Cinema is all about capturing the world, all the excitement, the drama, the emotions of the real world projected there on the silver screen. And one of the topics that always seems to be creatively interpreted by screenwriters (besides the legal and medical systems of the world) is that of the casino. There’s usually a sense of melodrama and winning hands always end up being something like a Royal Flush at the final moment – it’s very rare for a movie to actually get it right with a realistic hand being dealt and a fair summation of what it’s really like in the casino.
But there are a few movies that really sum up the glitz, the glamour and the grit of how a casino operates. Or rather operated since at least one of these harkens back to a bygone era. Here are the three films that best captured what it’s like to play in the casino. And if you’re thinking of playing in the casino, why not hit up: https://casino.betfair.com/c/live-blackjack.
Casino (1995)
Clue’s in the name really. Casino is an excellent gangster movie, based on the true story of Frank Rosenthal, it deals with the mafia’s control over Vegas Casinos in 1973 and shows the gritty history of the casino industry before the criminal element was expunged. Focusing on Sam “Ace” Rothstein, based on Rosenthal, it deals with the ups and downs of his friendship with Nicky Santoro, a mafia enforcer who was his friend from back home as they move to Las Vegas and make their fortune managing a casino. As it IS based on a real story, a number of the events and their details on how to run a casino are pretty accurate – in particular, Sam’s explanation of how they catch cheaters and the importance of being an alert pit-boss ring true even today. Though thankfully, no-one is taken into a back room any more.
Casino Royale (2006)
From Vegas to Monte Carlo, we get to focus on 007s poker confrontation with the enigmatic Le Chiffre as they square-off in a high-stakes poker game. While the movie is hardly offering a realistic game in terms of stakes, the play is remarkably appropriate with none of the big players making a mistake – both Le Chiffre and Bond stake with strong hands and only lose as, against the odds, their opponent has a better one. They even take care to indicate that “weeping blood” is a bit melodramatic for a tell.
21 (2008)
Yet again based on a true story and reminding everyone why blackjack is so beloved for advantage players. 21 tells the tale of the MIT Blackjack team who, through card counting and covert signals, manage to make themselves a massive profit by exploiting a natural loophole in the game. This results in a certain amount of drama, all based on the exploits of the real-life Jeff Ma and his fellows. The interesting thing is that the movie does a really great job of explaining why the casinos began to implement harsher blackjack rules in order to preserve their house edge.
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What do you think? Have you seen a better casino movie? Let us know in the comments!
