Poker’s Trip to Hollywood – I
Dec 30, 2011 Poker Entertainment Poker Movies
Poker has often provided lucrative ideas for filmmakers and scriptwriters for the decades now and numerous movies have been filmed depicting the glamorous life with sets located in the casinos itself. Besides, the introduction of fast paced, high stakes world of poker games and casinos in the story line of a movie add a glamour quotient and spice up the plot.
If you take a look at the countless movies filmed on poker or which have a few good scenes on the game, you will notice a trend in the way poker has been filmed in most of these movies. It has either been presented as the cause of some rich, haughty gambler’s downfall or as the strange wand of lady luck to spell fortune for some underdog. However, there are also movies which refrain from being too judgemental on the matter and instead take a halfway between stance on poker games, portraying both its pros and cons.
Poker made its way to Hollywood as early as the early 20th century. And, since then a lot of movies have joined the league. Although, not all of them are worth sparing a few hours but still there is a gamut of movies which you must see when you are not playing online poker games. You will definitely get a tip or two from them.
If you want to see a classic pick, then you must go for California Split which was released in 1974. The movie is a bit dated and revolves around the lives of poker players. The main characters in the movie are played by George Segal and Elliot Gould and you will also get to see the cameo presence of Amarillo Slim, World Series of Poker Champion. The movie shows how far the lure of gambling can make people go in a world where the rule for playing is gamble-till-you drop.
Another one to watch is The Sting which was released in 1973 and portrays a man who pulls a sting operation to avenge his friend’s death. The movie portrays that poker is not always a gentleman’s game. This movie is a must watch for you if you want to enhance your knowhow on poker strategies and claim some victories on the online poker games that you have been playing.
The Cincinnati Kid released way back in 1965 is an all time favourite poker movie to watch. This movie belongs to those strata of poker movies which refrain from either deifying or reifying the game and instead seek to treat the subject with the respect it demands and portray it as it is, with its merits and demerits. The plot of the movie revolves around a kid who is a rising star in the world of poker and has a desire to play against and defeat one of the most acclaimed poker players of all time. What ensues is a thrilling clash between the two at the poker table.
Kaleidoscope, released in 1966 is another classic pick from the series which focuses on the protagonist’s (played by Warren Beatty) break-in of a factory that prints cards for the casinos worldwide. He marks all the cards and then goes on a gambling spree as soon as that batch of cards is released and goes on winning the poker matches at various casinos. However, at a casino he is handed unmarked cards and then he’s forced to rely on is poker skills.
