The excitement of casino play translates nicely to the big screen and many blockbuster movies have used popular games as part of their plot. However, it’s a little known fact that some of those scenes are based on real life events.
Fiction fills in the narrative at times, but the following are among the casino-based movies that harness the theme of a true story.
Molly’s Game
Released in 2017, this production tells the tale of Molly Bloom and an underground poker den which featured a host of top celebrities. Molly’s Game picks up the story of Bloom, a former top class skier who sought out an alternative career after a serious injury. High profile players who would avoid any of the best live casino settings for various reasons were subsequently drawn to her poker room.
Bloom’s poker houses began in Los Angeles, but she would move to New York where her underground rooms became legendary. Among the top names alleged to have taken part included Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Phil Ivey and Matt Damon.
Casino
Directed by the great Martin Scorcese, Casino was released in 1995, and it featured a great cast. Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone are the stars in another movie that was based on real-life events.
The film tells the story of the life of Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal who managed three casinos in Las Vegas during the 1970s. Fiction embellishes fact at many stages, but the central plot is a true story. Included in the real-life elements of the movie are the fact that Rosenthal didn’t possess a gaming license and at one stage he survived a car bomb attack.
21
A 2008 release, 21 focuses on the true story of a group of students who took on the big Las Vegas casinos using a counting system. It’s a method that harnesses mathematical probability with the aim of predicting which cards are going to be dealt.
Directed by Robert Luketic and starring Kevin Spacey and Jim Sturgess, the six MIT students involved begin to hone their skills in a series of friendly blackjack games. Eventually, they reach the level where they feel comfortable with crossing to the casino floor.
The movie shows how the game becomes an obsession and how personal friendships are affected. Of all the casino-themed movies on this list, 21 is perhaps the one that stays truest to real life.
High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story
High Roller is more of a biopic – a movie that tells the full story of one person’s life. In this case, the hero is Stu Ungar, a professional poker player who enjoyed great success on the circuit at the time this film was released in 2003.
Ungar came from a regular family, and he fought his way through the ranks to become one of the best in the world. For anyone wanting to know what it takes to progress and become a professional, High Roller is a fascinating insight into that world.
Many more casino movies are based on true stories, and others will be released in future years. It’s a theme that ofers much for writers and producers to get stuck into, and it’s inevitable that this list of releases will increase in the years to come.
