While many people claim that the chief reason most individuals sign-up to play games of chance at online casino USA sites is attaining monetary benefit, there is something to get said about the thrills this activity produces. Gambling is an inherently suspenseful pastime due to the uncertainty involved. No one can guess what will happen in each round/hand since all the products gaming establishments host generate their outcomes arbitrarily.
Hence, betting on live dealer games can be a creative tool for creating tension on the silver screen. Moreover, casinos are atmospheric settings for complex set pieces. So, it should not surprise you that many filmmakers have chosen to utilize casinos in Las Vegas and other premium gambling destinations as backdrops to stories involving heavy doses of drama, ones featuring nerve-racking scenes.
There may not be many films about gambling at safe online casinos. But there are heaps of ones where memorable characters wager at poorly-decorated venues jam-packed with shady, elegantly dressed people.
Below, we present you with five quotes from such fair that most cinephiles likely remember, ones that will transport casual movie watchers to the distinct scenes they originated from. If that does not happen, we break down their roots for you.
Watching movies about people engrossed in playing games of chance may not be as exciting as engaging in betting fun at one of the sites listed on our casino reviews page. Yet, it is the closest thing possible if you don’t want to risk your hard-earned cash on events with uncertain results.
1. “She Knew How To Take Care Of People, And That’s What Vegas Is All About. It’s Kickback City.”
According to many critics, Sharon Stone was the true shining grace of Casino.
- Movie: Casino
- Release Year: 1995
- Character: Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein
There cannot be any debate regarding what is the essential casino movie. Without argument, it is Martin Scorsese’s 1995 epic crime drama based on the Nicholas Pileggi book – Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas.
Casino, produced by Barbara De Fina, and released by Universal Pictures, was a worldwide box office success and received a predominantly positive critical reception. While the film has several stunning performances, the one that most critics pointed out following its theatrical debut was that of Sharon Stone, who plays a former prostitute and hustler, Ginger McKenna.
During a voice-over in which Robert De Niro’s character Sam Rothstein introduces his future wife-to-be, he describes her as someone that –“knew how to take care of people.”, adding that Sin City is all about pampering and luxury. Similar to how modern gambling sites these days go all out with loyalty perks and a fat casino bonus on registration to make players join and stay.
De Niro’s cited Ginger quote gets preceded by a famous monologue where he explains how casinos combat cheating. In it, he elaborates that the dealers are watching the players, the boxmen are watching the dealers, the floor players are watching the pit bosses, the shift bosses are watching the pit bosses, and so on, with the eye in the sky watching everyone.
2. “Gambling’s not about money… Gambling’s about not facing reality, ignoring the odds.”
- Movie: Croupier
- Release Year: 1998
- Character: Jack Manfred
Mike Hodges may be best known for directing Michale Caine in the 1971 gangster flick Get Carter and as the figurehead behind the cheesy 1980s sci-fi cult classic Flash Gordon. Nevertheless, most avid movie watchers will surely agree that the highest-quality film in his portfolio is the less-known Croupier, starring Clive Owen as Jack Manfred.
Croupier is a British neo-noir that garnered a following after it got released on DVD by Image Entertainment in the US and Alliance Atlantis in Canada. It tells the story of an aspiring writer who takes a job at a local London casino, arranged by his father, a small-time South African hustler with UK connections.
The film essentially is a guide on how a small, high-payout casino operates, with Jack narrating the goings-on in the venue and everyone’s role in it. Owen’s character Manfred dives into multiple scene narrations where he spits nuggets of wisdom, such as the one selected for this subheading, that gambling is about ignoring reality, about the fantasy of attaining something greater.
3. “How would you rate the thrill you got from gambling on a scale of one to 100? A hundred”
Brian Molony, the real banker whose exploits served as the basis for Owning Mahowny.
- Movie: Owning Mahowny
- Release Year: 2003
- Character: Dan Mahowny
While Scorsese’s Casino only got inspired by historical events, Owning Mahowny is an actual true story of a Toronto bank employee who stole over ten million dollars to feed his insatiable gambling addiction.
In real life, the character played by the always great Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Dan Mahowny, was named Brian Molony. He was a manager at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, from where he embezzled over ten million dollars that he lost at gambling locales in Atlantic City, primarily at casino table games.
Owning Mahowny retells what really occurred in this scandal, how Brian Molony got away with his criminal acts for as long as he did, and what led to his eventual arrest.
The quote we chose from this highly underrated gem is from its last scene when Phillip Seymour Hoffman is at a psychologist’s office, and the doctor asks him to rate the excitement that gambling causes him to feel on a scale of one to one hundred. Hoffman instantly answers with one hundred, with the psychologist following up his initial question with one where he asks Hoffman’s character to rate the biggest non-gambling thrill he has felt. Mahowny/Hoffman responds with twenty, admitting he is now fine living a life where he will only experience a max thrill level of twenty.
4. “Lest we forget, once you’re out the front door, you’re still in the middle of the f**king desert!”
- Movie: Ocean’s Eleven
- Release Year: 2001
- Character: Ruben
The 2001 version of Ocean’s Eleven was such as smash hit that most people today don’t even know it is a remake of a 1960s Rat Pack heist movie of the same name. Both films are ensemble pieces, meaning they feature many famous actors. The 2001 one boasts a cast featuring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, and many others. It was the fifth highest-grossing movie of that year and got followed up by two sequels.
The story of this light-hearted crime romp directed by Steven Soderbergh revolves around ex-con Danny Ocean, played by Clooney, putting together a crew of ten to rob three Las Vegas real money casinos simultaneously.
The scene that generated the quote listed depicts Ocean trying to recruit Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould). Tishkoff is a security expert who explains that it is virtually impossible to rob a casino, illustrating that even if Clooney’s team manages to pull off the impossible feat, they’ll still have to get out of the Mojave Desert.
5. “I think there comes a time to decide whether you’re running a museum or you’re running a casino.”
The Cooler likely features Alec Baldwin’s best career performance.
- Movie: The Cooler
- Release Year: 2003
- Character: Larry Sokolov
The Cooler is a romantic drama written and directed by Wayne Kramer of Running Scared fame. It landed Alec Baldwin an Oscar nomination, with its plot following a casino cooler played by William H. Macy. A cooler is a title given to a person whose presence envokes streaks of bad luck for others. Therefore, William H. Macy’s character, Bernie Lootz’s job is to walk around the gaming floor and stand near winning players, causing a shift in their fortune. Even though this is a mere Vegas superstition, as such an ability does not exist, it is wise to err on the side of caution and enjoy online blackjack rather than playing twenty-one at a brick-and-mortar casino where your luck can get affected by external factors.
Ron Livingston has a small role in The Cooler, playing Larry Sokolovm, a young casino executive injected into the running of the Shangri-La, who tries to convince Baldwin’s character to let go of his classic ways of operating a casino. Metaphorically telling him that he should embrace modern methods, something Baldwins’ Oldschool Shelly Kaplow will not do, as he prefers the traditional approaches. Ones that he has learned from his mentors during one of Vegas’ golden ages.
