Movies about gambling on Netflix

What are the best movies about gambling on Netflix right now? Can you catch a gripping documentary or gain a unique insight into the world of high-stakes poker? This and more await you with these 10 casino movies on Netflix that you can stream live right now.

The gambling movies we have hand-picked offer fascinating glimpses into the worlds of casinos, poker, and blackjack, leaving you thinking about the intricate lives of professional players, random chance, and, if nothing else – pure entertainment.

1. Casino Royale

"Casino Royale" is easily the best casino movie Netflix has to offer you right now. Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond and Eva Green as Vesper Lynd, the riveting femme fatale that has become a staple of any 007 movie, the story takes us through the world of high-stakes poker.

Mr. Bond is tasked with defeating Le Chiffre, played by Mads Mikkelsen, in a game of high-stakes poker so that the criminal fails to raise the funds he needs to enact his evil plans, which include terrorism on a global scale.

This riveting movie is one of the most intense flicks to feature casino scenes on the big screen. As an interesting factoid, readers may be amused to find out that Craig loathes poker, and that he did not know the rules of the game when shooting the movie.

2. 21

Inspired by the real events surrounding the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) card-counting team, "21" is one of the best blackjack movies on Netflix you can watch. Kevin Spacey, played by Micky Rosa, an MIT professor, gathers a team of brainy mathematically-endowed students, and teaches them the tricks of counting cards.

Working in teams, the students descend on casinos in Las Vegas and start stacking up winnings quickly. Before long, a rivalry emerges between Ben Campbell and his classmate, Fisher, which leads to the team being exposed in the movie, and Micky Rosa and a few of the students ending up with securing, roughened up, just like you would expect from a Hollywood blockbuster.

Of course, Las Vegas casinos do not beat people up, but they do throw them out of the property, although politely, if they catch them counting cards. Luckily for you, you can enjoy this visceral experience by simply streaming "21" on Netflix instead.

3. Bad Sport

"Bad Sport" is one of the best movies about gambling on Netflix that you can watch right now, and the movie does not really focus on casinos or blackjack, or even poker. Rather, it takes a closer look at the shady dealings of the world of elite sports, and some of the biggest scandals that shook the world.

The movie specifically covers the Juventus F.C. match-fixing scandal, labelled as "Calciopoli" by the media, the 2000 Arizona State basketball point-shaving imbroglio, and other high-profile cases which have shown sports to be less integral than previously thought.

Ultimately, Bad Sport is slightly sensationalist, and it tries to piece together complicated cases that are reduced to the on-demand streaming package that Netflix stands for. All told however, Bad Sport is most certainly one of the best Netflix gambling movies you can stream right now.

4. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Another great casino movie Netflix offers is "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" by director Guy Richie. Hold on? Is this a casino movie? Well, it sort of is, but in a very roundabout way.

The premise comes down to Eddie, an ambitious card player portrayed by Nick Moran, who sits down for a poker game against crime boss Hatchet Harry, who cheats Eddie and defeats him, setting the rollercoaster of events to follow in the movie.

Defeated at a game of poker, Eddie now has a week to pay back 500,000 British pounds to Harry, who is not looking to let the boy go off the hook, threatening to take his father’s pub.

From that point on, poker falls in the backdrop, as Eddie and his friends find themselves in a game of survival against all odds. Much like in a game of high-stakes poker, Eddie’s supposedly better judgement eventually leads to Hatchett Harry’s downfall.

5. All In: The Poker Movie

"All In: The Poker Movie" is a surgical incision into the very body of one of America’s most fascinating gambling games. A movie dedicated to poker, it goes into great detail to set the context of the game and its resurging popularity.

The poker boom that swept the United States in the 2000s is well depicted by the movie and so are some of the most iconic moments of the past 20 or so years. On the one hand, there is the win by Chris Moneymaker in 2003 who inspired millions of amateur players to take poker more seriously.

"All In: The Poker Movie" similarly follows the event surrounding the so-called "Black Friday" in 2011, when the US government cracked down on what it saw as illegal online poker platforms in the country and pumped the breaks of poker’s resurgence and popularity.

All in all, this is one of the best movies about gambling on Netflix that focuses more on a historical rundown of the poker vertical in the United States than anything else.

6. Win It All

"Win It All" is another feel-good Netflix & chill movie about gambling, with a simple yet engaging premise. Eddie Garrett, played by Jake Johnson, is a small-time gambler who agrees to take care of a duffel bag for an acquaintance heading to prison. Garrett soon discovers the bag is filled with cash, and being short on money, his gambling urges take over.

Unable to resist temptation, Garrett gambles the money, quickly finding himself in a tight spot, trying to win it back before his acquaintance’s release. Although he eventually makes things right, even winning $400 on top of the original amount, the movie's real purpose seems to explore the hardships that gambling addicts go through.

What stands out is how "Win It All" captures Garrett's descent into addiction. His journey shows the destructive pull of gambling, offering a more sobering portrayal of the struggles gamblers face. While the film ends with Garrett seemingly overcoming his addiction and sitting down for a family dinner, viewers are left questioning whether every story of addiction ends so neatly.

7. Money, Explained

Is "Money, Explained" one of the best casino movies on Netflix? It very possibly is. Now, the whole series "Money, Explained," is a popular short documentary series that aims to explain and contextualize the meaning of money, and overall increase people’s financial literacy.

In one episode, "Gambling," the docuseries takes a close look at how gambling companies, casinos, lotteries, and betting operators use psychology and conditioning to galvanize people into spending more money – money that they would normally feel compelled to spend.

"Gambling" is a further captivating watch because it goes beyond the simple manipulations used by the industry to motivate people to gamble, but also interviews psychologists who explain how the activity can spiral out of control for many people and what the physiological triggers of gambling addiction can lead to.

8. Eat the Rich

"Eat the Rich" is another fascinating gambling movie on Netflix, although we are admittedly stretching the meaning of the word "gambling." "Eat the Rich" is the story of a Reddit community, r/WallStreetBets which went against conventional Wall Street wisdom, and drove up the price of GameStop shares.

The move caught short-sellers unawares and cost them dearly after the stock they had bet against to decline was suddenly resurgent and buoyant. The documentary focuses on the stories of the sub-Reddit, as the forum is called, and interviewed investors who rode the tide and ended up profiting from the sudden shift.

"Eat the Rich" is a fascinating Netflix flick about gambling in every sense of the word. It depicts short selling as a sort of gamble against market forces and shows that our financial system is not completely bulletproof and that it’s not just big corporations that can have sway.

Grassroot Redditors might pack a powerful punch in the beating heart of Wall Street it turns out. To find out how, don’t hesitate to stream "Eat the Rich."

9. The Ballad of a Small Player

"The Ballad of a Small Player" is a forthcoming movie on Netflix starring Collin Farrell and based on the original work of writer Lawrence Osborne. The story centres on Doyle, an English lawyer who eventually heads for Macau and starts dabbling into his gambling addiction.

Playing the baccarat table, he sees his fortunes fluctuate, and his losses accumulate. He meets an enigmatic woman called Dao-Ming, and they develop a strange relationship that centres on their love for gambling and money.

They develop a physical and romantic relationship, but the story cannot help but circle back to a feeling that the pair operates mostly out of a financial interest. The movie which is yet to be released, is very reminiscent of an old movie by Claude Autant-Lara released in 1958 and called Le Joueur and based on Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s book by the same name, "The Gambler."

10. Uncut Gems

Uncut Gems is the last gambling movie to stream on Netflix on this list, and it takes a much darker turn than the rest. New York jeweler Howard Ratner played by Adam Sandler pursues wealth at all costs and finds himself tangled in a mesh of gambling problems, and loan sharks on his tail.

His gambling habits get the better of him and he ends up entangled with Arno, a loan shark, and his operation. Captured by his need to gamble, Ratner will continue to gamble throughout the movie until the very end when he is confronted by Arno and his thugs, who seek to retrieve a loan but are instead locked in Ratner’s jewellery shop.

Ratner, engrossed, in a casino game, wins $1.2m and is ready to repay Arno, whom he releases of captivity. Then Phil, one of Arno’s thugs, shoots Ratner in the face and then does the same to his boss. It’s a grim ending to a fraught movie that will leave viewers feeling uneasy about Ratner’s life disintegrating in front of his eyes and how even the gambling win was not enough to set it right.

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