Posted on: June 8, 2021. Last updated on: July 31, 2023 
Undoubtedly, the best gambling movies made some of us superfans of online casinos Canada and gambling in general. The best part is that such movies offer much insight into real-money betting.
Many classic films may inspire you to try your hands at gambling. Movies of such genres teach us to take risks and be bold. They also show the gambling industry from the inside out. So, if you have recently caught the bug of gambling, then here are some suggested movies about gambling that will entertain you and give you a unique cinematic experience.
Why Players Like Gambling Films
The best movies for gambling provide an insightful glimpse into the realm of casinos, sports betting, and more.
Documentaries can offer knowledge on how a casino really operates, as well as strategies and legalities surrounding gambling. Watching these films is an enriching experience for those who gamble and those who don’t.
Apart from this, the best movies for gamblers are also very entertaining. They will transport you into the fast-paced realm of betting and bookmaking. A lot of these films are thrillers – so it is a fact that you’ll have an amazing experience. Once you’ve watched these movies, you will soon be making accounts on the top betting apps.
Top Gambling Movies
If you’re new to the gambling industry, you should take a peek at this list of the seven best gambling movies of all time.
Casino by Martin Scorsese
Casino is a 1995 Martin Scorsese masterpiece starring Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone among others. It offers a chilling look inside the daily operations of one of the biggest casino hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was adapted from the book “Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas” by Nicholas Pileggi.
De Niro plays the main character of “Ace” Rothstein, who is based on Frank Rosenthal. It is one of the top gambling movies of all time, and was critically acclaimed for its direction, production design and script. Sharon Stone’s performance was singled out by various awards, and she also managed to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Although the resort and casino featured in the film is fictional, it is based on a real-life casino that served as a front for money laundering by the Italian-American mafia. This is a film that offers one of the most in-depth looks at gambling in general, and is therefore, a must-watch for any gambler – irrespective of how experienced you are.
Ocean’s Eleven by Steven Soderbergh
If you ever look for the top movies about gambling, then this Steven Soderbergh classic is going to be high on the list. This is a comedy-heist film and stars an ensemble cast featuring some of the biggest names of Hollywood. It is based on the 1960 ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
The primary character of this film is Danny Ocean, a professional thief and hustler who teams up with ten others in an attempt to steal $150 million from the three main Las Vegas casinos. Ocean wants to steal the money from these casinos because they are owned by Terry Benedict, who is currently involved with Danny Ocean’s ex-wife Tess Ocean.
This is one of the most enjoyable and engaging gambling movies that you will ever see. The plot of the film is lovely, and the performances by the cast are just amazing. There is also a lot of dry humour involved in the film, which just elevates the watching experience. There’s lots of fun celebrity cameos in the film also.
21 by Robert Luketic
This is a 2008 film that was directed by Robert Luketic – starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne. It tells the true story of a group of students from MIT who cheated Vegas casinos out of millions of dollars by using sophisticated card counting techniques. It’s an adaptation of the book ‘Bringing Down the House’.
If you want to know the logic of gambling, then 21 is one of the best places to start. Blackjack may be a gambling game, but it can be beaten by a talented player. Sophisticated techniques like card counting, shuffling, etc. can be used to improve one’s odds at the game. This scheme started all the way back in 1979.
21 is one of the best movies for gambling tips as it provides a lot of information about what card counting really is. You can use the information from this movie while you’re betting online to make better bets and win a good bit of money. 21 is a movie that makes the online wagering experience a lot of fun.
High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story by A.W. Vidmar
This is a 2003 biographical film that tells the story of Stu Ungar, who is one of the world’s most prolific poker players. It was directed by A.W. Vidmar starred Michael Imperioli in the lead role as Ungar. Ungar is regarded as the greatest poker player of all time.
Stu Ungar was a highly successful poker and gin player who managed to win the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event twice. Till date, he is one of only two people to achieve this feat. Ungar is also the only person who won the Super Bowl of Poker three times. He was a very self-destructive and arrogant player.
By taking in some of the insights from Stu Ungar’s life, you can play poker at one of the legal online betting sites in Canada. Even if you don’t win the WSOP, you can still have a lot of fun and win a pretty decent amount of money. Ungar was also good at blackjack because of his near-perfect recall ability.
The Player: Secrets of a Las Vegas Whale by Trish Regan
This is a documentary film that serves as a guide to gambling for new and experienced bettors. It tells the story of Don Johnson who is one of the most prolific professional gamblers of the 21st century. In 2011, he won $15 million from the large Atlantic City casinos.
In that time period, the casinos were recovering from the financial crisis of 2008 and persuading their players to play for very high stakes. By negotiating several changes to a standard blackjack game, Johnson was able to receive a large mathematical advantage. He played for 12 hours at the Tropicana and managed to make more than $6 million in profits.
He also managed to defeat other casinos like Borgata and Caesars out of $4 and $5 million respectively – dealing a very heavy blow to the gambling industry in Atlantic City NJ. This doc is an in-depth look at Johnson’s playing strategy, where he is interviewed by well-known news host and journalist Trish Regan. It is a fine piece of cinema work.
Casino Royale by Martin Campbell
This movie is a must-watch if you are a fan of James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel written by Ian Fleming, which is one of the most popular Bond novels of all time. It’s also the first film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond – and the first Bond film since the reboot.
In this film, the mission of James Bond is to defeat terrorist financier Le Chiffre at a high stakes poker game in Montenegro. If you are a fan of poker, then this film is a must watch for you. It has a lot of gritty action scenes, which you’ll surely love. The poker game details are also extremely realistic.
Even though many people criticized the casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond, the film opened to universal acclaim. Craig’s performance and reinvention of James Bond drew a lot of praise. Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen and Judi Dench’s performances were also praised by critics and audiences alike. In fact, author Raymond Benson said that it was the “perfect Bond film”.
Now Place Your Bets by Dennis Tobler
Now Place Your Bets is a must-watch documentary for anyone who is interested in the world of casino and online sports betting. It is a chronicle of the dramatic rise in popularity of sports betting in the cities of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. It has now become a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.
Tobler conducted many interviews and has managed to procure a lot of inside information in his bid to shoot this film. The key events and exact milestones that ended up shaping the gambling industry in the US and Canada were chronicled nicely by the director. It is one of the most illuminating documentary films that you will ever see.
Many of the most well-known oddsmakers, gamblers, bookmakers, handicappers, etc. have been featured in this film. If you watch this documentary, you will gain a lot of insight and info about the prolific world of sports betting and gambling. Online gambling real money and online bets are also covered by Tobler and all of his interviewees.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_(1995_film)
- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009192-21
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean%27s_Eleven
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Roller:_The_Stu_Ungar_Story
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6795470/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Royale_(2006_film)
- https://vimeo.com/ondemand/nowplaceyourbets
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