Some Facts about Gambling Movies
Between 1908 and 1930, just 6 movies about gambling were made. Gambling movies only became very popular after World War 2. Over the years, Hollywood has made so many of them, to the delight of the audience. And while the characters in gambling movies may not completely mirror actual gamblers, they are fun to watch. You might know a lot about gambling movies but there are some facts you probably didn’t know about them.
1. Casino Royale Was Loved by the Chinese
The Chinese government isn’t fond of Hollywood movies. In fact, many movies including the James Bond movies were prohibited. Casino Royale, however, made it to the movie cinemas in China. It became the first movie in the James Bond series to be approved in China.
Many countries have casinos peculiar to them, for instance, no deposit bonus casino Ireland. In contrast, it is illegal to run online casinos in china. China has strict laws against all forms of gambling except in state-run welfare and sports lotteries. It was therefore very surprising that the Chinese government would accept a movie centered around gambling. Even more surprising is the fact they made no cuts to the film. You can say the movie was just that good. Although pirated copies had already been in the streets, Casino Royale brought in $11,735,457 at the Chinese box office.
As opposed to prior James Bond movies, 007 shifted his attention from communism to fighting villains from different ethnic backgrounds. This contributed to its wild acceptance in China.
2. Ocean’s 11 Was Filmed in Five Locations on the Strip
Las Vegas is well known for its active gambling scene, and magnificent gambling resorts located along the strip. This is why a lot of gambling movies are filmed in Las Vegas. If you’ve seen Ocean’s 11 then you know it was filmed in Las Vegas. But I bet you didn’t know it was filmed in five of the most opulent Casino and hotel resorts on the strip. These resorts include Sahara, Sands, Desert inn, The Flamingo Casinos, and Riviera.
Apart from Ocean’s 11, more than 250 gambling films were made on the strip in the past 70 years.
3. Gambling Films Can Encourage People to Gamble
Gambling movies let viewers experience gambling from the perspective of characters. Gambling movies have a way of glamorizing gambling. The excitement and thrill of gambling shown on the big screen, leave us with the desire to explore casinos. For example, after watching people play poker in movies, my interest was piqued. And even when I didn’t have friends to play with, I opted for online poker.
Moreso, the miraculous winnings in gambling movies are enough to make you want to gamble. Who doesn’t love the idea of doubling their money while having fun?
4. Actors from Movies about Casinos Love Gambling in Real Life
Most actors develop an interest in gambling while playing roles in gambling movies. To better prepare for the roles, they learn to gamble. After the movie production, many actors continue to gamble because they enjoy it. Sadly, some develop a gambling addiction. For instance, the cast of 21 went through a Blackjack Bootcamp days before the shoot. In this Bootcamp led by gambling expert Kyle Morris, they learned chip-handling and card counting. Similarly, to understand their characters better, the cast of Ocean’s 11 gambled on and off the set of the movie. The result is the brilliant performance of the actors. Unfortunately, many of them reportedly struggled with gambling addiction, after the movie was produced.
Ben Affleck is one of the actors who developed a gambling addiction. It was so bad that it couldn’t escape the media. Although he made many winnings, he eventually lost millions to this struggle.
On the other hand, gambling was beneficial to other actors like George Clooney. During the filming of Ocean’s 11, he learned so much about gambling. While his character in the movie robbed a casino, he built a $3B casino and became a thriving entrepreneur in real life.
5. Gambling Movies Tend to Be Unrealistic
It is a known fact that movies are sometimes exaggerated for viewing pleasure. They seem to do this a lot with gambling movies. First of all, the gambling characters are stereotypical well-dressed men involved in shady businesses. This makes it hard for the audience to empathize with that character.
The gambling abilities of the characters are overstretched. Most of the James Bond movies show Bond playing games of chances like they were skill-dependent games. Furthermore, many of the winnings made can not be replicated in reality. In 21, Ben wins $315,000 in presumably less than a year. In reality, the average win for each MIT player was about $25,000/yr. Also, the team winning $3.15M over 17 trips seems far-fetched, because there wouldn’t be enough money on the table.
The violence portrayed in gambling movies is a thing of the past. In the 60-80s, counters were often beat up. However, casinos in Las Vegas no longer beat up counters. So while enjoying gambling movies alongside popcorn, remember not everything shown in real
6. Movie-themed Slots are Very Popular
The relationship between the movie industry and casinos is also expressed through movie-themed slots. It is quite popular among players in traditional casinos and online gambling sites. Slots are designed around the plots and characters of popular movies like Game of Thrones, X-men, Rocky, and Hangover. Main characters are always central and are tokens that trigger high rewards and bonuses. The best movie-themed slots are developed by top game providers like NetEnt, IGT, and PlayTech. Articles like Top 30 slot Games based on film scenarios provide the best options for movie-themed slots.
The Hangover slot is the most popular gambling movie slot. It is a five-reel slot with 40 pay lines and allows the player to play up to 4 different games consecutively.
Why are movie-themed slots such a big deal? Well apart from the excellent graphics, is the familiar and related themes they provide. They also help to fill the void left by the absence of a sequel to your favorite movie. You get to enjoy the story, music, and characters while standing a chance to win prizes.
Conclusion
Gambling movies will always be exciting to watch. And now that you know these facts, you’ll probably find movies like Ocean’s 11, Rounders, and Casino Royale more interesting when you rewatch them.
