Updated on: March 14, 2023
Poker has always offered plenty of opportunities for unique and exciting stories. From its Old West roots to underground games to the World Series of Poker to the online poker boom, there have been numerous opportunities for some great filmmaking.
The bright lights of a Las Vegas casino can also make for an excellent setting.
Here’s a look at the top 16 poker films any player wouldn’t want to miss:
1 – ROUNDERS
This film is a poker classic and remains one of the top films in the genre. Rounders was one of the first movies to take a look into the modern game and the World Series of Poker.
🎬 Synopsis: This film takes a look at the underground poker scene as young Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) must play some high stakes to help his friend Worm (Ed Norton) pay some heavy debts to loan sharks.
Players will enjoy the underground scene and some insight into the WSOP just before the online poker boom. John Malkovich as Teddy KGB makes for a fantastic poker villain. Two-time WSOP Main Event champion Johnny Chan is even featured.
It’s also worth noting that Rounders is a rare film that offers a realistic look at poker play on the felt.
🍎 Setting: New York, Atlantic City
📆 Release date: 1998
💸 Box office: $23 million
👄 Major Rounders quotes: Mike says: “It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money.”
He also says: “You can’t lose what you don’t put it in the middle, but you can’t win much either.”
2 – MOLLY’S GAME
Fans of underground and celebrity poker may want to check out this film, inspired by the book of the same name.
🎬 Synopsis: Molly Bloom leaves law school behind and heads to L.A. The film tells her story of hosting some of the biggest and most exclusive high-stakes poker games in Hollywood. Her games include a cast of celebrities, professional athletes, wealthy businessmen, mobsters, and more.
The money flows in, but so does the attention of the FBI. The film received excellent reviews and was nominated for numerous awards. It becomes one of the best-received poker films.
🎥 Setting: Hollywood; New York
📆 Release date: 2017
💸 Box office: $59.3 million
👄 Major quotes: Molly says: “I was in a room with movie stars, directors, and business titans. They were going all-in, all the time.”
3 – THE CINCINNATI KID
This movie is another poker classic starring acting legends Steve McQueen and Ann-Margaret. This masterpiece is one of the films that portrayed poker even before the WSOP.
🎬 Synopsis: Eric "The Kid" Stoner (McQueen) works on his skills at the poker table as he continues to move up in stakes. In The Cincinnati Kid, Five-Card Stud is featured with Stoner involved in several big games.
Ann-Margret plays the femme fatale, and the action culminates in a massive hand against the older and wiser Lancey "The Man" Howard. The film received favourable reviews, but players might scoff at the realism of certain hands being dealt and whether they would occur in a real-life game.
⚜️Setting: 1930s, Depression-era New Orleans
📆 Release date: 1965
💸 Box office: $7 million
👄 Major quotes: Lancey says: “You're good, Kid. But as long as I'm around, you're second best. And you might as well learn to live with it.”
4 – HIGH ROLLER: THE STU UNGAR STORY
This film takes a look at one of poker’s most tragic figures – a great player with some serious issues.
🎬 Synopsis: Stu Ungar was a poker superstar before there were superstars and this film starring The Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli does a perfect job of capturing his life. One of only two players to have won the WSOP Main Event three times (along with Johnny Moss), Stu was as sharp and aggressive on the poker felt as they get.
After winning the Main Event in 1980 and 1981, he won again 16 years later in 1997. Drugs and financial strain took their toll, however. Less than a year later, he was found dead in a cheap hotel in Las Vegas. The cause was a heart condition attributed to drug use.
The film moves from his life growing up in New York as the son of a bookie to big wins in Sin City to events leading to his sad demise.
🎰 Setting: Las Vegas
📆 Release date: 2003
💸 Box office: NA
👄 Major quotes: Stu tells an opponent: “I know you … so I know what you got.”
5 – MAVERICK
Fans of the original series from the 1950s and ‘60s may have been pleased to see Brett the card-playing Bret Maverick return to the silver screen.
🎬 Synopsis: Mel Gibson takes on the title role of Maverick in this comedy, along with Jodie Foster and James Garner (who played the cardsharp in the original TV series). Maverick hopes to enter a poker tournament but needs some cash to do so.
He faces many pitfalls and pratfalls towards earning the money – both at and away from the table. The film received favourable reviews and offered a humorous take on the life of an Old West cardsharp and con artist.
🤠 Setting: Fictional town of Crystal River in the American Old West
📆 Release date: 1994
💸 Box office: $158 million
👄 Major quotes: After a testy opponent takes issue with losing a big pot, Maverick says: “I’m a gambler, not a gunfighter.”
6 – ALL IN: THE POKER MOVIE
This film may not get the hype that films like Rounders and Molly’s Game have achieved but stands out as a realistic look at the game’s explosive growth during the 2000s.
🎬 Synopsis: The game of poker got the poker documentary treatment with All In, and director Doug Tirola did a fantastic job in capturing the essence of the modern game. That includes plenty of poker history and amplifying the game’s surge after Chris Moneymaker’s historic 2003 WSOP Main Event win. The movie incorporates interviews with some of the biggest names in the game, including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, and numerous others.
Some industry insiders like WPT creator Steve Lipscomb also offer insight as well as few players not held in as high regard since Black Friday – Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer. It’s a brilliant look at the modern history of the game.
💲 Setting: U.S. during the poker boom
📆 Release date: 2009
💸 Box office: NA
👄 Major quote: Scott Nguyen boasts: “Poker right now is bigger than the Super Bowl.”
7 – MISSISSIPPI GRIND
Another modern take on the poker life, this time we’re mixing in a road trip motif.
🎬 Synopsis: Down on their luck, two gamblers and poker players hit the road, hoping to turn their fortunes around. More gambling ensues as well as interactions with loan sharks, hustlers, criminals, and more in their pursuit of a big score.
Despite poor box office receipts, the small-budget film starring Ryan Reynolds received kind reviews.
🏴☠️ ️Setting: American South
📆 Release date: 2015
💸 Box office: $422,746
👄 Major quotes: Curtiss (Ryan Reynolds), sitting down at a new poker game, says “Aces are good, right?”
8 – KID POKER
With six WSOP bracelets and seen by many as the face of poker, it may be only fitting Daniel Negreanu has his own film documenting life.
🎬 Synopsis: This documentary offers Negreanu’s complete backstory as one of the winningest and most popular players in poker. The film tracks his roots from playing crazy games with friends in Toronto to his first forays on to the tournament scene in Las Vegas.
It also includes his family’s route to and living in Canada. It’s an alternative look at a modern player – the highs of winning the ultimate poker prizes and the lows of busting out in those early years. It’s a great look at a colossal name in poker.
🍁 Setting: Toronto, Canada; Las Vegas
📆 Release date: 2016
💸 Box office: NA (Netflix film)
👄 Major quotes: Negreanu notes: “I always felt I was going to be successful no matter what I did.”
9 – CALIFORNIA SPLIT
A buddy film that mixes in plenty of poker and gambling, California Split was one of the first movies featuring a look at a gambling lifestyle.
🎬 Synopsis: Two men, Bill and Charlie (played by George Segal and Elliot Gould), meet after being falsely accused of collusion at a poker table. They then embark on a series of gambling and drinking adventures. There are big wins and losses, bookies, and even a game with poker legend Amarillo Slim. Gould later admitted that his character mirrored his own life in his love of gambling.
🏴 Setting: California; Las Vegas
📆 Release date: 1974
💸 Box office: $5 million
👄 Major quotes: Elliot Gould, playing the character Charlie tells a bartender as a juicy cash game plays out nearby: “My partner here’s a player, and I guess I’m a drinker.”
10 - THE CARD COUNTER
This film starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe, follows a professional Card Counter and poker player. It’s a recent addition to the poker film genre and received decent reviews when released.
🎬 Synopsis: Martin Scorsese served as an executive producer, and Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) wrote and directed the film. The action focuses on William Tell, who travels from casino to casino playing cards at out-of-the-way properties. A former special ops soldier, Tell spent time in prison for crimes while serving in Iraq. His transgressions haunt him as he seeks some solace.
In the film, poker and gambling become routine for Tell. Merely a means to pass the time and punish himself. The film offers a primarily realistic look at the world of poker at the mid-major level and even received permission to use the WSOP Circuit brand. The film uses the world of poker to tackle some complex issues, and critics gave the movie a strong reception.
🎰 Setting: Smaller casinos around the country
📆 Release date: 2021
💸 Box office: $5 million
👄 Major quotes: “Poker’s all about waiting – and then something happens.”
11 - POKER QUEENS
The game of poker has some solid documentaries. This film tackles the ins and outs of the tournament world from a female perspective.
🎬 Synopsis: Poker Queens shines a light on women in poker and hopefully encourages more to the tables. The film includes lessons on playing the game and insight into the finer points, such as bluffing.
Writer and director Sandra Mohr interviews some of the best female players as part of the action, including the following –
- Jennifer Tilly
- Kristen Bicknell
- Jennifer Harman
- Liv Boeree
- Loni Harwood
- Kathy Liebert and others
Some well-known male players also offer their views, including Daniel Negreanu, Joey Ingram, and Ryan Depaulo. Beyond simply speaking with winning women, Mohr also goes undercover dressed as a man. She uncovers different attitudes and experiences of being a man at the table versus being a woman. Poker Queens offers an intriguing and entertaining look at women in poker.
🎰 Setting: Various casinos, World Series of Poker
📆 Release date: 2020
💸 Box office: unavailable
👄 Major quotes: “It’s hard sometimes to play as a man because you’ve got to remember not to do things like a girl,” Mohr says while disguised in a full beard, sunglasses, and hat as she exits a casino. “When they brought my Coke, I grabbed my straw like a girl. Another thing I did, too, as we were walking up to the door to leave for a break; I paused and let the guy in front of me open the door for me. Because that’s what I’m used to.”
12 - THE GAMBLER
This appearance on the list may be an older television movie, but it earned some decent reviews at the time. The Gambler shed a pop culture spotlight on poker via the song and on screen.
🎬 Synopsis: Kenny Rogers turned his famous hit song The Gambler into a hit television movie. The singer plays professional gambler Brady Hawkes, who is trying to reunite with his son he never knew. The boy, Jeremiah, faces an abusive stepfather named Rufe Bennett, who also owns a casino.
On his trip to rescue his son, Hawkes befriends young poker player Billy Montana (Bruce Boxleitner) and takes the young hotshot under his wing. He begins teaching Montana the ins and outs of playing poker for a living in the Old West, including avoiding cheaters and losing your cash. The movie offers plenty of Old West poker fun, and there’s even some gunfighting thrown into the mix. And despite being made for TV, The Gambler was shot in 35mm film.
The film received excellent ratings at the time and a favourable critical reception. That included two Emmy nominations, and the movie spawned several sequels.
🌵 Setting: Yuma, Arizona; El Paso, Texas
📆 Release date: 1980
💸 Box office: N/A
👄 Major quotes: “I learned to read cards and learned to read faces … and yours tells me you’re running a bluff.”
13 - CASINO ROYALE
James Bond playing poker? That’s precisely what happens in this Bond film! 007 trades in his usual game of baccarat for some Texas Holdem to capitalise on the poker boom of the 2000s.
🎬 Synopsis: Bond (Daniel Craig) battles another guy looking to take over the world … again. The superspy jumps into a high-stakes poker game with a literal murderer’s row of rich bad guys. He’ll have to play his cards just right and match wits with this group of renegade rounders.
Action film fans will be pleased, and it’s gratifying to see a little poker thrown in - even if it’s not entirely realistic. Spoiler: 007 finds just the right combination of cards to help bankrupt the international terrorist financier Le Chiffre and does some butt-kicking along the way.
🌍 Setting: Prague, Montenegro, Uganda and more
📆 Release date: 2006
💸 Box office: $617 million
👄 Major quotes: Bond tells Le Chiffre at the poker table after nearly dying from being poisoned, “I’m sorry. That last hand … nearly killed me.”
14 - SHADE
Released right at the beginning of the poker boom, Shade takes a look at the negative side of the game, focusing on the cheating at the poker table.
🎬 Synopsys: Shade tells the story of a group of crooks who use a card manipulation technique to win at the poker tables.
The plot unfolds in Los Angeles and focuses on an attempt to con one of the best cardsharps ever, Dean Stevens (Sylvester Stallone), in a high-stakes poker game. Stevens is a card mechanic and uses his exceptional ability to manipulate the decks in order to influence the order of the cards being dealt.
An interesting piece of trivia about the movie is that the card tricks in the beginning of the film are performed by the movie’s writer/director, Damian Nieman, R. Paul Wilson, Jason England and Earl Nelson, all real-life card mechanics.
🌍 Setting: Los Angeles
📆 Release Date: 2003
💸 Box Office: $458.000
👄 Major quotes: Stevens says “I was mucking cards since before you were born.”
15 - LUCKY YOU
Even though I wouldn’t consider this movie a poker classic, it’s certainly one that explores every opportunity to show some good old poker action. So much so, that most of the movie scenes are set at the poker tables of several Las Vegas casinos.
🎬 Synopsys: In the world of high stakes poker, Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) is a tempestuous player that puts money on the line whenever he can. When it comes to his personal life, the character behaves in the opposite way – he thinks too much, avoiding lasting relationships.
On his journey to get a seat at the WSOP Main Event, he meets a young singer (Drew Barrymore) he falls in love with, but in his way is another player – poker legend L. C. Cheever (Robert Duvall), his father, who abandoned the family years ago.
The movie also features a lot of cameos of well-known poker players like Sam Farha, Barry Greenstein, Jason Lester, Ted Forrest, Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth etc.
🌍 Setting: Las Vegas
📆 Release Date: 2007
💸 Box Office: $8 million
👄 Major quotes: L. C. Cheever says “You got it backwards, kid. You play cards the way you should lead your life. And you lead your life the way you should play cards.”
16 - DEAL
This is probably going to be controversial, but I think that it’s still a decent enough movie worth watching if you enjoy the game.
🎬 Synopsys: After giving up poker 20 years ago after his wife threatened to leave him, Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds) finds a way to get back in the game by coaching Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison), a poker rising star with a lot to learn. They both strike a simple deal – Vinson pays the buy-ins and Alex needs to listen to him and split the winnings 50/50.
Much like Lucky You, it’s clear that the movie tries to please mainly the poker fans with a lot of poker scenes and appearances from the likes of Jennifer Tilly, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari and Chris Moneymaker.
🌍 Setting: Las Vegas; Louisiana
📆 Release Date: 2008
💸 Box Office: $85.000
***
5 Poker Books That Would Make Great Movies
Books can serve as the inspiration for some great films, and there are several great ones in the poker genre that could still be adapted to the screen.
Here’s a look at a few:
- Positively Fifth Street (By Jim McManus) – The author chronicles the 2000 murder trial of Ted Binion, the son of Benny Binion who was allegedly murdered by a stripper and her boyfriend. McManus used his magazine advance for the story to play in the WSOP Main Event and finished fifth for $247,760. Released in 2003, it’s considered one of the best poker books ever written.
- Ship It Holla Bollas! (By Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback) – The authors chronicle the online poker boom through the eyes of some brilliant college dropouts who take the poker world by storm. The non-fiction narrative moves from million-dollar swings to partying to trips to Las Vegas. It’s a read that’s hard to put down.
- The Biggest Game in Town (By Al Alvarez) – This book is considered the seminal work in the poker genre. First published in 1983,the book tells the story of the game’s early days in Las Vegas at the World Series of Poker. It’s a great look at a fascinating cast of characters playing at the Horseshoe.
- The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King (By Michael Craig) – Craig offers a great retelling of the high-stakes Limit Hold’em battles in the 2000s. The story occurs between wealthy Dallas banker Andy Beal and a group of las Vegas poker pros including Todd Brunson, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harmon, Barry Greenstein, Ted Forrest, and more. It’s a fascinating read about a truly unique series of poker matchups and the big bucks behind them.
- Moneymaker (By Chris Moneymaker) – The 2003 WSOP Main Event champion tells the story of his own rise from a $40 online poker entry into $2.5 million and the biggest story in poker. It offers some subtle behind-the-scenes insights on the poker tournament that changed an industry.
For even more analysis of great poker book, take a look at 888poker’s look at some of the most influential poker books in history.
