10 Best Casino Movies
Since gambling is on of the most favorite activities, there are a lot of awesome movies dedicated to poker and gambling with the best actors ever.
We represent you a small selection of the top 10 casino films of all time you should definitely see. Though, some of them may seem too banal, another will reveal the most interesting gambling secrets, cheats and most widely used gambling skills. Everyone's invited!
#1 Rounders, 1996
A cool card player lost thirty thousand of his money in poker, which is something he never done, because he had a gift of reading people's reactions during the card games. His name is Mike.
Mike (Matt Damon) studies the law at days, and plays poker in a place that resembles little of a fashionable casino at nights somewhere in Texas. He wants not just to make some money, but also pursuits a goal of winning the world poker championship. Thinking with his ambitions instead of thinking with his clever head, Mike loses all his money which is expected, and quits poker promising his bride not to touch the cards ever again since Mike lost to Russian mobsters and a man named Benny-the-KGB which is obviously a dangerous twist.
However, all the promises are broken once Worm (Edward Norton) who is Mike's school friend is released from the prison after nine months. He owes 15 grants to local bullies. Mike owes him a lot. But the Worm's stupid haircut and a smug grin is something that hints nothing good's gonna come out of it at the end anyway.
Despite the fact, Mike feels nothing except the duty to help out a friend and try to win his debt back alongside.
#2 The Cincinnati Kid, 1965
Likely the best movie you can watch is a motion picture about poker. Despite the fact that the main heroes of this movie play not Omaha
or Hold'em, which are nowadays the most favorite poker variations, but one of the Stud variations where one card for each shut is closed, and the staying four are open for exchange, the movie has much to teach the players.
The Cincinnati Kid is the best player of stud poker in New Orleans. Once, he discovers that a well known Lancy Howard who is the best card player came in town, from the card dealer named Shooter. Child chooses to battle him to win, he figures out how to concur on the game, puts his bet, and the game starts. The last episode of the game in the film's end can truly be called the most tensed, unexpected and surprising dramatic gambling scene of all times!
That is the case when the term "a cult film" is the best one to replace all the other explanations. The film is dedicated to the game of poker from the first till the last minute, and narrates about Cincinnati (Steve McQueen), who lives with poker only. It's senseless to describe the game, it is necessary to watch it. That's what you are going to do if you pick this movie for watching.
No doubt that such motion pictures can be classified as out of fashion, however, Cincinnati Kid motion picture will be timeless in any case. The film is an absolute necessity for all the poker players.
#3 Casino Royal, 2006
As a result of the investigation carried out by MI6, Bond got a plan of action: it is necessary to go to Montenegro and get to the poker tournament, held in the casino "Royal", and to expose the terrorists, as usual. Bond has not yet become a legend of the world of espionage, and his enemies are often underestimated. But it is a case of a casino "Royal" that eventually allows him to take a place of honor in the ranks of British intelligence.
Thus, a MI6 agent should be able to not only run fast and shoot well, but also to play poker like hell. As a warm-up Bond wins his Aston Martin in the Bahamas, alongside the gorgeous girl, and then is sent to a poker tournament at the casino "Royal" to beat the criminal banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) there.
Despite the fact, that the main movie motive is not gambling, the brightest moments and the skillful gambling cadres belong to the "Royal" scene. That's how a profession to defend the homeland comes out with British, not without a venturesome flavor, indeed.
#4 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, 1998
In the first film by Guy Ritchie, Eddie and his three friends decided to earn extra money on the Eddie's ability to play poker well. However, guys forget to take into their consideration that the criminal authorities do not do anything for free.
Harry Longsdale is a criminal and the person who organizes the game. Having found out about the talent of Eddie, Longsdale decided to reassure and take the help of his henchman Barry and eliminate the possibility of winning an opponent fairly. As a result, Eddie loses the game and owes a large sum of money to Harry. This is not the only scam of Longsdale: soon he makes Barry in charge of stealing the valuable copy of the vintage firearms, which will soon be put up for auction. The trouble is that Barry hires losers for the job, and now not only Eddie is in danger. Eddie's neighbor, the leader of another gang, meanwhile, is planning his crime. A lot has been put on the game, indeed.
At the end of the game, which, by the way, takes place in the center of a boxing ring, they should return half a million pounds. What comes further is a war of all against all, and a lot of money is on stake.
#5 Twenty-one, 2008
A card game of 21 or blackjack is a combination of unique mathematical calculations, excellent acting talents, and a cold-blooded performance. A gambler is a person of a special mold. If you want to find out how to rob the best Vegas casinos and stay in the shade, this movie is what you need. Based on a real story of MIT blackjack team, the movie is a real blackjack guideline.
Besides, all gamblers who practice card counting can watch how it works in casinos. So, what would you do to make money on your skill? That's right, make a team of people who will do everything for you. This is the purpose Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), a gifted professor that teaches advanced mathematics at MIT, where almost very student is a genius.
Meanwhile, trying to earn some money and save for Harvard, Ben (Jim Sturgess), whose head works better than any calculator, enters a card counting team of Mr. Rosa of 4 more people.
Young people decide to make a scam of the century and to ruin the largest casinos in the country winning out a huge sum. They decide to take Vegas! Five of them. But the game captures them entirely and here the troubles come.
#6 Hangover, 2009
This is a movie for those who love comedies and prefer stupid situations and awkward moments while watching episodes about casinos.
A group of friends dreamed to arrange an unforgettable bachelor party in Las Vegas. But now they really need to remember exactly what happened. Whose child is sitting in a closet of a hotel room? Why was a tiger there in a bathroom? Why does one of them have no teeth? And, most importantly, what happened to the groom ?!
The fact that the guys get up at a party, does not go to any comparison with what they would have done sober. Now they have to step by step restore the events of last night, each time - a new clue.
It was the fault of silly Alan (Zach Galifianakis), that his friend and the groom disappeared on the eve of the wedding. That's only the beginning after which a lot of much more interesting and happen.
Anyway, Alan was reading a book about the blackjack called 'Guide to Blackjack’ not in vain during their journey to the wedding. He managed to easily pick about 80,000$ in one night, to save his poor old friend later on. For such a case, he even replaced the stained T-shirt with a decent suit, combed his hair and now became a gentleman despite the fact that he had always been a complete mess, dumb ass and a stupid asshole. Well, games of skill never come out of fashion.
#7 Ocean's Eleven, 2001
Danny Ocean has just came out of prison. He is a professional thief. It would seem that the last thing Danny wants is to be back in prison, but the situation dwells on in such a way that the very next day after his release, he plans a new vengeance and daring robbery.
The fact is that Tess, Danny's ex-wife, now is in a relationship with Terry Benedict who is his enemy. Terry has a network of casinos, and Danny decides to win them out. Ocean and the company rob the best Vegas casinos, teach the local celebrities playing poker in the movie and do the job the best. And although, the first rule of poker states to leave emotions at the door, it is obvious that Ocean is a professional himself and appears just in time to offer Rusty really big score.
So, he decides to rob the store where all the money from the three casinos is brought and proceeded IT's common that it's impossible to crack the sophisticated security system alone and leave without getting caught, so Danny assembles a team of the best experts in the business. There is a card sharpie, a tiny acrobat, a computer genius, a master of destruction, and a first-class hustler among them and others. And all of them are excellent actors who decided to make the most daring robbery in the history of Las Vegas at all costs.
#8 Sin City 2, 2014
Though, the episode featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not mentioned deliberately because there is no sense of his presence in the film, the episode narrates about a card gamer and the game of poker.
No wonder, poker is the game of all gentlemen, but it is now played in a place of Sin City, in a room behind the bar for a table of Senator Roark, who is unrelated to the gentlemen not less than Marv (Mickey Rourke).
Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a beginner who can understand how to beat the senator, but cannot figure out why it is not advised to do and what the outcome for him will actually be. Rather, understand something it understands, but not going to stop. However, we understand that he understands what he does but never going to stop. Sadly enough but he finished bad because it's impossible to win out Roarke, the decision is clearly not the best form the very beginning.
If you like the tensed poker tournaments you gonna love the episode for both the tensed atmosphere and the most popular poker game itself.
#9 The Gambler, 2014
A professor of literature and a writer-loser Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) leads a double life: he teaches literature by day and squander all the money in playing card at nights. He lost all his money in an underground casino. Now he's playing with borrowed money, and borrowed from the bandits, of course, who do not hide the fact that if he can not pay off, they will knock out money from his wealthy relatives or something like that.
Meanwhile, Jim flirts with a student Amy (Brie Larson), who seems a promising writer to him. They lead a frank discussion about the life of Lamar (Anthony Kelly), who is a brilliant university basketball player who goes to Bennett's classes just to get a grade. Looking closely to the borrower, the bandits begin to blackmail him by threatening his students, and the man for the first time is seriously thinking about how to pay off the debts.
By the way, the money has long gone, and the problems and debts accumulated quietly. So we have to figure out what he is actually worth.The movie has an obvious moral about the harmful consequences of unseasoned gambling, etc.
#10 The Sting, 1973
In 1930 the two inveterate swindlers tried to take revenge for the death of the leader of the Mafia and their mutual friend with one of the most unexpected frauds in the history of cinema, which also ended in a surprising and an amusing way.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford crank the scam with unscrupulous boss of the Chicago mob Lonnegan, and we get the classics of the genre from all over America owed aesthetics of the 30s. To plan a success, they need to beat the tricksters of Lonnegana in poker. It's not an easy task, because the bandit is playing only with his own card deck and on his own territory only- in the train. In such a way he easily and fats gets rid of the witnesses, if there are any.
#11 Wild Card, 2014
The main character of the movie is a former military man Nick Escalate who works in Las Vegas as a security guard. He has a dream to earn a lump sum of money and save them in order to leave Las Vegas forever and settle in some warm place in Venice.
But Nick agrees to help a prostitute Holly who is constantly abused by the son of a large gangster. All that stuff alongside his casino loss of the huge money delays the departure to Venice which makes Nick do something with the situation. The episode with the casino is the brightest and one of the most exciting among all the gambling episodes from the movies that also teach a lesson that it's better to stop than to lose everything.
