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This article was originally going to be an article on the best gambling movies on Netflix, but now that Disney has taken back its movies, and HBO has taken back its TV shows and movies, and since Netflix has only dedicated its content to left-wing viewers, it is easy to see why they have already lost over 200K subscribers since last year, this article will cover the ever expanding world of streaming services.
Casino
Back in the good old days when Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci ruled the world (before he ruined his hard-man image with Lethal Weapon 3 and 4), we had a movie called Casino. Somehow, this disjointed mess of scenes turned into compelling viewing that was hard to look away from. It is only a shame that the movie has a sad ending because it was crying out for a feel good ending. Though, it is fun seeing how some of the top USA casinos were founded.
Shade
A little known gambling movie with Stallone as the star, this movie somehow manages to pull twist after twist with effortless ease. And, the weirdest thing is that each twist is highly telegraphed, but the movie plays like such a demonstration of a cliche that you almost don’t give it enough credit. It is like the dumb kid in class who it turns out is actually a genius who doesn’t know the answer to the teacher’s question because he is too busy graffiti his notebook with complex equations.
Casino Royale
Perhaps the best Bond movie ever made, especially if you consider how bad they progressively got after Daniel Craig’s 2006 debut. This movie encapsulates everything you want out of a gambling movie, and the Bond brand of franchise movie is exactly what it needs to elevate it from just another card game movie.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
A little bit of a bait and switch, it starts out as a brilliant gambling movie and then turns into a heist movie, then a gambling movie again, and then a revenge movie, ending with a comedic note. This movie helped make the legendary Jason Statham an international star, and the first third of the movie is a pretty competent gambling movie.
Rain Man
The movie isn’t even about gambling, but the gambling scenes are the only parts that people remember. Some people think that this movie did damage to the autistic community, but in essence, it drew some very positive attention towards them.
Hollywood or Bust
We miss the old Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin era of movies. For every great movie they made, they also made seven forgettable ones, but their dynamic on screen has never been recaptured. Is Hollywood or Bust a gambling movie? Well consider this, every single plot pot hinges in some way on gambling, be it the original Dean Martin debt, or the raffle at the beginning, the lucky feelings in the casino, to the fact that Jerry couldn’t have struck a deal with Anita in the end if he hadn’t won Mr. Bascomb in a competition. Also, this movie features the best poem ever written.
I eat Poochie Pup dog food
Out of the can
It makes me eat my food
Just like a man
My coat is so glossy
Shiny and bright
My master can find me
In the middle of the night
What About the Ones We Missed
There are many gambling movies that are either not on streaming services or have rotated off of streaming services and may not be back for years. On the other hand, there are also too many gambling movies to mention in just one argument.
However, one of the oddest things is that if you think about it, there are not that many movies that focus fully on gambling. Even some of the movies in this list only dedicate a portion of their runtime to the gambling element, and then move on to other things. Also, there are many movies that seem like they are about gambling until you think about it. For example, the Ocean’s movies are heist movies, there are very few elements in those movies that rely on somebody placing a bet.