While a lot of people actually prefer to play the poker game themselves, it can be quite relaxing to watch a good poker movie, from time to time. There is nothing better than watching a good poker film, while relaxing with some snacks and drinks. However, not all movies are as equally good, so it will be frustrating if you stumble upon a bad movie. You will basically waste an hour and a half of your life, watching and expecting something good to happen. Well, to avoid that, we have selected the 10 best poker film of all time! While some can be quite bad and inadequate, some can be considered as a diamond in a rough. There have been a number of movies that were released over the years, and all of them are related to poker or gambling in general. We have done our homework just to be able to present to you a lot of different types of movies, which are, of course, related to poker and gambling. We guarantee that you cannot go wrong by watching any of these, so just sit back relax, and find you new favorite movie!
This might sound like a movie you would expect to see at the “Paul’s Porn Palace” and it is actually quite an amusing small comedy, with Henry Fonda, as the star of the movie. In this film, he is a poor farmer, carrying his family to the favorable valleys of California. In his journey, he stumbles upon the mother of all of the poker games. The problem is that Henry really sucks at every table game, which also includes poker, but since he does not have any money, he tries out his luck. In the first game, he is dealt a monster hand, which leads him to have a heart attack. Now his wife needs to play in his place to try and save their family.
It is quite interesting that almost everybody today, knows the lyrics to an old infamous song from Kenny Rogers called “The Gambler”. It tells a story about a burnt-out, jaded gambler offering advice to an impatient stranger, on a train that is basically, going nowhere. Well, this is an 80s movie, which was based on that particular song; here, Kenny is actually going on a journey to search for his long lost son. While on his journey, he befriended that stranger and found himself in a lot of wacky situations. This film was a rating bonanza, with an actual good reason. It brought Kenny’s mesmerizing song to life, with a full plate of the characters from the Old West, together with a well-deserved Emmy award.
As the lights are suddenly turned off in the center of a monster pot, somebody gets shot dead. Now it is all up to Mr. Autry to try to save the innocent hothead that was accused of this crime. They really do not make movies like this old-school black and white film, called the Loaded Pistols. Here you simply have everything, from the pissed off sheriffs to the angry lynch mobs. On top of that, there is even a healthy dose of the Autry’s famous sweet singing voice! With a lot of gobs of fist-smacking sessions and the hot-lead death for a lot of bad guys, this just might be the best movie for you, if you are in love with the game of poker.
Just imagine how a lippy little Antonio Esfandiari and a sniveling Phil Hellmuth would have handled the gruff and gunslinger boys in the Old West. Poorly named, but definitely hard-as-nails, William Boyd’s “Hopalong Cassidy” would have probably made Phil Hellmuth eat his iPod. However, he takes a step back in Sunset Trail. From the agro-male role, he turns to a man who bluffed his way into a Silver City game of poker, by posing as a somewhat of a twitchy hypochondriac from the “back East,” just so he can have an opprtunity to win some money from a corrupted casino owner.
Warren Beatty was quite the ladies’ man, back in the day. Then, when he was your dad’s age, he definitely got around with a lot of famous women; to put it simply he has something that a lot of us do not. Way before his well-known pre-Material Girl days, Warren Beatty starred in a smooth thriller in 1966. There, he played as a lying and scheming character named Lincoln, who was a complete lovable scoundrel that bypassed all of the classic cheating methods. All you need, to fulfill this movie, is to throw in an incredibly beautiful dame with just a sprinkle of the Scotland Yard intrigue.
A lot of people love to say that the Rounders movie, which was directed by John Dahl, is the catalyst of the poker’s popularity explosion. The one and only Matt Damon is in the lead role, as a law school student that just wants to turn his life around, by swearing off poker. However, he quickly gets dragged back into the game by his slimy friend named Worm, played by Ed Norton, as he slithers back to his life. You can probably guess what was the result of this; he ended up in a huge debt to the boss of the Russian mob, who was played by John Malkovich.
Once you stumble upon this movie, you will definitely get hooked; it will eventually become one of your dirty pleasures! This movie is an update of the TV Show called “Maverick”, with the lead character named Maverick, played by Mel Gibson, who is trying to join a poker contest that has a huge payoff. However, in order to enter, he first needs to put a large sum as the entrance fee. He then scams the lovely and hopeful contestant Annabelle, played by Jodie Foster, and Angel, played by Alfred Molina, in a preliminary match of the poker game. After taking the money that he needs for the tournament, he has to avoid both of them, along with a cunning marshal, played by James Garner, who is also on his tail!
Somehow, this wholly realistic and fantastic Robert Altman movie had really flown under the radar for many years. It stars Elliot Gould and George Segal as a booze-soaked and hard-luck gamblers that live in California. They quickly form an unlikely friendship, which was mostly based on losing money while getting drunk (either in a random casino or just by some muggers at a parking lot). It was only a matter of time, before the bad luck and their huge depth caught up to them, as they try their luck for their future on one last poker game.
Steve McQueen could have probably beaten up my dad, your dad along with six ninjas while he is tied up in a wheelchair. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that he would make one hell of a good poker player movie! The Lead Character’s name is Eric Stoner, and he is of course played by McQueen, in this Norman Jewison’s 1955 classic, called the Cincinnati Kid. Eric Stone travels to New Orleans in the 30s, just to prove himself at one of the most famous casino table games, poker. He then challenges the monarch king of that town to a poker match with high stakes!
The four wannabe hoods put themselves in a position that they could not handle, as they lost 500.000 quid to a local crime pornographer/lord in a crooked game of poker. That could have made a lot of stolen laptops, dime bags, or whatever it is that the low-level thugs steal to get-by. However, as soon as they heard that their neighbors were planning their own heist, these lads were all in! In all honesty, even if poker does not play a major role in this movie, it is still one of the best movies for poker, especially if you like a bit of violent and frantically paced generation that is definitely something you have never seen before.
