The Ocean's trilogy of movies are great, packed with action, superb cinematography and top-notch actors and actresses, these movies will keep you wanting more. In Ocean's 13 there is a standout casino robbery scene involving a highly-technical heist. A Casino is a great place and material for making a movie.With shiny the neon lights of Vegas, ambition to get rich,excitement of gambling, sexy women in night dresses. A perfect atmosphere for a movie set. Check out 10 Most Popular Casino Movies of all time 10 – Showgirls (1995). The movie is based on a true story about one of the biggest one-man bank frauds in history of Canada and it is really an interesting watch, especially for those with a more intimate knowledge of gambling. Casino (1995) You can't make a list of casino movies without the movie actually called Casino. Well, perhaps you could, if it wasn't. 2 days ago This movie was a re-make from the original 1967 film that had the same name. James Bond fans and lovers of casino action will appreciate this movie as it is packed with action and entertainment. With class, risk, and wealth radiating as main themes, this classic casino movie has remained a top choice for fans of films with a casino theme. Mar 15, 2018 Las Vegas and its casinos have always been an inspiration for filmmakers looking to inject excitement and intrigue into their movies. One of the most famous movies with a Las Vegas backdrop is 1960's ‘Ocean's Eleven', which sees the members of the original ‘Rat Pack' – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis – planning to rob five of the top casinos in Vegas in just one night.
When you need a break between playing amazing casino games but want to enjoy something casino-related, what better way to pass the time than watching a movie? Here's our list of top casino movies, including intense dramas, more light-hearted films, and scandalous documentaries.
Our list is organized primarily by IMDB scores, but don't be afraid to check out some of the 'lower' rated films on our list — you may have more luck with them than some of the higher scoring films.
1 – Casino (1995)
IMDB Score: 8.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 80%
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Yet another classic from director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Departed), Casino is the story of handicapper and Casino executive Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (De Niro), his encounters with the mob, including friend Nicky Santoro (Pesci), and his love for hustler Ginger McKenna (Stone). We follow Sam as he tries to manage his relationships, the demands of the mob, and how even though he reached the top, it all came crashing down around him.
This movie was based on the real-life story of Frank Rosenthal, who operated four of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas in the 70s: the Stardust, Fremont, Marino, and Hacienda. His story was told in the book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas and was written by Nicholas Pileggi.
Martin Scorsese's intimate epic about money, sex, and brute force is a grandly conceived study of what happens to Goodfellas from the Mean Streets when they outstrip their wildest dreams and achieve the pinnacle of wealth and power — Todd McCarthy, Variety
2 – Croupier (1998)
IMDB Score:7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 96%
Starring: Clive Owen, Nick Reding, Nicholas Ball
Directed by: Mike Hodges
Jack Manfred (Owen), an aspiring writer, begins working as a croupier in a casino to pay the bills, but soon finds himself drawn into a world of money, sex, and danger. He breaks the rules after he agrees to help an out of luck gambler pull off an inside job, but will his bets pay off, or will he be unable to escape the choices he's made?
For once, here is a British film that is both tough and intelligent, and so well-researched that it will probably tell you more about how casinos work than had it been a documentary — George Perry, BBC.com
3 – Ocean's 11 (2001)
IMDB Score: 7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 82%
Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Danny Ocean (Clooney) is out on parole when he decides to pull off one large heist. Okay, technically it's three large heists, but they're all at the same time. And these aren't just any heists: he wants to hit three of the biggest casinos in Vegas. In order to get it done and get out, he's going to need a team of thieves and con-artists who are crazy enough to pull it off.
Soderbergh's crisp, funny heist flick makes out like a bandit. George Clooney and Elliott Gould steal the show – Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
4 – Hard Eight (1996)
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IMDB Score: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating:80%
Starring: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Many of us know John C. Reilly for his more serious roles, but in Hard Eight, Reilly plays John, a simple man who needs money to pay for his mother's funeral. While he sits at a diner, wondering what to do, Sydney (Hall), a gambler and hustler notices the young man. John explains his situation, and Sydney offers to teach him everything he knows. Soon John's doing pretty well for himself, but things go awry after he meets Clementine (Paltrow).
This first feature by writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson is impressive for its lean and unblemished storytelling, but even more so for its performances — Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
5 – California Split (1974)
IMDB Score:7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 88%
Starring: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin
Directed by: Robert Altman
Casino gratuit a telecharger. Does 711 accept paypal. When Bill Denny (Segal) meets Charlie Waters (Gould), the two become quick friends over their shared passion: gambling. However, things get a bit out of control when Bill soon finds himself deep in debt and has only one way to get out: sell what little he has and bet it all on a high stakes poker game in Reno.
A fascinating, vivid movie, not quite comparable to any other movie that I can immediately think of. Nor is it easily categorized — Vincent Canby, New York Times
6 – Owning Mahowny (2003)
IMDB Score: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, John Hurt
Directed by:Richard Kwietniowski
This film is based on the true story of Brian Molony, a Toronto bank employee who became addicted to gambling and stole millions of dollars from the bank he worked at to fund his addiction. The film follows the same basic storyline, with Dan Mahowny (Hoffman), going about his regular life working at a bank. To all those who know him, he's a nice enough guy who is quiet but reliable. Little do they know about Dan's out of control habit that will eventually destroy his life.
Whether or not you think of gambling as a vice, you can bet on Owning Mahowny — Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
7 – The Cooler (2003)
IMDB Score: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77% Cheese games online.
History of magic owl. Starring: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin
Directed by:Wayne Kramer
The Cooler is a story about Bernie Lootz (Macy), a guy so unlucky that his bad luck spreads to those around him. That's why he works at a casino, where his only job is to make sure that gamblers on a hot streak suddenly go cold. It's a simple life for Bernie, until he meets and falls in love with cocktail waitress Natalie (Bello). He soon finds his bad luck and his ability as a 'cooler' is fading, which can only end badly for Bernie in the long run.
A B-movie in the best sense: Unpretentious. Raffish. Just trashy enough to be six kinds of fun without making you hate yourself in the morning — Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
8 – 21 (2008)
IMDB Score:6.8/10
Free slotmachines com. Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 35%
Starring:Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey
Directed by:Robert Luketic
21 is based on the exploits of the MIT Blackjack Team, a true story in which students from MIT managed to 'beat' blackjack and get rich in the process. In the film, Ben Campbell (Sturgess), is drawn into an unusual situation thanks to his math professor, Micky Rosa (Spacey). Rosa has decided to teach his students how to count cards, and for Ben, who doesn't have the money to finish his studies, it could be the ticket he needs to complete his studies at MIT.
The real story is told by Ben Mezrich in the book Bringing Down the House, however, much of the book is believed to be exaggerated. Even though the film itself got less than stellar reviews from critics, audiences enjoyed it and it became a box office hit.
Although it's definitely a fictionalization of a true story, they get the essence of this insanely crazy double life that these kids led as they were breaking the bank in Vegas — Richard Roeper, Expert & Roeper.
9 – Casino Jack and the United States of Money (2010)
IMDB Score: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 82%
Starring: Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, William Branner
Directed by: Alex Gibney
Unlike the other eight films on this list, this is a documentary about one of the greatest con artists, and truly corrupt people to ever find themselves connected to the American government — Jack Abramoff. It details how Jack, a Washington lobbyist, led one of the greatest corruption scandals and how it eventually led to him being convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion. The title of the film alludes to the role Jack had in the looting of the tribal treasury.
The narrative trots all over the globe, including stops for labor exploitation in the Marianas Islands, dealings with Russian mobsters, ripping off Indian tribes in the desert southwest, and jetting to Scotland to golf with impressionable politicians — Ian Buckwalter, NPR
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So here it is – RightCasino's list of the 10 greatest gambling movies ever made!
If you don't find your favourite film here, the chances are it's because the movie in question isn't really about gambling (see both Martin Scorsese's Casino and Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas). And of course, with only 10 places to play with, some cracking movies just came up short. Among those pictures deserving an honourable mention are Mississippi Grind, The Pick-Up Artist and Bob La Flambeur.
As for the top 10 proper, we begin with…
10) Hard Eight (1996)
Before striking gold in 1997 with Boogie Nights, Paul Thomas Anderson made Hard Eight (aka Sydney), a pared-back drama about a pro gambler past his prime.
Just how a first-time director managed to assemble this all-star cast – Samuel L Jackson, John C Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, the much missed Philip Seymour Hoffman – speaks volumes for the strength of Anderson's script.
Hard Eight is an indie gem that combines black humour with a knowing study of high-stakes casino gambling. And if it has an ace up its sleeve, it's veteran actor Philip Baker Hall as Sydney, the rounder who's seen everything but still can't resist the lure of the tables.
9) Owning Mahowny (2003)
This semi-fictional tale of bank manager turned criminal gambler is a glimmering star vehicle for Oscar-winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
The title character's gradual descent into the dark recesses of addiction stands as a grave warning to us all that never feels preachy or condemnatory. Meanwhile, director Richard Kwietniowski (Love And Death On Long Island) employs sparse direction to downplay any sense of glamour in favour of a very human story of vice overcoming a man's soul. No, you won't leave this movie elated but it'll stick with you forever.
8) Croupier (1998)
Between Croupier and Rounders, 1998 was a bloody good year for gambling movies.
Clive Owen is Jack Manfred, the titular croupier. In actual fact, he's a would-be writer who's forced to fall back on his chip-handling chops when his literary career fails to take off. From the other side of the table, Jack sees what gambling does not only to the punters but to the people dealing the cards. Such is its corrupting force that it's not long before Jack's playing a hand dominated by deceit, adultery and murder.
Less a public service announcement than a compelling examination of human motivations, Croupier is that safest of movie bets – a picture that pays off every time.
7) The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Not until 2006's Casino Royale would poker be so engagingly portrayed on film as it is in The Cincinatti Kid. Director Norman Jewison perfectly captures the tense excitement of seeing the pot stack after the flop and of devising the best play while keeping an eye out for tells…
‘King of Cool' Steve McQueen absolutely kills it as poker prodigy Eric ‘The Kid' Stoner and is at his best during the film's iconic ‘last hand scene'.
Jewison later dismissed the film as an ‘ugly duckling' and went on to enjoy greater success with movies such as Fiddler On The Roof, Rollerball, The Thomas Crown Affair (also with McQueen) and The Hurricane. Nevertheless, this would represent many a director's career high.
6) California Split (1974)
Ask a card player what their favourite gambling movie is and they probably won't say The Cincinnati Kid; rather they'll say it's California Split, a film so steeped in the 1970s, you have to wear flares to watch it.
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Directed by Robert Altman (M*A*S*H, The Player) and starring George Segal and Elliott Gould, the picture rings true with poker fans, it's because it doesn't over-glamourise the game. Nor, for the most part, does it feature people staking ridiculous sums of cash.
No, California Split's a film about the grind of the pro gamblers' life. Watch it and you'll understand why those that ‘play' poker are looked down on by the few for whom the deck is a tool of the trade.
5) Casino Royale (2006)
007's stunning return to form is simultaneously the best entry in the entire James Bond franchise and one of the finest action movies ever made. However, central to Casino Royale is the utterly awesome high-stakes poker tournament, in which Daniel Craig's Bond fights to bankrupt terrorist banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen).
If you'd bet that it was possible to make 40 minutes of cinematic poker edge-of-your-seat thrilling, we'd have taken you at 100/1 odds and called you a chump. Fortunately, nobody did, so we don't have to fork over my pension fund. Lucky escape.
4) The Music Of Chance (1993)
Adapted from Paul Auster's novel , The Music Of Chance tells the story of Jim Nashe (Mandy Patinkin), a former fireman down to his last $20,000. That's when he runs into Jack Pozzi (James Spader), a gambler who has a plan to take apart two eccentric millionaires (Charles Durning and Joel Grey) over a few hands of poker.
Philip Haas's film has things to say about gambling and good fortune that will be familiar to both casual gamblers and hard-bitten grinders alike. For example, at a key moment in the poker game, Nashe – convinced Pozzi has everything in hand – goes off to have a nap. By the time he wakes up, everything's changed and Nashe and Pozzi are about to lose a lot more than their $20,000.
Did the one event lead to the other? Of course not, but Pozzi thinks it did and it's the intensity of his conviction reveals plenty about chance and how we interpret it. By the same measure, the film's ending shows how one of the worst things that can happen in everyday life can be handy, depending on your point of view.
3) Rounders (1998)
Ever had the urge to watch a young, fresh-faced Matt Damon being terrorised by a mental Russian with an Oreo obsession and a thing for tracksuits? Well, good news! Red Rock West director John Dahl went and cranked out your new favourite movie way back in 1998.
Seriously though, Rounders is a thing of grim beauty. The narrative is as classic as they come: it's the Rocky story, with a plucky upstart forced to bounce back after getting his backside handed to him. However, it's the performances that make this flick, particularly Edward Norton as the hugely irritating Worm and John Malkovich's brilliant turn as deranged gangster Teddy KGB.
2) The Hustler (1961)
Directed by Robert Rosen, The Hustler's jam-packed with gambling archetypes. There's Paul Newman as ‘Fast' Eddie Felsen, the wunderkind who's his own worst enemy, there's George C. Scott's crooked agent, and there's Piper Laurie as the love interest who discovers that there's no room for distraction in a grinder's life.
All the woes of the gambler's life are also on show. Loneliness, heartbreak, boredom, borderline alcoholism – a less glamorous depiction of gaming it's hard to imagine. And yet, so cool does Newman look while he dances around the pool table, it's not hard to imagine that a lot of young men saw the film, left the cinema and headed straight down the nearest snooker hall.
The Hustler is, at heart, a story about the difference between the price and the value of something. Aztec casino vegas. Bare that in mind the next time you play a few frames. Oh, and remember – winner stays on and no masse shots.
1) The Gambler (1974)
Based on Dostoyevsky's novel, The Gambler stars James Caan as a literature professor who shares the screenwriter James Toback‘s obsessions with gambling. So great is wagering's grip the academic that he borrows money from his girl, his mother and the worst kind of loan sharks to feed his addiction.
'It's not easy to make people care about a guy who steals from his mother to pay gambling debts,' said Cann. But care we do, thanks to Toback's semi-autobiographscal scipt and the actor making complete sense of our ‘hero', his fractured logic's reveleaed in lines like 'I'm not going to lose [the money], I'm going to gamble it'.
The leading man also clearly grasps Toback's belief about gambling being mainly about the exercising of free will. To paraphrase Dostoyevsky, man is alone is being able to insist that two and two equals five despite all evidence to the contrary. No, it's not wisdom but it says a lot about human nature, and that's what elevates The Gambler to the top of the pile. Not that you'd want to let Cann's character know – he'd only go and blow the prize money on a basketball game.
Gambling movies on Netflix
It seems impossible these days to talk about movies without discussing their availability on Netflix. Unfortunately for film connoisseurs it's easier to find the 2014 remake of The Gamblers (starring Mark Wahlberg) on the streamer service than the 1974 classic.
Casino Royale, arguably one of the best Bond films ever, is of course available for streaming as is the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman's Owning Mahowny.
Croupier is available on the American, Canadian and Brazilian versions of Netflix, so British viewers will have to turn to the good old fashioned DVD to enjoy this gambling movie.
Talking of DVDs, while some of the older movies might not be available for live streaming, you can always opt for a Netflix DVD rental. Sure, it might only be one step up from wandering into Blockbusters but it's better than nothing!
Originally published: 7/4/2014
Updated: 10/05/2017