasting phrase from the film may be a delusionally confident Howard exclaiming, “This is how I win,” but the tragic irony of it all, gambling is ultimately how he loses everything.
  • Fans of poker, roulette, or just placing bets on sports teams understand the adrenaline and despair that can occur with the make-it-or-break-it atmosphere of gambling.
  • Everything is going fine until an ambitious woman named Ginger joins the game.
  • Regardless, we still think this is one of the best gambling movies on Netflix and definitely worth seeing.
  • Bay of Angels comes from the visually sumptuous director Jacques Demy who was lauded for his artistic visuals and unique approaches to drama.
  • This summer, Macao is set to continue its long-running tradition as a popular film destination when the Netflix adaptation of the 2014 novel The Ballad of a Small Player begins shooting across the city’s various casinos.

In the meantime, he convinces his wife, Julia, to place a parlay bet hoping that he will make enough money to repay everyone, and he does as the bet wins. In this movie Charlie (Tom Cruise) discovers he has a brother he knew nothing about and that his estranged father has left all his money to look after him. Charlie hatches a plan to take Raymond (who is an autistic savant) away from the hospital to try and force them to split the money with him. As the film goes on the unlikeable Charlie starts to understand Raymond more and discovers much about him but towards the end of the movie Charlie is in debt and his girlfriend has walked out over his treatment of Raymond. Disney+ is home to some great movies including animated classics, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and so much more. A film cynical in nature, the beguiling use of the spiraling roulette wheel is meant to represent the randomness and transience of life.

casino movies

How to Watch Hard Eight

If that all sounds a bit deep then it also features some of the best pool scenes recorded on film, some top quality betting action and an effortlessly cool performance from Paul Newman in the lead role. The tale of small-time pool hustler Eddie taking on the big time is one any gambler can empathise with and it features the same mix of hope, hubris, heroics and heartbreak we’ve all experienced. We’ve all seen the GIF of Zach Galifianakis in deep thought, equations whipping around his head. A loaded cast led by Kevin Spacey shows the team’s journey from winning hundreds of thousands at Vegas casinos to its untimely downfall. With a strong romantic subplot, this one of the best blackjack-based movies ever. Based around the life of Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal who managed several casinos for the Mafia back in the 1970’s and 80’s.

While the casino’s glory days are well and truly over, plans are currently underway to transform the vessel into a dining and shopping attraction. “Mississippi Grind” is a bit divisive, earning a 91% rating from critics and just 55% from audiences. “Ocean’s Eleven” grossed $183.4 in the U.S. and had a great reception, with an 83% rating from critics and 80% from audiences. This movie holds up well, with an 86% rating from critics and a 78% from audiences. Chastain and director Aaron Sorkin were nominated for several big awards for “Molly’s Game,” including an Oscar, a BAFTA and two Golden Globes. Other big stars in this movie include Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera and Jeremy Strong.

From director Paul Schrader, the writer behind Taxi Driver, The Card Counter is a dark and intense ride through the ideas of redemption and the tight grip of the past. Martin Scorsese takes us to the Las Vegas of the ’70s and ’80s where the mafia still dominated the casinos. “Casino” features glamour, glitter, brutality, crime, romance, and drugs.

Honeymoon in Vegas follows Jack Singer (Cage), who promised to never get married to his mother when she was dying. However, he still proposes to his long-term girlfriend, Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) and they fly to Las Vegas to get married, where Jack loses Betsy in a high-stakes poker game that has been rigged. 21 follows Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who will need to have $300,000 for the program in order to get admitted into Harvard School of Medicine. He and five other MIT students received training to be professionals at card counting in blackjack as a result, and they later used Las Vegas casinos to earn millions of dollars. In any event, Eddie Garrett, a gambling addict, is tasked to stash the money for an acquaintance – if that’s what you can call a local thug who is rummaging through your kitchen one morning – who is heading into prison.

A Martin Scorsese gem, Casino is about the competition between best friends, one a Mafioso and the other a casino executive, for a gambling empire and a fast-living socialite. So, get ready to be amazed and entertained by all these movies‘ cool stories and adventures. Few settings delight audiences in cinematic entertainment, such as the casino’s 3D print and sound effects. Among other things, visitors will find a daily dose of articles with the latest poker news, live reporting from tournaments, exclusive videos, podcasts, reviews and bonuses and so much more. A chance encounter with La Linda, played by Tiffany Hadish, leads to joining the World Series of Poker Tour, and all is well until a mysterious young man shows up to remind William of his hidden past. Time for a comedy, and this 2017 film with Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler definitely fits the bill if you are looking for a funny flick.

A ‘hard eight’ in craps means throwing a double four with the dice, called so due to the perceived ‘difficulty’ in rolling a double. As well as the fictional Poseidon, we also see the real-life ARIA Resort and Casino, and the HyperX Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor, which stands in for another fictional location, the Valorant Pro-Am Vegas Showdown. Without further ado, here’s our Top 5 – click the links below to find out more about these movies.

Jessica Chastain embodies the real-life Molly Bloom, an Olympic skier who reinvents herself as the “poker princess” of Hollywood. This iconic film takes us back to the time of the Great Depression when poker wasn’t just a game but a way of life. Steve McQueen delivers a stellar performance as an up-and-coming poker player seeking to establish his reputation by challenging a seasoned pro. Our list begins with a modern classic, “Casino Royale,” where the world of espionage intersects with the equally risky poker realm.

The city’s popularity among filmmakers is exemplified by Cultural Affairs Bureau data cited in a South China Morning Post report, which shows that roughly 110 film applications are made in the SAR each year. Most of these come from Hong Kong productions, although mainland, Taiwanese and Japanese features can also be found in the mix – along with movies from further afield. Macao has long been a magnet for international movies, thanks to its exotic mix of cultures, world-class casinos and bags of atmosphere.

As a result, giving this gambling film a much deeper meaning than what meets the eye. Possibly Paul Thomas Anderson’s least known film, Hard Eight tells the story of a veteran gambler who teaches stranger John the tricks of the trade. All goes well until John gets involved with a sex worker named Clementine. Watching movies on dangerous websites can cause all sorts of problems for your device, and they are often littered with malware (malicious software), spyware, adware, and other digital nasties. They can also harvest your personal sensitive data, not just damage your device, so avoid streaming movies on these websites and stick to the safe reputable to be on the safe side.

Based on a true story but given the Hollywood treatment, the plot follows several MIT students who are too clever for their own good when the descend on Las Vegas as a crack team of expert card counters. Things begin to fall apart as the team fractures and casino security catches wind of their scheme. But he is about to spend it again when he has a medical emergency and is rushed to a hospital. The movie ends, but although it depicts a happy ending, we need to be reminded that gambling addiction and problem gambling ought to be treated seriously. We wholeheartedly recommend watching Money, Explained in its entirety as it’s a highly educative if somewhat mass culture series.

Fans of the films have come to adore Craig’s portrayal of the British secret agent, and that all started here with Casino Royale. The film offers a profound look into the mentoring aspect of gambling, where experience meets raw ambition, set against the moody ambiance of casinos and race tracks. The nuanced performances by Philip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly add depth to the movie.

They set out to sharpen their skills, with Vincent eventually out-hustling the original hustler. Bolstered by an Academy Award-winning, tour-de-force performance by Newman, this Martin Scorsese film deftly navigates the dank pool halls with ease, ensuring the audience is racking up right beside his layered characters. Rosa himself is banned from entering casinos as his card counting skills are known to the establishments and they are not happy to be losing that much money to a trick. This gambling movie on Netflix is probably one of the most realistic ones as well, as card-counting systems in blackjack do exist and casinos need to be extra careful not to allow a player to take advantage of a weakness in their security.

Four men – Doug, Alan, Stu, and Phil – go to Las Vegas for a stag night, awakening the next morning with the worst hangovers of their lives. While they can’t remember anything from the night before, the hangovers will then remember the trip to Las Vegas forever. This film was so popular a series of sequels came out in the following years.

The movie is of course a highly romanticized version of actual events, but it’s captivating and definitely one of the top gambling movies on Netflix to watch on any day. Then you can pretend you are in your own movie playing against hardened pros. Movies about gambling take audiences on exhilarating journeys with characters who face overwhelming odds, yet navigate through with luck, strategy, and skill. Gambling is an integral part of each story’s unfolding, whether through the gamblers’ pursuit of fortune, the excitement of outwitting adversaries, or the psychological battles they wage against themselves. The immersive plots and stunning visuals of these casino movies cause viewers to become fully invested in the characters and their gripping stories.

She encounters Lou Pascal (Lancaster), a mobster, who saves her & helps her achieve success but leads to trouble. Check a 1988 American road drama film and one of the best casino movies of all time starring Tom Cruise for comedy. Charlie Babbit, a selfish, debt-laden car salesman, learns his wealthy father passed, leaving millions to his autistic brother in a trust fund. He breaks his brother out of a mental institution, using savant-level math skills to win while gambling in Las Vegas.

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