top 3 gambling movies

[bdk3clash]

California Split/The Gambler/The Hustler/The Color of Money/The Sting/Cincinnati Kid.

More recently, Owning Mahowny/The Croupier.

I also like Rounders but it's not great or anything, and certainly not as good as anything on my list.

[bdk3clash]

I really think "California Split" is easily the best movie ever made about poker. It just came out on DVD. I think it's a must-watch for any serious poker player, along with "The Gambler."

[Bob L]

yes I meant poolhall junkies and white men can't jump is a clasiic -i forgot that one.

[usmfan]

My nominee: "A Big Hand for the Little Lady"

[CWsports]

yes, that was a good one as well

[MisterNatural]

I can't believe no one mentioned Casino.

Then there's Shade. Not the best movie, but all of the card tricks are real. It'll make you look a little more carefully at that new guy shuffling the deck in your home game. More so than Rounders.
The Cooler was pretty good.
Also, Hard Eight was Paul Thomas Anderson's 1st film, though no one has ever heard of it.

[CWsports]

[ QUOTE ]
I can't believe no one mentioned Casino.

Then there's Shade. Not the best movie, but all of the card tricks are real. It'll make you look a little more carefully at that new guy shuffling the deck in your home game. More so than Rounders.
The Cooler was pretty good.
Also, Hard Eight was Paul Thomas Anderson's 1st film, though no one has ever heard of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see any reason to go out and rent Casino considering the USA channel shows it a couple dozen times a year.

[Fraubump]

House of Games is a fun David Mamet movie about con games (like all of his movies): one of the cons involves poker.

Glad to hear California Split is finally available commecially: it wasn't for years and I never managed to catch it on tv. Saw it in theatres when I was about 8 years-old and it made a big impression on me (especially the seen where they are eating fruit loops or something with the kids of some whores who have taken them home or something). Have always wanted to see it again.

Another childhood gambling movie, which I've never seen again was Five Card Stud, starring Robert Mitchum and Dean Martin. On a family trip, our car broke down and to keep my brother and I amused we were taken to this movie. Have no idea whether it's a good movie and don't think it has significant poker content, but I liked it as a kid.

I seem to recall a scene in The Cheap Detective where Peter Falk is tailing someone in a California card room, sits at a table, gets quads, wins a big pot, then takes off to keep following his man, while rest of the table gets upset that he is hitting and running.

Of the movies mentioned above Croupier is the best newish film.

Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels also revolves around a poker con. The movie is pretty nuts and fairly violent/frenetic: not my cup of tea exactly, but pretty good.

[cero_z]

In no particular order:

Salesman , a Documentary by the Maysles Bros.--Not about gambling per se, but the dialogue is channeling Mamet, and the life of these Bible hawkers is almost perfectly analogous to the life of a poker pro. Along these same lines, Comedian --Documentary about Seinfeld's 2nd stand-up career.

Rounders -- To you haters out there, give me a [censored] break. The film is beautifully written, acted, shot, and directed. John Dahl is the man. Malkovich is the man. No poker movie has come close to recreating contemporary poker as well as this film does. The only knock I think is legitimate is that it over-emphasizes cheating.

California Split --This is a close 2nd in terms of poker movies.

The Gambler --Starring James Caan, not Kenny Rogers. James Toback wrote it; I forget who directed it. Very good look at the irrational compulsive gambler.

The Cincinatti Kid : Good only because of McQueen's awesome performance. The entire film is pretty much absurd, from the Kid's psychic ability to know which card a bumpkin has pulled out of a deck at random, to the ridiculous way the final hand is played by 2 supposed WCP's.

[cero_z]

Hi bdk,

[ QUOTE ]
I also like Rounders but it's not great or anything, and certainly not as good as anything on my list.

[/ QUOTE ]

If your list contains the Kenny Rogers version of The Gambler, you've gotta know when to walk away. Also, Croupier was so well reviewed, and blah, blah, blah, but what is good about this movie? It's a by-the-numbers heist film with ludicrous twist upon ludicrous twist, right? The scene where he stacks the deck impossibly with 3 or 4 quick strips will make any poker player laugh his/her ass off, I think.

Good call re: Owning Mahoney--too bad it's so little-known.