List of the best poker and gambling films of all time

The casino atmosphere is incomparable: the sound of the roulette wheel, the poker table, the beautiful ladies and elegant men… And then there’s the excitement and the big winnings. All that, like a magnet, seduces people to visit casinos. But if you can not be in a big casino, do not despair: to feel the atmosphere of excitement and luxury is enough to watch movies about casinos, which impress not only with plot twists, but spectacular pictures. For online gambling lovers, you can check the best casinos list. The list of films about casinos proves that it’s a popular subject for filmmakers and, consequently, for film buffs. If the action takes place in a casino, you don’t get bored. Also, this location gives the director many options for developing events: the drama, the thriller, and adventure movie events often take place in a casino.

The Pelayos, Casino, Killing Them Softly, Ocean’s Thirteen, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Croupier – the best casino films will not let you get bored because they differ in dynamic plots. Even the online industry with free online pokies has borrowed the stories from the famous Bondiana films, making the casino subject very popular and high-demanded in all branches. Not surprisingly, scams of the century, stunning heists, massacres, and much more occur in the casino. Often the movie characters try to outsmart the casino by inventing an algorithm that allows them to win at the slots or roulette. Still, they do not know what they are getting into because the casino owners are not ordinary people (usually criminal masterminds). Comedy lovers will find casino funniness films because the casino is an excellent place for crime scenes and amusing situations. Usually, comedies start with the fact that the characters decide to go to the Mecca of the gaming industry – Vegas, to unwind. Still, the casino gets into a series of ridiculous stories. The blame, of course, lies in gambling and alcohol and representatives of the opposite sex (Hangover, Bridesmaids).

Gambling often turns out to be the central element of brilliant film scripts and outstanding literary works. In many cases, people form a distorted view of the gambling industry because of such works. But there are also many worthy examples in the film world that show the hidden sides of casinos and gambling and real-life stories about gambling that have changed many people’s lives.

1. The Gambler (1974)
The Gambler is a cult drama about gambling, which tells the story of the literature teacher Alex Freed, who is addicted to sports betting. Having picked up a few ideas from Dostoevsky’s novel The Gambler and under the influence of the gambling effect, Freed becomes obsessed with his desire to make money from gambling and soon loses a fortune. Having collected the last money, the former teacher goes to Las Vegas, wishing to get even, but they’re waiting for him with even more disappointments and strokes of fate. After a series of fortunate events, Freed still recovers his debt, but this adventure completely changes his life. In 2014, a remake of the original film starring Mark Wahlberg was released.

2. Molly’s Game (2017)
It is a more modern drama based on the autobiography of businesswoman Molly Bloom, who is accused of running illegal poker tournaments with very high stakes. Due to a severe injury, Bloom is forced to end her career in sports skiing, after which she accidentally finds herself working in an underground casino in Los Angeles. Quickly mastering all the intricacies of the gambling business, the heroine scandals with her management and soon opens her casino. The entrepreneur’s meteoric success payback is her conflicts with the mafia, physical violence, and the seizure of all her assets. In doing so, Bloom does not reveal the names of her enemies and pleads guilty in court.

3. Lucky You (2007)
In this film, the story of love and difficulties in family relationships is revealed through arguably the ultimate gambling game – poker. Talented gambler Huck Cheever wants to get to the prestigious poker tournament, but he needs to raise an insurmountable amount of money. Cheever decides to steal from his beloved and become mired in debt, but he still makes his way to the tournament, but the challenging game awaits him at the final table against his father. The strained family relationship is decided in the final hand, with Cheever making an unexpected decision.

4. 21 (2008)
Far from the most famous film starring Kevin Spacey tells the story of an attempt by several students and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to beat a casino. A former card player and now professor of higher mathematics and probability theory Micky Rosa seek bright students to help him defeat the biggest casinos in Las Vegas, time after time racking up killing at a blackjack table. At first, everything goes according to plan for the team, but soon serious scandals erupt between them, and the players set each other up. One of the key players in the plot turns out to be a casino observer who has known the main character for a long time and is after him.

5. The Cooler (2003)
In this film, the protagonist did not play against the casino but for it. The original title Cooler refers to an unlucky man who works in a casino and simply by his presence causes other players to lose. Having owed a large sum of money to one of the mafia clans that owns a casino in Las Vegas, “Cooler” Bernie Lootz slowly emerges from his role as a loser and tries to get out of the casino. A crime drama with romantic film and comedy elements tells the story of the unknown side of the gambling business at the end of the 20th century.

6. Croupier (1998)
It is another film about the underbelly of casinos, where the protagonist gets a job as a croupier and discovers the ins and outs of gambling. Continuing his career as a writer, croupier Jack Manfred observes other people’s losses and breaks all casino rules. Desiring to help one of the players, Manfred decides to rob the casino, which is thwarted at the last minute. Having lost everything, the croupier publishes a book about the story and continues to work in the casino. Jack soon discovers that his entire career in the job was part of a vast criminal plan his father devised.

7. Runner Runner (2013)
Runner Runner is a contemporary film with an online casino and online poker at the head of the plot. Student Richie Furst, played by Justin Timberlake, is forced to pay his way through Princeton University, and to do so, he decides to bet all his money on an online poker game. Losing, Furst notices something amiss in the operation of the online casino and the game statistics of his rival, to whom he has lost. The student sets out to find the owner of this casino, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck), hoping to get his money back. In the end, Richie Furst becomes Block’s accomplice and helps him commit a series of illegal frauds with the money.
It ends with Ivan and Richie setting each other up, but the viewer doesn’t realize who will come out the winner until the very end.

8. Mississippi Grind (2015)
Gambling addicted real estate agent accidentally meets a young gambler who again gives him hope of raising big money on his bets. Abandoning everything, the partners embark on a tourney tour across the US. Still, due to their addiction and excessive passion for gambling, quarrels constantly erupt, and their debts only grow. Hoping for the success of his younger associate, the protagonist loses everything and finds himself forced to flee from his enemies. After a string of bad luck, the players decide to bet the last amount they have won to settle their debts and help their families. And this plan proves to be on the verge of failing.

9. Ocean’s Trilogy (2001-2007)
Of course, in a selection of casino movies, you can’t do without three remakes of the 1960 film of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra. The plot of these pictures is as follows: several criminal elements, played by major Hollywood stars, get together to rob the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. A well-thought-out plan always gets foiled from the first minutes, which leaves the protagonists to improvise and figure out how to get out of tricky situations. There’s a lot of money involved, FBI agents, and constant checks on each player, who will try to set each other up.

10. Casino Royale (2006)
Perhaps the main casino movie that comes to mind for many moviegoers. Oddly enough, the plot of this picture is more about the British secret service’s fight against criminals rather than gambling. At the same time, the critical events of another James Bond saga unfold at a poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro. The main prize in this game is more than money: if he wins, Bond will get his main antagonist Le Chiffre to cooperate with MI6. But, things don’t go according to plan, and Le Chiffre’s bluff results in Bond losing, after which events unfold in classic action-movie style.