The Top Poker Movies of All Time. There are tons of really great poker movies out there and a few that are not all that good. It all depends on what you are looking for. Some movies are strictly about the game and great examples of those include Rounders, High Roller: The Stu Unger Story and All In: The Poker Movie. Stu Ungar was the original 'young gun' of tournament poker. In 1980, he was the youngest player to win the World Series of Poker Main Event, a record he would hold until Phil Hellmuth broke it nine years later. The best position to have in poker is late position, which is defined as the dealer and the players just to his right. Being in late position allows you to have a lot more information about how the hand is going as you've seen how the majority of the table has decided to play their cards before you have to make your own choice of whether to call, bet, raise, or fold. Our list of the very best movies about Poker ever. There's something particularly thrilling about a good poker movie. Watching the protagonist navigate the high-stakes game always feels like a lesson in bluffing, strategy, and hiding your 'tells'.
One of the great appeals of poker to a mass audience is the drama inherent in the game itself. Millions of dollars can change on the turn of a card. An unknown player can become a household name overnight. A player needs just one lucky card to make his dreams come true; the audience holds its breath in anticipation. Can he possibly beat the odds and make his hand?
If poker is inherently dramatic, why are there so few entertaining poker movies? Is it because Hollywood can't translate the tension players feel, or is it that a group of men (and a few women) sitting around a table doesn't produce the same visceral effects as giant fighting robots or magical teenagers?
In any event, some filmmakers were able to get the carry the feel of the game from the green felt to the silver screen.
Here are some of the best poker movies ever made:
#5: High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story (2003)
Stu Ungar was the original 'young gun' of tournament poker. In 1980, he was the youngest player to win the World Series of Poker Main Event, a record he would hold until Phil Hellmuth broke it nine years later. Ungar also holds one record that may never be broken: he was the only three-time Main Event Champion (1980, 1981, 1997).
Michael Imperioli ('Christopher Moltisanti' on 'The Sopranos') carries this movie on his back. His portrayal shows Ungar as both a genius at cards and a troubled soul in every other aspect of his life.
#4: Maverick (1994)
Putting aside the recent real-life drama surrounding its star, the 'Maverick' movie with Mel Gibson was a fun, if completely unrealistic, portrait of the 'gentleman gambler' from the 1960s TV show.
The final hand shown here is an example of Hollywood exaggerating the quality of most poker hands, as well as disregarding several modern rules. In today's games, the two big slowrolls (Coburn's quad eights and Gibson's spade royal flush) would have earned the players reprimands from the dealer (and possibly beatings in the parking lot). The straight flush vs. royal flush ending is also ridiculous, but it's all done with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.
#3: The Sting (1973)
While this classic movie may not display all the skills and strategies involved in the modern game, it does show the subtleties involved in the forgotten side of poker: cheating. Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) knows that the only way to beat crime boss and poker cheat Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) at his private game is to out-cheat the cheater. Gondorff anticipates Lonnegan's tendency to cheat with nines, brings his own rigged deck, and beats Lonnegan at his own game.
#2: The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Another example of a 'young gun' versus an old pro, 'The Kid' (Steve McQueen) takes on 'The Man' (Edward G. Robinson) in a classic game of Five Card Stud. With one card to come in the final hand, the two combatants engage in a staredown, with the interested spectators providing a running commentary. As The Man says at the end, 'It's about making the wrong move at the right time.'
#1: Rounders (1998)
Many observers believe that, without Chris Moneymaker, there never would have been a 'poker boom'. Moneymaker himself said that, without 'Rounders', he never would have taken up Texas Hold'em.
'Rounders' provided the most realistic portrait of the underground New York poker scene years before many of its participants (including Poker Hall of Famers Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington) became famous. Today, online poker rooms are filled with 'MikeMcD's and 'TeddyKGB's, all seeking to capture the essence of this classic film.
In my next article I'll be reviewing some of the worst poker movies ever made.
Related Articles
By Gerald Hanks
Gerald Hanks is from Houston Texas, and has been playing poker since 2002. He has played cash games and no-limit hold'em tournaments at live venues all over the United States.
I am very disappointed in Netflix Canada. They don't have a single one of these movies available for viewing!
Have you seen the movie Yonkers Joe, starring Chazz Palminteri? It's one of the best poker movies I'v ever seen!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
There's something particularly thrilling about a good poker movie. Watching the protagonist navigate the high-stakes game always feels like a lesson in bluffing, strategy, and hiding your 'tells'. We love nothing more than those moments where we see how things are going to line up for the game, regardless of who the big winner will be.
In preparation for our next big gambling trip, we've been studying up on our poker flicks and brushing up on our skills via Situs Poker Terpercaya. Here are our can't-miss poker movies to get us into that royal flush mood.
Casino Royale
The 2006 James Bond movie, Casino Royale, was more than just Daniel Craig's premiere as the iconic spy, it also refreshed the Bond franchise as a whole. The original Casino Royale book by Ian Fleming has Bond and the villain Le Chiffre's gamble over baccarat, a game that is based more on luck than strategy.
2006's Casino Royale switched the game to poker, as Texas Hold'em had become increasingly popular. The swap amped up the excitement of the gambling scenes and set up Bond as a strategic and observant card shark.
Casino Royale takes place early in Bond's career, as he has just received his 'license to kill' from M16, the British Secret Intelligence Service. In Madagascar, Bond uncovers a link to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a villain who finances terrorist organizations. When M16 learns that Le Chiffre plans to raise money in a high-stakes poker game, they send Bond to play at the Casino Royale in Montenegro with hopes he can topple Le Chiffre's organization.
Poker Movies List
Rounders
The poker boom that made Casino Royale into a poker movie instead of a baccarat movie also elevated Rounders into a cult classic. The 1998 casino noir drama, Rounders, starring Edward Norton and Matt Damon didn't get the appreciation it deserved until poker was all the rage.
Rounders is titled after the slang term for a person traveling around from city to city seeking high-stakes card games, a 'rounder'. When gifted poker player and law student Mike McDermott (Damon) loses his money in a poker game against Russian gangster Teddy 'KGB' (John Malkovich), his girlfriend, Jo (Gretchen Mol), makes him promise to quit gambling.
McDermott agrees until his old friend, Lester 'Worm' Murphy (Edward Norton), is released from prison. Worm needs to play off old debt and enlists Mike to help. When Mike finds out the debt is owed to Teddy and he makes one last-ditch effort to beat the Russian.
The Sting
One of the most decorated movies of all time to feature poker, 1973's The Sting is worth watching for the classic pairing of Robert Redford and Paul Newman alone. The poker sequence that takes place a little over a third of the way into the film is a perfect delight, concluding with the best cinematic example of the 'outcheating the cheater' trope common to poker fiction.
The Sting picks up when aspiring con man Johnny Hooker (Redford) teams up with the veteran swindler Henry Gondorff ( Newman) to take revenge on the ruthless crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), who's responsible for murdering a mutual friend.
Here are some of the best poker movies ever made:
#5: High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story (2003)
Stu Ungar was the original 'young gun' of tournament poker. In 1980, he was the youngest player to win the World Series of Poker Main Event, a record he would hold until Phil Hellmuth broke it nine years later. Ungar also holds one record that may never be broken: he was the only three-time Main Event Champion (1980, 1981, 1997).
Michael Imperioli ('Christopher Moltisanti' on 'The Sopranos') carries this movie on his back. His portrayal shows Ungar as both a genius at cards and a troubled soul in every other aspect of his life.
#4: Maverick (1994)
Putting aside the recent real-life drama surrounding its star, the 'Maverick' movie with Mel Gibson was a fun, if completely unrealistic, portrait of the 'gentleman gambler' from the 1960s TV show.
The final hand shown here is an example of Hollywood exaggerating the quality of most poker hands, as well as disregarding several modern rules. In today's games, the two big slowrolls (Coburn's quad eights and Gibson's spade royal flush) would have earned the players reprimands from the dealer (and possibly beatings in the parking lot). The straight flush vs. royal flush ending is also ridiculous, but it's all done with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.
#3: The Sting (1973)
While this classic movie may not display all the skills and strategies involved in the modern game, it does show the subtleties involved in the forgotten side of poker: cheating. Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) knows that the only way to beat crime boss and poker cheat Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) at his private game is to out-cheat the cheater. Gondorff anticipates Lonnegan's tendency to cheat with nines, brings his own rigged deck, and beats Lonnegan at his own game.
#2: The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Another example of a 'young gun' versus an old pro, 'The Kid' (Steve McQueen) takes on 'The Man' (Edward G. Robinson) in a classic game of Five Card Stud. With one card to come in the final hand, the two combatants engage in a staredown, with the interested spectators providing a running commentary. As The Man says at the end, 'It's about making the wrong move at the right time.'
#1: Rounders (1998)
Many observers believe that, without Chris Moneymaker, there never would have been a 'poker boom'. Moneymaker himself said that, without 'Rounders', he never would have taken up Texas Hold'em.
'Rounders' provided the most realistic portrait of the underground New York poker scene years before many of its participants (including Poker Hall of Famers Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington) became famous. Today, online poker rooms are filled with 'MikeMcD's and 'TeddyKGB's, all seeking to capture the essence of this classic film.
In my next article I'll be reviewing some of the worst poker movies ever made.
Related Articles
By Gerald Hanks
Gerald Hanks is from Houston Texas, and has been playing poker since 2002. He has played cash games and no-limit hold'em tournaments at live venues all over the United States.
I am very disappointed in Netflix Canada. They don't have a single one of these movies available for viewing!
Have you seen the movie Yonkers Joe, starring Chazz Palminteri? It's one of the best poker movies I'v ever seen!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
There's something particularly thrilling about a good poker movie. Watching the protagonist navigate the high-stakes game always feels like a lesson in bluffing, strategy, and hiding your 'tells'. We love nothing more than those moments where we see how things are going to line up for the game, regardless of who the big winner will be.
In preparation for our next big gambling trip, we've been studying up on our poker flicks and brushing up on our skills via Situs Poker Terpercaya. Here are our can't-miss poker movies to get us into that royal flush mood.
Casino Royale
The 2006 James Bond movie, Casino Royale, was more than just Daniel Craig's premiere as the iconic spy, it also refreshed the Bond franchise as a whole. The original Casino Royale book by Ian Fleming has Bond and the villain Le Chiffre's gamble over baccarat, a game that is based more on luck than strategy.
2006's Casino Royale switched the game to poker, as Texas Hold'em had become increasingly popular. The swap amped up the excitement of the gambling scenes and set up Bond as a strategic and observant card shark.
Casino Royale takes place early in Bond's career, as he has just received his 'license to kill' from M16, the British Secret Intelligence Service. In Madagascar, Bond uncovers a link to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a villain who finances terrorist organizations. When M16 learns that Le Chiffre plans to raise money in a high-stakes poker game, they send Bond to play at the Casino Royale in Montenegro with hopes he can topple Le Chiffre's organization.
Poker Movies List
Rounders
The poker boom that made Casino Royale into a poker movie instead of a baccarat movie also elevated Rounders into a cult classic. The 1998 casino noir drama, Rounders, starring Edward Norton and Matt Damon didn't get the appreciation it deserved until poker was all the rage.
Rounders is titled after the slang term for a person traveling around from city to city seeking high-stakes card games, a 'rounder'. When gifted poker player and law student Mike McDermott (Damon) loses his money in a poker game against Russian gangster Teddy 'KGB' (John Malkovich), his girlfriend, Jo (Gretchen Mol), makes him promise to quit gambling.
McDermott agrees until his old friend, Lester 'Worm' Murphy (Edward Norton), is released from prison. Worm needs to play off old debt and enlists Mike to help. When Mike finds out the debt is owed to Teddy and he makes one last-ditch effort to beat the Russian.
The Sting
One of the most decorated movies of all time to feature poker, 1973's The Sting is worth watching for the classic pairing of Robert Redford and Paul Newman alone. The poker sequence that takes place a little over a third of the way into the film is a perfect delight, concluding with the best cinematic example of the 'outcheating the cheater' trope common to poker fiction.
The Sting picks up when aspiring con man Johnny Hooker (Redford) teams up with the veteran swindler Henry Gondorff ( Newman) to take revenge on the ruthless crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), who's responsible for murdering a mutual friend.
Gambling Movies List
Hooker and Gondorff implement a complicated scheme, that's so crafty that Lonnegan won't even know he's been swindled. As their big con unfolds, however, things don't go according to plan, requiring some last-minute improvisation by the determined pair.
Maverick
Bringing the poker trope all the way back to the Old West, 1994's Maverick is based on the 1950's television show of the same name. The television show created the stereotypical poker player, one who would rather con than fight, which is still the most used personification of the game's players.
Maverick's title character, played by Mel Gibson, hopes to join a poker contest with a jaw-dropping payout that will differentiate him as the best poker player of his time. However, the game requires a $25,000 entrance fee of which Maverick is $3,000 short.
To come up with the money, Maverick scams hopeful contestants, the young con artist Annabelle (Jodie Foster) and cranky gambler Angel (Alfred Molina) in a preliminary card game to win the money he needs, making enemies of both players. Full of twists, turns, all-star cameos and sleights of hand, Maverick brings a bunch of fun to the poker film genre.
Molly's Game
A little less commercially known, but revered by critics, Aaron Sorkin's Molly's Game is the true story of Molly Bloom, the beautiful, Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade. Based on Bloom's memoir: Molly's Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World, the film stars Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom.
After Molly experiences a career-ending injury in the 2002 Olympic qualifiers, she decides to spend a year in Los Angeles before going to law school. Molly takes an office manager job which includes running her boss, Dean's (Jeremy Strong) underground poker ring. Molly quickly learns the ropes, and begins her own underground poker empire, using the contacts she gained from her work with Dean.
Best Poker Movies List
Molly's players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknown to her, the Russian mob. As her client list grows, Molly becomes increasingly addicted to drugs and winds up in over her head, eventually raided by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons.
