Many characters with a love of gambling have been created over the years. Most of them have been seen gambling in a traditional way we’re all familiar with: You wouldn’t see a pool shark logging into voodoodreams or any other major online casinos at the past. But with the rise in online gambling, it’s possible that fictional characters will go down this route in the future.
However, for now, let’s take a look at some of the most famous fictional characters who love to gamble in traditional ways.
James Bond
How could any list on gambling be complete without the most famous spy in the world? After all, the very first Bond novel — Casino Royale — was centered almost entirely around gambling. It was also used as the basis for the 2006 Bond reboot, with Daniel Craig playing the character.
Bond plays Baccarat with the villain in the novel, but the game was changed to Texas Hold ‘em in the rebooted movie, perhaps because Texas Hold ‘em was considered to be slightly more familiar to audiences. Either way, Bond is shown to not only enjoy playing the game, but to be a highly-skilled player as well.
Throughout the movies, Bond has been presented as a man with a love of gambling, whether it’s in high-stakes games against the various villains he has come up against, or gambling with his life to complete a mission.
Bond is the quintessential fictional gambler: there are others out there that also love gambling, but none take it quite to the extent that Bond does. That’s why he’ll always be the top fictional gambler, as well as a hero to the world.
Marge Simpson
The Simpsons has been around for more than 30 years now. Since it began, it’s covered a massive selection of topics and issues, so much so that it’s even been accused of predicting the future. However, The Simpsons has also covered gambling a few times throughout its long run.
Many would expect Homer to be the character that loves gambling, as he even gambled with Lisa’s love in one early episode. But Marge is actually the character who loves gambling the most.
When Springfield is struggling for money (which it often is, let’s be honest), it usually looks for ways to make some quick tax money. One such method was to open a casino, at which Homer found yet another temporary job: working as a Blackjack dealer. When Marge enters the casino to talk to Homer one day, she decides to play one of the slot machines with a quarter she finds on the floor.
With a pull of the arm, she wins on the machine. This launches her into a gambling addiction, and she only manages to pull herself away when she realizes that she’s neglecting her family. This point is driven home when Homer loses his job as a Blackjack dealer.
There’s also another episode where Marge learns to count cards to become a Blackjack ace. Marge is able to control herself this time, but it once again shows that she’s the gambler in the Simpson house.
Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano was the main character in one of the most well-loved TV shows of all time. The Sopranos followed the daily life of the head of a Mafia crime family, though Tony didn’t just spend his days cracking heads and breaking the law. He also liked to relax in more normal ways — specifically, gambling.
Tony would regularly spend huge amounts of money playing high-stakes Poker games on the show. His love of gambling extended beyond his own wagering as well: he would regularly take money from gamblers to fund his own lifestyle. Despite loving to play Poker, Tony also loved to gamble on sports.
His favorite sport to bet on was horse racing, which even led to him owning a racehorse later on in the series. It wasn’t just horse racing, though: Tony also regularly bet on baseball and basketball. Ultimately, he was a man who had too much money and not enough time to spend it, so he chose gambling as a way to relax.
Tony was also very similar to James Bond in that he often gambled with his life. The difference between the two characters was that Bond put his life on the line for the forces of good, while Tony gambled with his own for far less noble reasons.