5 Of The Best: Films featuring gambling scenes

Gambling is popular with many people across the globe. As reported by Netbet casino, the gambling market size may reach $92.9 billion by 2023, up from $66.7 in 2020, going by the current trends. Over the years, movies have dabbled with the gaming industry, high stakes gambling involving poker, slots, blackjack, and many other casino games popping up in big Hollywood blockbusters and popular indies. Here, we take a look at five of the best.

Swingers

Filmmaker Doug Liman has two movies hitting screens in the coming weeks, Lockdown and the sci-fi movie Chaos Walking. Here’s a look back at one of his very first movies, the superb indie film Swingers. Shot in both Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and involving some of the big casinos in Sin City, Swingers was the launchpad for actors Vince Vaughn and one Jon Favreau, who would also see lots of success as a filmmaker, directing the likes of The Lion King and creating the hugely popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian. If you haven’t seen this classic ‘90s hit, then do make sure you rectify that as soon as possible.

Rounders

Here’s another movie boasting some top Hollywood talent, including Matt Damon, Edward Norton, and John Malkovich. Rounders is set in the world of the underground poker scene and tells the story of two friends who must work together on the circuit to pay off a massive debt. The film features a mainly male cast, but statistics from a 2016 study show that 2.9% of problem gamblers are, in fact, women.

Molly’s Game

We stick with poker and the underground high-stakes scene with this true story starring Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba which was released back in 2017. Based on true events, the film tells the story of Molly Bloom, a former mogul skier who was busted after building a massive underground poker empire involving players from the world of Hollywood, sportesment and rich businessmen. The movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to good reviews, particularly shining a light on Chastain in the lead role.

Rain Man

We go back a few decades for our next movie, the Oscar-winning drama Rain Man starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. Cruise and Hoffman play brothers, Charlie and Raymond, in this road movie which sees the pair head across the country after Hoffman’s character is left the majority of their father’s fortune in his will. The two eventually end up in Las Vegas where a pivotal scene is featured with Raymond seemingly counting cards at the blackjack table. It’s a great film and worthy of all of its plaudits.

The Cooler

The Cooler is not as well known as some of the aforementioned flicks but it is worth checking out if you get the chance. William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, a man who is employed by a casino as he seems to be one of the unluckiest men in the world. Whenever he is involved in a game, all of those around him lose big. However, his jinx seems to lift when he falls for Mario Bello’s Natalie, much to the bemusement of his boss, played by Alec Baldwin.