The movie and the gambling industry have been ‘partners’ for several decades now. Back in the 1960s, Hollywood movies helped the gambling industry rise and become legal globally. How?
Casino movies and casino scenes in other movie genres became so popular that gambling became a sought-after activity.
At the time, it was considered illegal, but after the public pressured respective governments, they started legalizing casinos left and right.
These days, the global casino scene is booming. Some of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, like Las Vegas, are specifically known for having tons of casinos. Not only that, but online casinos are also progressing and set to be the future of said casino scenes. It is because of this those online sites continue to roll out bonuses and promotions found at 1 minimum deposit casinos.
But we are not here to talk about that. We are here to check out the best casino scenes from a couple of British casino movies.
Some of them are movies with a casino scene, while others are listed by many as the best casino movies in the world. Let’s check them out.
Casino Royale (Best Casino Scene on the List)
Casino Royale is a James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig. Interestingly enough, the casino scenes in this movie do not take place in Las Vegas but in high-stakes casinos in Montenegro.
James Bond is tasked to play against Le Chiffre to force his hand and leave him with no option but to ask for asylum with the government of Great Britain in exchange for intel.
There are many iconic casino scenes in this movie, but the one that stands out is when Le Chiffre poisons James Bond.
This is the best scene because we are used to watching Bond dominating in all movie scenes.
This is the first time the audience feels that he’s winning, but in fact, he almost has a death experience.
Now, this memorable scene has other parts, but we recommend you watch the whole movie instead of just talking here about it.
Croupier
Our next casino movie that includes several casino scenes and features casino games is Croupier, released in 1998.
This film tells of a writer who decides to go to the casino floor and start working as a croupier. He realises that he can write a decent story from the events at every casino table, including his.
The best casino scene here is where a gambler comes in to place a late bet in the game, hoping to cheat and win money, but the Croupier manages to notice the late bet.
He stands firm on his claim that he saw the man place a late bet to win easy money, and security gets involved. The situation progresses forward, and a few other memorable gambling scenes appear as a result of that.
Lock, Stock, and Two-Smoking Barrels
The following listing in our favourite UK casino movie scenes includes Lock, Stock, and Two-Smoking Barrels. This is yet another movie released in 1998. Our favourite scene in this movie is called ‘An Awkward Position’.
The main plot in this scene does not occur in Las Vegas’s casinos but rather in a boxing ring. As two players constantly raise in a game of poker and have their eyes glued to each other, the older one raises a massive bet that the younger player decides to follow, thinking that he can win the poker round.
But that is not the case in this gambling scene as the younger player loses, and the camera effects and music perfectly sum up the tension and emotions running at that particular moment.
Snatch
Snatch is a 2000 movie starring Jason Statham, and this film has tons of memorable scenes. But, if we had to pick one of the casino movie scenes, we will opt-in with the one where the so-called two hustlers go to snatch all the movie from a bookie.
Sadly, they learn that all bets are off, and the bookmaker does not have any money. Not only that, but the cashier presses the alarm button, and now both robbers are in a race against time to grab whatever they can.
There is a lot of comedy in this scene, and you will definitely burst out laughing.
Funny Man
Funny Man is a somewhat surprising entry on this movie as it rarely has any casino scenes.
The movie was released in 1994, and it tells the tale of a character that manages to win a stately house in a round of poker. A demonic Jester haunts him that plans on murdering his family.
In terms of the favourite cut here, it includes the opening scene where the character wins the casino round. The leading roles in Funny Man are portrayed by Tim James, Christopher Lee, and Benny Young.
Revolver
Jason Statham is yet another entry here and our favourite casino cut from this movie is the one where the leading role (Statham) is on the roof playing golf with two other gentlemen. As they are discussing, Statham talks about the rules of every game.
The good thing is that viewers can apply these rules to all table games, card games, and other casino games requiring skill.
Golden Eye (James Bond)
Even though Golden Eye is an older Bond movie, it does not feature Sean Connery as the main character. The events of the gambling scene take place while playing baccarat.
Many people have mixed this with a blackjack table, so we wanted to take note of that.
Bond is up against Xenia, and during the scene, Bond’s only winning hand in the last round is two face cards.
After the baccarat round is over, Bond and Xenia go to the bar and the agent orders the legendary Martini. Golden Eye is worth a watch as it produced tons of memorable movie moments.
Other Films with Memorable Casino Scenes
We cannot end this article without noting a few other gambling movies, specifically Hollywood, in the broader film industry. Our first entry is Ocean’s Eleven which stars George Clooney as Danny Ocean. Ocean’s Eleven is part of the Ocean’s franchise, which is worth a watch.
Other big-screen movies include Rounders, 21, The Gambler, Mississippi Grind, Maverick, and Rain Man. the two top picks from these films are Rounders and Rain Man.
Rounders stars Matt Damon, a gifted player who ends up owing money and decides to go all-in in a Texas Hold’em poker game. Thanks to the gambling expansion in the early 2000s, Rounders was voted among the best movies and became a cult classic.
As for Rain Man, it stars Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. Tom Cruise portrays Charlie Babbitt, a man that finds out that his estranged father has died.
21 is also a great movie that stars Kevin Spacey. This is a blackjack movie in which a professor and his students roam the streets of Vegas, count cards on various blackjack games and win money.
However, all hell breaks loose as one spotter checks the group that plays blackjack with this strategy.