If you love placing some bets in regular or in best live online casinos, you will probably also enjoy watching some of the best movies about gambling too. These films give us a great insight into high-stakes card games, some of the tactics used by the most successful players, and a lot more.
Rounders – 1988
This is considered by many people to be one of the best movies about poker ever released. Matt Damon is a huge poker fan in real life, but here he goes up against John Malkovich in a tense game where the stakes are as high as could be.
Damon’s character dreams of playing in the World Series of Poker. He stars alongside Edward Norton, as a pair of friends who play in underground Texas hold ‘em games. They end up racing against time to try and pay off a large debt, but the Russian mobster played by Malkovich stands in their way.
The movie was reasonably well-received when it came out and earned $8.5 million on its opening weekend, but its reputation has grown since then as online poker has enjoyed a surge in popularity.
Ocean’s Eleven – 1960 and 2001
1960 saw the release of the original Ocean’s Eleven, with Frank Sinatra playing Danny Ocean in the world of glitzy Las Vegas casinos. In 2001, an updated version starring George Clooney in the title role was released, with a similar storyline. Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts were among the other stars to take part.
The 21st-century version was more commercially successful and also better received by critics, grossing a total of $450 million across the planet. It has a stylish, fast-paced, and wise-cracking approach that has made it a favorite among movie fans, and it even sneaked onto the Empire list of the top 500 films, in 500th place.
The success of 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven led to some follow-ups, 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve and 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen. The Ocean’s Eight spin-offs came out in 2018 and featured a light-hearted approach and an all-female gang including Sandra Bullock, Rihanna, and Cate Blanchett. Ocean’s Eleven was added to Netflix in 2019.
The Gambler – 1974 and 2014
Mark Wahlberg takes the lead role in a movie that takes its inspiration from a 1974 film of the same. Wahlberg plays a literature professor, Jim, who owes a lot of money to an underground gambling group and has just a week to pay it off.
The stakes get higher when Jim is forced to try and persuade a basketball player in his class to fix the result of a game. Having eased his debt in this way, Jim puts all his hopes on a single spin at roulette, in which he wins the rest of the money he needs to pay off everything else that he owes.
1974 original starring James Caan was more critically acclaimed than the recent remake and remains one of the best-loved gambling movies of all time.
Casino Royale – 1967 and 2006
This isn’t the only time that James Bond has put down a few chips in a glamorous casino, but 2006’s Casino Royale is arguably his finest gambling adventure. 1967 original is a comedy with David Niven as 007 and was widely criticized for its lack of structure.
In 2006, Daniel Craig made his first appearance as Bond in a far slicker version of Casino Royale. He takes on a terrorist financier called Le Chiffre in a poker game where the stakes keep on rising. The movie quickly became a favorite among Bond fans, with Craig’s performance helping it to become the highest-grossing 007 films until then.
While the Casino Royale book was inspired by the Casino Estoril in Portugal, many Indian gamblers now choose to play online at home. The asiabet site confirms that Indians can bank in rupees using various banking methods at sites like Bet365, 22Bet, and Betway. Even more, there is information on how withdrawing and depositing work on listed sites, if in case you have any concerns. Players new to the game will find guides on betting, so this is all around a good source of information.
Molly’s Game – 2017
Released in 2017, this is a biographical look at the life of Molly Bloom, who runs a huge underground poker business that attracts some of the biggest stars in Hollywood to her tables. It received good reviews, with Jessica Chastain’s performance as Molly getting particularly high praise.
Molly’s Game pulled in $59 million around the world and was nominated for several prestigious awards. The film is based on a book that goes even further. It even names some of the celebrities who played in her games, but the movie steers clear of naming any names.
If you want to feel the tension of a big-money game, any of these movies will instantly transport you to the casinos and poker tables.