Top 10 Must-Watch Casino Movies of the 90s: A Nostalgic Journey To Inspire You While Playing in Non-Gamstop Casinos

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and featuring an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts, “Ocean’s Eleven” is a stylish and slick heist film set in the glamorous casinos of Las Vegas. Clooney stars as Danny Ocean, a charismatic ex-con who recruits a team of skilled criminals https://true-fortune.us/ to pull off an ambitious robbery of three of the biggest casinos in Vegas. Gambling is the setting rather than the content of this story and it’s all the better for it with the casino giving the film its heart and its edge while the engaging story of those who try and make money from it plays out.

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Set in the 1970s and 80s, “Casino” follows the rise and fall of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a professional gambler overseeing the Tangiers Casino. As Ace navigates the treacherous world of organized crime and political corruption, tensions rise, and loyalties are tested, culminating in a violent and tragic climax. But it’s not a story that ends well for Jimmy and this fascinating documentary shows how far he rose and how fast he fell. It’s well worth seeking it out on YouTube, if nothing else to finally understand a stream of TV and film references you never really understood before. At its heart it’s a film about being human and how we deal with success and failure and what those two things do to our soul and to our wallet. No spoilers, as it’s a cracking tale, but if you come of out this the other side without asking yourself a couple of questions you’re a better gambler than most.

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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.

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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.

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• With Matt Damon and John Malkovich in one movie, you know the film will be worth your time.
• We meet Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, both deeply embedded in the mafia world, making fortunes in casinos before it all goes wrong in a spiral of power, love, greed, drugs, and violence.
• Daniel Craig has been voted many times as the best Bond actor, as he makes the character more humane, and at the same time very distant and out of reach.
• The film is an uncompromising look into how much gambling is truly a disease that can destroy a gambler’s life and the lives of nearly anyone who touches him.
• 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.
• Based around the life of Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal who managed several casinos for the Mafia back in the 1970’s and 80’s.

His obsession with danger and the excitement that gambling brings leaves him prey to all sorts of misfortunes. Thus, grab some popcorn, get comfy on your couch, and get ready to have a blast watching these exciting casino movies on Netflix. It’s like a big treasure chest full of entertainment waiting for you to get in and have a great time.

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This classic dramedy often tops the list of the best casino movies, offering a stellar performance from Elliot Gould, who plays a casual gambler. He and his seasoned friend, played by George Segal, head on a gambling streak to win big. They have their ups and downs as they take on the betting world in this Robert Altman film. Based on a true story and one of the MGM casino movies, “21” portrays the thrilling account of a group of MIT students who become experts in blackjack card counting and subsequently win millions in Las Vegas.

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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. Some people craved a unique atmosphere of watching movies about casinos. Some had to rewatch their most favorite film about casinos, such as poker movies. As one of the best casino movies out there, “Casino” got several nominations for Oscars and Golden Globes. It earned a 79% rating from critics and a whopping 93% from audience members on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Philip Baker Hall plays surly gambling pro Sydney; Gweneth Paltrow plays waitress/prostitute Clementine; John C. Reilly plays gullible loser John Finnegan; Samuel L Jackson plays slick-talking, no-nonsense casino security personnel Jimmy. For a little over 90 minutes, Hard Eight Sydney takes John under his gambling wing after helping his homeless protege get enough money for his mother’s funeral. After her career was derailed by a life-changing injury to her spine, Molly was then put in charge of an underground poker game within the Viper Room in Los Angeles.

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The movie was released in October 2010, and it stars Kevin Spacey, Pepper Barry, and Lovitz John. The biographical movie combines comedy and crime, where the well-known American actor Kevin Spacey embodies the role of (Jack Abramoff) the prominent politician and an influential member of the republican party. Jack achieved quick success by plotting many intrigues and conspiracies before he was exposed and removed from his position.

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We should all consider ourselves lucky that these tales didn’t stay in Vegas, as Sin City has produced some of the best and most underrated movies to ever grace the silver screen. Gambling can encompass poker and other card games, of course, but also sports betting, the lottery, and anything else of that ilk you could muster. Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie “Hard Eight” follows the story of a seasoned gambler who takes a young man under his wing, introducing him to the casino scene. The mentorship slowly evolves into a complex relationship as they navigate the unpredictable world of gambling. “Rounders” sucks viewers into the world of underground poker, where the rush of the bluff and the allure of the win reign supreme. Matt Damon gives a memorable performance as a talented poker player who, despite his attempt to turn his life around, returns to poker to help a friend pay off his debts.

It had a similar narrative to Scorsese’s other Mafia movies like Mean Streets (1973) and Goodfellas (1990), but wasn’t quite as revered as those two were upon release. Its performances were, though, particularly from Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone — the latter of whom was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, and won in the same category at the Golden Globes. Everyone in Casino performed to a career-defining degree, and it will forever go down as one of Scorsese’s bests. As one of the more well-known entries of the James Bond film franchise, Casino Royale (2006) stands out much as the most action-packed project ever made about gambling. Of course, it’s also about British secret intelligence operatives and the undercover workings thereof. And Uncut Gems (2019) as a whole made decent money in theaters — it was actually production company A24’s highest-grossing film at the time of release — on top of garnering great impressions from critics.

The vibrancy of emotion and improvisation seems to be unsurpassed in Altman’s production as well. In the purest sense this isn’t a gambling film at all, but it contains more lessons about how to win at sports betting than all all the other films on this list combined. Moneyball is the mostly-true tale of the Oakland A’s rise from zeroes to heroes in Major League Baseball in the US thanks to a radical shift in how they recruited their players.

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.

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The most thrilling part begins when Tom Cruise decides to play Blackjack to settle his debts. And what materializes from its slick style and intelligent script is a career-defining performance from English actor Clive Owen that dives deep into the intricate nature of the human condition. Its compelling plot becomes a character study of sorts, and Jack Manfred should by dint of that go down as the single most compelling protagonist to ever be featured in a gambling movie.

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• But Mississippi Grind eventually ends up being Hollywood’s archetypal tragicomic casino movie.
• Another option among the best casino films about gambling of all time is an action-adventure James Bond movie, Casino Royale.
• He encounters Vincent Lauria, a talented & green player, proposing a partnership.
• After he became the laureate of loneliness in Casablanca and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Humphrey Bogart turned on the charm in films like Sabrina and The African Queen.
• What’s worth noting off the bat about this project is its utilization of interior monologues to emulate the neo-noir or detective style of film that screenwriter Paul Mayersburg and director Mike Hodges drew inspiration from.

Which makes sense, as lead actors Paul Newman and Robert Redford had previously worked with director George Roy Hill on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). The performers share a tangible chemistry with the filmmaker, and that dynamic pops out through the screen of every featured frame. Its story of two professional grifters who team up to con a mob boss and avenge the death of their mutual friend.

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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.

Among his list of creditors is his own brother-in-law, but that’s the least of his worries as he’s also in bed with Arno, a loan shark and a mafiosi-type who is very keen to get his money back by whatever means necessary. Uncut Gems is perhaps one of the most gutting dramas on the big screen which goes to show how successful people, through bad judgment calls, can end up in bad situations caused by gambling. So far as gambling movies on Netflix go, this one is a fair warning to everyone who hopes to turn gambling into a full-time job and highlights the dangers that the activity invites. Poker may soon finance Le Chiffre’s entire criminal organization if he is to win a high-stakes poker game hosted at the Casino Royale in Monte Carlo.

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.

With the owner coming to retrieve the ticket, Tepper realizes that he needs to win the game not just for the sake of the owner, but also for the chance to get his Finder’s Fee for securing the ticket and the lottery ticket. In fact, the better a student is at gambling (or the more they have won at the very least) the higher up the food chain they rank. Everything is going well at the academy until the day Yumeko Jabami, the main character transfers to the academy. The girl is ignored and put down by her peers but that quickly ends when everyone realizes that she is the best gambler they have seen. Craig’s character, the charismatic daredevil double-oh-seven, appears in the movie to play a game of cat and mouse against Le Chiffre, portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, who is a criminal genius with a soft spot for poker.

Let’s delve into these noteworthy mentions that deserve their moment in the spotlight. We are a free service that gives you access to casino reviews, a wide array of bonuses, gambling guides & blog posts. We have financial deals with the operators we present, but that does not affect the results of our reviews. As long as you follow the expert’s advice, you will be having a healthy and safe gambling experience. CasinoAlpha’s leadership in the industry is meant to make a change for a better future. In the Army of the Dead, you get to see Las Vegas in a different light, in a thrilling setting just as dangerous as a game of Russian Roulette.

Though the movie comes down to a roulette spin, most of the movie is spent at the table, where the skilled Bennett plays some exceptional blackjack strategy. There are a number of casino movies out there, many of them set in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Though gambling acts as something of a backdrop in some, there are other movies where a specific game is at the center of the story. Mel Gibson plays a poker expert in the Old West, who’s making his way to a renowned tournament to prove his mettle. Along the way, he encounters many obstacles as he attempts to earn enough money to pay the tournament entry fee.

Now, Garrett has no idea that he will be safekeeping a bag of money, but upon discovery, his gambling addiction kicks in. He smiles to himself, sweats profusely, and decides that fortune has truly smiled upon him. Jealousy takes over but Jabami has a presence of character that helps her overcome the pettiness of schoolmates and continually excel at gambling. The girl continues to defeat the school’s best gamblers and she soon takes on the staff and anyone who has money or ambition to challenge her. Netflix is a cultural phenomenon no matter where you stand on password sharing or cheesy documentaries about Tyson Fury, a heavyweight boxer with a distinct charisma. Today, we brush this aside and take a good hard look at the best gambling movies on Netflix, bringing you some of the untold stories that you may want to explore.

Casino is one of Scorcese’s epic American tragedies exposing the human core of the gambling illusion to unparalleled effect in terms of scope and story. Rothstein comparing running a casino to “selling people dreams for cash” is one of the most concise ways of encapsulating all that gambling is to the world. 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. Brad Pitt and the late James Gandolfini briefly team up as Jackie and Mickey, two hitmen tasked with exacting some street justice on three men who perpetrated the robbery. Pitt ends up getting the jobs done himself like an angel of death befallen anyone silly enough to gamble their lives away by messing with the mafia.

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.

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.

Because Raymond has the ability to count cards extremely quickly and to remember which have been played, the two end up in Las Vegas. Charlie takes Raymond to the blackjack table in hopes his card-counting gift will help Charlie win. Cruise is a spoiled businessman, Charlie Babbitt, who is perplexed and annoyed by his father’s will.

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 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.

Understanding the machinations of Shaw and Kelly’s plan doesn’t matter — it’s just a delight to watch the characters (and director George Roy Hill) turn The Sting into one big, electric narrative sport. There was a time that Mel Gibson was considered such a light and lively leading man that a big-budget studio movie could coast on his charm as a card shark and con man. But the film still has its pleasures, not least of which is Gibson’s pal Jodie Foster, who has a blast playing the sort of damsel-in-distress female sidekick role she’d otherwise spent most of her career avoiding. Made in the heat of the now-mercifully-cooled World Series of Poker craze, the late Curtis Hanson put an immediate halt to his terrific L.A.

The Card Counter is a revenge thriller about an ex-military interrogator turned gambler who is haunted by his past. One of James Caan’s best movies, The Gambler focuses on a literature professor with a gambling vice who must avoid loan sharks when they begin to circle. A perennial down-on-his-luck guy works as a gambling jinx, known as a cooler, in an old school casino until his luck changes for the better when he becomes smitten with a cocktail waitress, much to his cutthroat boss’s frustration. The script for the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie is nearly done, according to creator Steven Knight, and fans couldn’t be more excited to see the Shelby boys back on screen.