What Are The Best Gambling Movies on Netflix?

Ben’s college professor, Mickey Rosa, persuades him and a group of other mathematically advanced students to join a special team. He has spent the magazine’s large cash advance on narcotics, which he indulges in liberally as he transforms his assignment into a search for the American Dream. Before they know it, the two friends are wrapped in a world of gamblers, dealers, druggies, and corrupt cops. A great buddy film—and Robert Altman’s most underrated classic—California Split stars Elliot Gould and George Segal, both performing incredible feats of stoic face-acting. Part of the fun lies in trying to figure out if Segal hit it big or lost thousands, because his worrying expression never changes.

Bullsh*t the Gameshow

You can put yourself in there amongst the action without taking any risks, and you get to see some of the most iconic casino games in the world in all their glory. According to many people who study movies and their psychological impact on us, casino-inspired movies are popular because they often celebrate the underdog. The thrill of watching someone defy the odds and beat the house is something that many movie-goers can easily resonate with. The professor, played by Kevin Spacey, will later use the team’s skills to count cards at blackjack tables in Las Vegas.

The Card Counter (

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.

• Additionally, they often evoke a range of emotions that elevate the viewing experience more than any other topics that are often depicted in movies.
• It’s easily one of the top casino movies you could watch, packed with action and thrills.
• You take a risk every time you buy a ticket at the theater, or queue up a movie from your couch.
• 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.
• The Great Recession of 2008 made many people take desperate measures to get money and Killing Them Softly punches you in the mouth with the harsh truth that robbing a mafia poker game isn’t the way to go.
• Just like many other good casino movies, Croupier emphasizes the psychological toll of juggling luck, chance, and avarice.
• His debt is eventually purchased by a match-fixing syndicate who see Slagter as an asset and push him to fix games in a low-tier division of the event.

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And that’s hardly scratching the surface of what makes Croupier so great. Directed by Robert Altman, this gambling saga tells the tale of its two primary characters, Bill Denny and Charlie Waters — played by George Segal and Elliot Gould, respectively. A friendship between the two blossoms after a fellow gambler gets angry at them for beating him and taking their money.

Exploring Character Archetypes of Poker Players in Movies

As Jack becomes increasingly embroiled in the world of high-stakes gambling, he finds himself drawn into a web of deceit, danger, and betrayal. If you have not watched some of these yet, roll under your blanket and get ready for a thrilling ride full of gambling, betting, and drama. Blackjack remains one of the few “skill” games at the casino and one where given the right conditions and the ability to fly under the radar of the watching staff a skilled team can still beat the house. But as you will find out from the film this doesn’t come without some serious consequences. The shady world of professional tipsters is pretty well laid bare here, but it also conveys the tension, adrenaline rush and mentally bruising nature of sports betting with real heart.

• Then you’ve come to the right place; we’ve got action heroes, martial arts, exploitation and movies generally with a huge body count.
• A loaded cast led by Kevin Spacey shows the team’s journey from winning hundreds of thousands at Vegas casinos to its untimely downfall.
• 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.
• If you want a light-hearted knockabout with a guys getting dealt quads over quads this isn’t the film for you, but if you want a film about gambling warts and all then check it out.
• The film goes from casino to casino when the World Series of Poker becomes a beacon for the main characters, making poker the poison of the protagonist’s choice.

‘Ballad of a Small Player’ is just the latest Macao casino movie. Here are 10 more

It featured The Godfather star, James Caan, and directed by Karel Reisz. The most tragic story in My Hero Academia comes to a close in one of the most spectacular episodes of the series in years. From the Safdie Brothers, Uncut Gems follows fast-talking jeweler Howard as he tries to juggle family obligations, his mistress, angry collectors, and mounting debts on top of his insatiable thirst for gambling.

HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (

• Accompanied by his friend, the Samoan lawyer Dr. Gonzo, Hunter Thompson is headed to Las Vegas with a writing assignment to cover a motocross event for a magazine.
• The performers share a tangible chemistry with the filmmaker, and that dynamic pops out through the screen of every featured frame.
• Steven Soderbergh’s use of Las Vegas also turns the city into a character in its own right, creating film magic at its best.
• The professor, played by Kevin Spacey, will later use the team’s skills to count cards at blackjack tables in Las Vegas.
• Watching the smartest people do the dumbest things could be enough to scare anyone away from gambling because winning is always enough until you want more.
• Filmmakers from Spike Lee to Martin Scorsese understand this all-in mindset of gambling and infuse it into their awesome films.
• Starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn, this comedy-drama was directed by American filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and it was released by A24.

There is, of course, the obligatory love story sub-plot and it loses its way a bit towards the end but it’s well worth two hours of your time. Forget the suspense and drama that most gambling movies on Netflix seem to focus so heavily on. Win It All is a refreshing change with the flick being a comedy more so than the gutting plot of Uncut Gems or even the tantalizing seductive action-packed plot of Casino Royale. No, Win It All is a comedy at its heart, and although some of the situations do get serious quickly, they have a happy resolution – and it may just be the type of gambling movie you want to see for the nonce. The main character of Axel’s weakness for gambling ranges from betting on basketball to hot shot casino games, showing that the protagonist is entrenched too deep in his addiction to think logically.

Molly’s Game (

Fun to watch and an Oscar darling, “The Sting” is about playing to win. Another great documentary series on Netflix, Untold takes a good hard look at some of the biggest scandals in sports – from match-fixing to doping and performance-enhancing substances. The episode we have in mind has to do with the story of Tim Donaghy, an NBA referee who was caught red-handed betting on his own games, and seriously putting the integrity of the game at risk. The movie follows the story of a young player, Jermaine Slagter, who ends up addicted to gambling and raking in steady gambling debts.

The 20 Greatest Gambling Movies Ever Made

James Toback based the screenplay on his own gambling habits, which might explain why he’s been hit with so many allegations for problematic behavior. Sean Connery lays on the charm at the Craps table in Diamonds Are Forever. But if we’re going to include a Bond film (and how could we not?), it’s gotta be Casino Royale, which features a poker game in which Bond goes head to head with a terrifying villain, Le Chiffre. He doesn’t even seem interested in casinos, which is weird since the movie is called Casino .

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However, the story takes a turn for the unexpected as Ben begins to doubt his ability to be successful at blackjack. Roll the dice and grab the popcorn because we’re taking a trip down memory lane to revisit some of the greatest casino movies of the 90s. Whether you’re a fan of thrilling heists, high-stakes poker games, or glamorous Las Vegas settings, these films will inspire and entertain as you indulge in your favorite Gamstop casinos.

Win it All

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.

Hard Eight (

The series focuses on the Shelby family who built their empire through gambling. Although Peaky Blinders would not be the first TV show or movie to show gambling in all its complicated glory, it has been lauded as one of the best. With Netflix’s extensive catalog, cinephiles have access to an array of riveting casino-themed films right at their fingertips. The reality is probably not as glamorous, but the reason why these films have been selected is also because of their deep psychological backdrops.

• Some people craved a unique atmosphere of watching movies about casinos.
• There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
• Gould commands the screen with cocaine-fast charisma, while Robert Altman’s casual realism sucks you into every frame, casino, and horse race.
• Between infidelity and deceit, his aspirations as a writer and his involvement in a robbery, his life as a croupier is way more complicated than he’d anticipated.
• The Cooler is a well-constructed feature with strong performers and exquisite photography.
• As in other best casino films about gambling, Maverick explores Bret Maverick, a gambler requiring money to join a poker tournament.

The Cincinnati Kid is a gambling story in all it’s glory and I won’t even tell you who wins. The poker is almost an aside to what is more of a meditation on the role of luck in life and what gambling for a living can do to a man’s soul. But aside from anything else it’s just hands-down one of the all-time great films with two of the all-time great actors in lead roles. The film features the career-best work by Elisabeth Shue and Cage while director Mike Figgis’ artistic direction maintains it realistic and stoic style. Moreover, Leaving Las Vegas is a dark and joyful film that brings viewers to dreamy realms no other film about alcoholism has gone to before. Ocean’s Eleven is the first movie in the Ocean trilogy and a remake of the 1960 movie of the same name.

賭城風雲系列 From Vegas to Macao trilogy (2014-

The movie depicts a real casino, and its plot is partly based on true events. The key to avoiding gambling addiction is to exercise self-control and avoid gambling when you can. This is less a tale of pool and more a tale of how we deal with losses, both financial and personal.

Some of those movies even won awards for the way they represented the stories of different gamblers, their struggles, and their obsession. Although “Ocean’s Eleven” isn’t technically a gambling movie, it earns its spot on the list because it really feels like a gambling movie. That is to say, everything about this movie drips with elegance and glamour, coupled with high stakes, bluffing, and gambling-esque tactics. Jumping into the movie is like jumping into a casino, full of tension and excitement.

ATLANTIC CITY (

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 PokerNews Best Casino Films for the Holidays: 2023 List

The result is California Split (1974), a wonderful character study that delves deep into the dangers of gambling addiction. There’s no denying this entry as a classic of the gambling movie ilk, and although it hasn’t aged as well as some of its older counterparts, it will forever be remembered for its tangible tone and rock-solid narrative. And those accolades are more indicative of the film’s actual quality than its acclaim from critics or number of tickets sold in theaters. William H. Macy stars as the titular character Bernie Lootz — and as a cooler in a casino, he acts as bad luck for the other gamblers, placed there by the casino themselves as a sort of negative presence.

Starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn, this comedy-drama was directed by American filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and it was released by A24. It’s almost a road film of sorts, as Mendelsohn’s character — a gambling addict named Gerry — befriends Gosling’s character Curtis, and deems him a good luck charm. Thus, he recruits Curtis on a cross-country road trip to New Orleans to partake in a high-stakes poker game. Next on our casino movies list is an evergreen classic called “The Sting,” which brings together Paul Newman and Robert Redford in a brilliant story about elaborate cons and cunning wit, all centered around a dangerous betting plot. Set against the backdrop of a complex horse race gambling operation, the film ingeniously weaves a tale of deception and redemption. If you’re looking for a movie that captures the essence of the casino, Rain Man is definitely the one for you.

Although Vegas isn’t the main character in the movie, it emerges as a very essential supporting one that moves the plot along. Swingers follows Mike Peters (masterfully played by Jon Favreau), a struggling comedian who moved to Los Angeles in search of stardom and is still angry over Michelle, his girlfriend of six years, leaving him six months earlier. In an effort to lift Mike out of his despair, his friend tries to reintegrate him into society.

Paul Newman won his only Oscar for The Color of Money, revisiting the character of Fast Eddie Felson, whom he played in 1961’s The Hustler. “He had to stop gambling,” Scorsese said in Conversations With Scorsese. This isn’t one of Scorsese’s best movies — and as we said earlier, The Hustler is the better overall film — but it’s solid and despairing. Like with Scorsese’s mobsters, these are people who are magnetic but not ones you’d want to spend time with in real life.

High on suspense and complete with all the casino trappings—tumbling chips, stylish tuxedos, and martinis (shaken, not stirred)—this Bond film illustrates just how high the stakes can get at the casino table. Casino follows Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro), a Jewish American gambling expert handicapper who is asked by the Chicago Outfit to oversee the day-to-day casino and hotel operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. Other significant characters include Nicky Santoro (Pesci), a “made man” and friend of Sam, and Ginger McKenna (Stone), a streetwise chip hustler whom Sam marries and has a daughter with. The film details Sam’s operation of the casino, the difficulties he confronts in his job, the Mafia’s involvement with the casino, and the gradual breakdown of his relationships and standing, as Las Vegas changes over the years. To effectively deliver the action scenes, the core cast members were thoroughly trained on unit tactics by retired US Navy SEALs. Uncut Gems follows the story of Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a jeweller gambling addict who tries to retrieve a pricey gem he had bought to cover his debts.

Casino Royale should never be ignored as the whole movie is one casino scene after the other and all of them entertaining. Our on-site 13-screen Regal Cinema complex offers the perfect setting for family afternoons or casual date nights. With unbeatable matinee pricing, fan-favorite “My Generation” days, and daily showings of all the latest blockbusters, catching a flick during your Sunset Station stay is a must. With a lively lobby that features pool tables, an indoor/outdoor balcony, and a full bar—and personalized seat-side food-and-beverage service in each theatre—enjoy a luxury boutique theatre experience like no other. In dire straits, Gerry pairs up with the charismatic Curtis on a road trip across the American South to win back what they have lost in their poker gambling in Mississippi Grind.

Gambling movies are so remarkably tense for viewers because the stakes of casino games are already inherently high. Perhaps it’s not surprising then that filmmakers have returned to the well as inspiration for thrillers, dramas, and action-packed adventures over the years. Chow would return to Macao again in 2023’s One More Chance in which he played against type by taking on the role of a deadbeat gambler.

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.

It also included the Strip and its numerous eye-catching features, which are nonetheless magnificent despite being viewed through the warped eyes of heavily drugged individuals. Five years after Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese returned to the subject of organised crime with this virtuosic chronicle of Las Vegas’s formative years. Starring Robert De Niro and an Oscar®-nominated Sharon Stone, Casino is a technically-dazzling epic from one of America’s greatest living filmmakers. The year 2007 was not exactly easy for the NBA, and the Donaghy scandal made it even less so. Even Donaghy appears in the series to tell his story and admits that he acted foolishly, costing him a lot over the years.

And they’re all portrayed by talented thespians, most of whom shine particularly bright within comedic roles — Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Heather Graham, for example. Of course, it also features Bradley Cooper, which helped establish him as a juggernaut of the industry. We are not liable for any issues or disruptions users may encounter when accessing the linked casino websites.

• Rumoured to have cost an eye watering US$70 million, this 16-minute film was directed by legendary director Martin Scorsese and stars Hollywood A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, as well as Brad Pitt in a cameo role.
• Because they succeed in their exceptionally complex mission and deliver an unexpected twist in the end, this movie deserves its spot on the list of the best casino movies in the history of cinema.
• It portrays Las Vegas and its casinos in the most exaggerated way possible.
• Like with Scorsese’s mobsters, these are people who are magnetic but not ones you’d want to spend time with in real life.

Another pool-based good gambling film about casinos is The Color of Money. 1986 American drama directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Helen Shaver & Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. It is a sequel to the 1961 movie ‘The Hustler’ with a 7/10 rating on IMDb and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Following Fast, Eddie Felson, a former pool hustler, decides to admit a pupil & return after retirement. He encounters Vincent Lauria, a talented & green player, proposing a partnership. Casino depicts the epic story of the traditional casino gambling culture in Las Vegas.

Sitting in-between those two periods is The Big Sleep, a charming, sleazy noir about a private eye who flirts with Lauren Bacall and caresses her gambling debts. The highest-grossing film of a year that also included Die Hard, Coming to America, and Who Framed https://true-fortune.us/ Roger Rabbit– Rain Man  coasts off its feel-good charms, particularly the blackjack scene between Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. But he does have some gems, like this 1999 cult classic about a croupier who spins roulette tables by night, writes novels by day.