Hollywood Gambling

There was a video just recently posted to a popular video sharing site where the author did an analysis of some famous movie poker hands. That got me thinking about some of my favorite movie poker hands, and then about some of my favorite gambling movies in general. There have been some pretty bad poker scenes in movies, like in Casino Royale, and there have been some pretty bad poker and gambling movies overall. There have also been some really wonderful movies about gambling and I’m going to share my favorites.

I’m only including movies that are mainly about gambling, not movies that just have one or two scenes that are gambling related. Sorry Rain Man and Cool Hand Luke. Honorable mention goes to Lucky You starring the intrepid tournament director and recent Poker Hall of Fame nominee Matt Savage. I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard about it so much on his social media that if I didn’t mention it, I’m sure I’d receive a text. Here’s my short list in no particular order.

Rounders

The most obvious one for this audience, it’s hard to go more than one session at the poker table even 18 years later without hearing someone nearby quote it. It’s certainly the gambling movie that I’ve seen more times than any other.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, it follows the exploits of poker player turned law student, turned poker player Mike McDermott as he struggles with finding a balance between the game and academia.

Featuring some of the most realistic poker hands in movie history, admittedly not a very high bar, it is a fair look at the positives and negatives of life as a professional poker player. It takes a gritty, realistic look at what life as a poker player can be like. John Turturro’s Knish is my favorite character. The old-timer, the grinder, the guru and the tough love advocate all rolled into one, he’s a look into the professional poker players of the past and is incredibly well developed in very little screen time. Turturro turns in the best performance of the movie and does as much with a disgusted look at Worm as John Malkovich does with his over-the-top scenery chewing whenever he’s on screen.

The Cooler

William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, the guy at your local casino who is always begging for money and telling you his latest bad beat story, only his local casino has employed him to use some of that famous bad luck to their benefit. If someone is on a hot streak, they bring in Lootz to sit with them and, inevitably, their luck turns.

A slow-paced, initially dark movie about gambling and the idea of luck, it challenges the old adage of lucky at love, unlucky at cards, suggesting they are more positively correlated than negatively so. Macy, Maria Bello, and Alec Baldwin are the most memorable parts of this movie, turning in stellar performances with Baldwin being nominated for an Oscar.

The Hustler

Fast Eddie Felson, played by Paul Newman, decides to hit the road to challenge the best straight pool player at the time, Minnesota Fats. He can’t keep it together long enough with Fats, played by Jackie Gleason, coming back to beat Eddie and sending him into a downward spiral. Felson finds his way out of it and tries to find a way to triumph over his demons. This movie was nominated for nine academy awards, winning two for cinematography and art direction. Newman missed out on the Best Actor award, though he would win it 25 years later for playing the same character in The Color of Money.

Again, the performances in this movie are top notch and it’s a beautiful movie that has much deeper themes than the previous two in this list. A movie about love, loss, redemption and humility centered on the seedy world of pool hall gambling, it’s a must see.

Let It Ride

Three picks of drama and some relatively high cinema and now this. Not exactly a classic, Let It Ride stars Richard Dreyfuss as a gambling addict who has a very good day.

It’s silly, it’s crazy, and it holds a special place in my heart. Perhaps because I saw it when I was 11 or so and it’s stuck with me. Or perhaps it’s because it’s actually a pretty good movie, this makes my list because of my fond memories of it. It’s a mostly unremarkable comedy that isn’t particularly well reviewed or successful, but man do I like it. It’s fun to ride along with Dreyfuss’ Jay Trotter as his increasingly poor decisions continue to work out for him. Getting to live vicariously with Trotter on the greatest gambling day of his life is remarkably enjoyable. I haven’t seen this one in a while so I’m not sure if it holds up, but I can’t really think of any reasons why it wouldn’t.

I know there are some movies that readers will say are missing from my list and that’s okay. I still have some holes in my gambling movie repertoire, having not seen Owning Mahowny, The Gambler, or Hard Eight but these are my current favorites and I’d encourage you to check them out. ♠

Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NHGG