Best Casino Movies Ranked From Best To Worst

If you’re a fan of casino games, then you can relate to the thrills of gambling scenes in the movies. These scenes are full of glamor, drama, and action.

From scenes like heists to complex relationships, glamor nights, personal journeys, and much more.

There are many great gambling moments that relate to the experience of playing casino online games, such as Poker, Hold’em Showdowns, Roulette, and more. But if you’re wondering which casino movies rank the best, leaving an indelible place in the minds of anyone, then you’ve come to the right place. 

Below we rank the top five casino movies from the best to the worst.

The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler is a pool-themed, drama, romantic movie about two main characters Fast Eddie Felon and Minnesota Fats. In the film, Minnesota Fats is a legendary pool player, while Eddie is a small-time pool gambler.

The movie begins in a small town at a pool room where Eddie, accompanied by his partner Charlie, pretends to be a salesman to convince onlookers that Eddie is a drunk, luring them to bet on Eddie to lose a trick shot. But he wins it and takes their money.

Fueled by the excitement and dream to win big in pool major leagues, Eddie and Charles went to New York to challenge legendary player Fats. But this time around, they lost a significant amount. Furious Eddie wanted a rematch, but he had no more funds. 

Further into the movie, Eddie gets helped by Bert, a pro poker player, in return for a share in his win. The movie ended with Eddie defeating Fats severely.

The Cooler (2003)

The Cooler (2003)

The Cooler is a Las Vegas gambling crime/drama movie about the character Bernie Lootz. Bernie is an interesting character with a gambling problem. He’s also gifted with the ability to bring bad luck to any gambler by merely being in the vicinity. 

Plagued by his gambling addictions, he owned a lot of casinos. 

But the Shangri-La Casino manager Shelly, knowing about Bernie’s gift, agreed to pay off his debt in exchange for Bernie to serve as the cooler in the casino. Agreeing to this proposition, Bernie fell in love with a waitress at the casino Natalie, who impacted him, thus changing his bad luck. 

Unhappy by this, Shelly became a threat to their relationship. The movie ended with Bernie having to gamble one more time in a game of crap against Shelly to make enough money to pay him and get away free with Natalie.

Ocean Eleven (2001)

Ocean Eleven (2001)

Ocean Eleven is an American casino heist movie with a mix of drama and comedy. The storyline is about Danny Ocean, who plans to steal over $150 million from Benedict Terry.

The movie begins with Danny promising parole officers he will be a responsible citizen. But not up to a day after his release, Danny will visit his former colleague Rusty Ryan in Los Angeles to pitch his next great heist.

The plan was to hit Terry’s casinos simultaneously, knowing the casinos had to hold enough cash to pay players on a big boxing game night. Danny orchestrated a sophisticated casino heist with eleven men.

On the day of the heist, Danny gets himself locked up in a room to get suspecting Terry off their back so the team can carry out the heist. However, Danny escaped from the room, joined his team, seized the vault, and threatened to blow it up.

In the chaos, Terry called the SWAT team, which caused a shootout, giving Danny and the team a window to escape.

21 (2008)

21 (2008)

21 is also a casino heist drama of the captivating history of six MIT students. The movie’s storyline is about the students, led by their professor Micky Rosa storming Las Vegas casinos counting cards in blackjack, winning hundreds of thousands.

The movie focuses on a student named Ben Campell, one of the six MIT students, and how he was drawn into the thrilling world of gambling by his professor following how he proved his ability to solve complex variable mathematics problems.

Micky trained all six students about the world of high-stakes gambling in Las Vegas using complex mathematics and tricks. But the newfound lifestyle soon became a nightmare for all six students, including the professor, when the team lost $200,000 following Ben not following the rules the team had always used to win.

At the movie’s end, Ben gets expelled from school but holds a positive mindset playing blackjack which eventually pays off.

Rounders (1998)

Rounders (1998)

Rounder is a classic movie about poker player Mike McDermott, a law student who finds himself at a crossroads trying to help a friend pay off a loan shark by keeping his promise to his girlfriend to quit gambling. Mike had previously lost $30,000 of his bankroll in a single hand because he was overconfident.

Unwilling to let anyone down, Mike chose to help his friend and started gambling again to raise the fund. His girlfriend Jo found out and called things off between them. 

But determined to help his friend Lester Worm Murphy the duo went on a gambling spree to raise funds. The movie ended with Mike challenging KGB. The kingpin Worms is indebted to a Texas Hold’em game with heads up and no limit, and he ended up winning fair and square with over $60,000 to pay off his friend’s loan.

Conclusion

Watching any of these movies is guaranteed to give you chills even if you’ve watched them before. These movies have interesting storylines, some of which won awards. If you’re a casino enthusiast, check them out today.

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