A friend recently forced me to watch the movie “Casino” for the first time. You may be shocked that a professional gambler wouldn’t have already seen “Casino” twenty times, but Hollywoodizations of what we do for a living aren’t always so appealing. Besides, we be werkin’ all the time! It turns out that “Casino” is not a gambling movie; it’s “Goodfellas” in a casino (with the same movie director, screen writer, and cast!). So, it didn’t come close to unseating our #1 gambling movie (guess what that is!), but “Casino” still contained some valuable lessons for the modern casino AP:
Don’t be naive when it comes to chip hustlers, strippers, and Vegas party girls. Even though they may be “good-hearted,” they are usually trapped in a lifestyle of habitual drug use, hustling, and manipulation (ask me about “fake cancer”). When DeNiro gave Sharon Stone the only key to the safety deposit box with $2 million, and said it was the first time he trusted anyone like that, did you think that he was telegraphing the eventual train wreck, or that this was a love story that was actually going to work. Hint: Pretty Woman starred Richard Gere, Casino starred Robert DeNiro (and Joe Pesci).
Don’t ignore heat. When a pit boss or casino manager is literally bending over to check the hole card, it’s time to leave! Note that since bosses are not trained hole-card players, their attempts to check the hole card often are as comical as depicted in the movie. I have seen bosses (and pathetic players) put their head on the rail, bend over, and sit at a dead table three tables away. A really cheesy move that only the cockiest and sweatiest bosses pull is actually sitting down at the table next to you while you play, pretending to be chummy. They think they’re really slick when they pull this one. Sometimes they even pick up your cards to play your hand for you. They don’t even know what they’re looking for, but they hope it will become obvious. It’s really pathetic.
Don’t go to the cage after heat. I have said and written many times: Don’t go to the cage after heat. Since any session may have triggered heat you didn’t notice, it’s best to not even cash out immediately after a session, whether you saw heat or not. The BP in “Casino” went to the cage, got his chips confiscated, got backroomed, got barred, and risked torture. Even today, I hear about all kinds of problems from players who ignore this advice: Don’t go to the cage after playing!
Industry people use the misnomer “weak dealer.” If a dealer makes a mistake in procedure (there are hundreds of procedures), it’s usually because they have not been trained properly or informed of the correct rule or procedure. This is usually not the dealer’s fault, but no one ever blames the “weak floorperson” or “weak pit boss” who failed to notice and correct the error. Isn’t it the job of surveillance to catch procedural breakdowns? Wasn’t it the Table Games Director who put the training systems in place? Wasn’t it the Casino Manager who hired the Table Games Director? Extracting money from a casino involves attacking a team–a corporation–attacking an entire system that put the game on the floor.
The industry is not clean. The movie is based on characters connected to the Stardust into the 1980s. You think the mob and other scam elements that built the industry in Las Vegas are completely eradicated from modern casinos only 30 years later? You think that with probably $15 billion spent building the megaresorts of the last decade that none of it was diverted to shady enterprises? You think there are no corrupt managers and regulators?
“They’re just our guests here.” In one scene, a Nevada Gaming Commission agent vows revenge against DeNiro for not granting a job to a kid who should be juiced in. That marks the beginning of DeNiro’s downward spiral. Here’s a secret: Nevada isn’t really part of the United States, and they know it. Nevadans have a mentality that is similar to the mentality in the Bahamas: “we locals” vs. “American tourists.” Nevadans deride the very tourists who are their lifeblood! It’s actually quite hypocritical, since many of the Nevadans are the lamest of the lame–they were so deluded or so addicted to the Vegas experience that they decided to move there! Of course, now they’re not just locals, they’re “savvy locals.” I’ve lived in Vegas for I don’t know how many years now, and it still isn’t home, or even homey.
Keep dealing, and keep ’em coming back. DeNiro gets it. When a high roller wins $1 million or so, DeNiro isn’t worried. He knows that when you have a money-making machine, all you need to do is keep the thing plugged in! Keep the gambler happy, keep him coming back, and the numbers take care of themselves. It’s idiot-proof. Unfortunately for casinos, it’s not pit-boss-proof.
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Enjoyed your piece on “Casino”. Interested to know what your favorite gambling movie is. I like two..”Hard Eight” and “California Split”…..also thought “The Cooler” was pretty good. Keep up he good work.
the #1 gambling movie is Rounders right?
This is a subject of some controversy. I will accept nominations before naming my personal favorite!
The Gambler
This post made me watch God of Gamblers for the first time. I will have to rate it 5 out of 6 points. Matter of fact, I am on my way to Chinatown to buy a jade pinky ring.
May I take the liberty of referring you to the Poll Archives, courtesy of this blog’s “Mothership,” where you can see the results of a reader survey we ran back in Nov. 2009 on this very subject. While the winners were obvious, you’ll find some interesting suggestions and feedback from gambling pros (including Bob Stupak’s pick!) in the feedback. Food for thought… A couple of polls prior to that one, we also ran a reader survey on the worst Vegas-based movie ever. Plenty of contenders in that category!
The Hustler – That’s easy. No doubt about it.
When I picked the title of this blog post, I had NO IDEA that you had run a poll that named Casino as the top gambling movie! I don’t even consider it a gambling movie.
In terms of realistic depiction, no even halfway decent casino/gambling movie has yet been made. “Casino” was excrement. Most of the gambling scenes were impossible fictions, aside from the horrid acting by all but DeNiro (I only kept watching to the end in the hope that Sharon Stone would end up in a wood chipper a la “Fargo”). “Rounders” is silly trash. None of the poker scenes make any sense at all. Especially hilarious is the scene where a roomful of cops beat the guys up because Matt Damon was dealt trip sevens rolled up. Policemen. Assault, beat up, and rob two people. Because NO ONE EVER gets dealt three sevens!!! (Yes, Worm was cheating, but Matt Damon’s character was winning well before he ever arrived, and it’s implied he folded every hand Worm dealt him until that last one). In other words, the cops committed multiple serious felonies because Damon was winning. Riiiiiiight.
The truth is that WATCHING gambling is as boring as watching paint dry, including (especially including) the climactic moments when a big bet or tournament is decided. If you don’t have a fairly sophisticated knowledge of a given casino game, you won’t enjoy watching it being played for very long–and since just about every movie’s target demographic is twelve-year-old boys, there won’t be any gambling movie that treats the topic any way but moronically and superficially.
Note: I would at least pardon “California Split” for its realistic depiction of So Cal degenerate gamblers and the lice-encrusted denizens of Gardena poker rooms. The Vegas scenes were nonsense, of course.
The Vegas scenes from “Lost in America” have to rank as some of the best, if not most rediculous ever filmed. The scene where Albert Brooks asks the casino manager to just give back all the money his wife lost, proposing it would be a PR coup for the casino…priceless! And so over the top you know it has to be written based on a real life event.
IMO, “Owning Mahowny” is the most realistic gambling-related movie. It’s based on a true story of a compulsive gambler embezzling money from the bank at which he worked, and the casino’s (Caesars AC) blind eye to his seemingly unlimited funds.
Some good nominations so far. Although it certainly is not the best gambling movie ever, “Big Hand for a Little Lady” deserves a mention. I do notice that no one is nominating “21.” I laughed so hard at Albert Brooks trying to convince Garry Marshall in “Lost in America” that it will be hard to convince me to accept any other winner. I know there may be better movies about gambling, and better movies that include some gambling, but I can’t think of many movies that made me chuckle so much.
I recommend the David Mamet movie, “House of Cards”.
I think everyone is trying to be cool and embarrassed to say 21 lol. I like 21. Bottom line is nothing will come close to real life gambling or AP (except for Owning Mahowny which is based on a true story) especially if it’s done by Hollywood. Have JG and his friends direct a movie based on their exploits and I will be the first in line out of 200 to watch it.
Vegas car chase scenes are also funny and sometimes annoying. You see them going south on LV Blvd then next thing you know they end up in Fremont St or some warehouse in California.
One reason why no one is mentioning “21” is that the title of the movie really should be, as your mispunctuation inadvertently implies, “21 lol.” The actions of every character in the movie are ridiculous. An actual blackjack team keeps a low profile–or else it doesn’t get past the first ten minutes of play. The behavior of the teenagers in the movie’s “Big Player” team would have gotten them barred virtually as soon as they stepped in the door of any casino; their loss of “cover” as depicted in the movie took about sixty times as long as it would have in reality. The characters are all idiots–who keeps hundreds of thousands of dollars behind a ceiling tile???–even Spacey’s character, who hires a child and is then surprised when he acts like one.
My biggest beef with the movie, though, is how the players win hand after hand after hand after hand after hand after hand. A BP would STILL win less than half of his hands even if he was playing every hand with a true count of +30. The point that the team was winning could have been brought home much less ineptly–maybe by showing the BPs winning some, losing some, but the team still winning overall.
I understand. There has been enough debate on this issue. I see it for it’s entertainment value and maybe because it’s probably the only movie in which the main storyline is based on players beating the casino with AP. I just watch it with an open mind and a reminder that it’s Hollywood. Maybe “21 lol” doesn’t have its place yet and will never be voted #1. But there’s a chance that this movie may have inspired a kid to look into AP and one day become a top level player. I’m curious to see a poll 30 years from now and see where “21 lol” will place.
Personally I’m tired of all the badmouthing of all these movies. As badjuju eventually says, I watch movies for their entertainment value only. And I did enjoy Casino for that very reason. Yes, I can laugh at various scenes knowing that they are either far-fetched or simply unreal, but that’s entertainment. If these are the kinds of remarks that folks are going to post all the time, count me out.
I watch movies for entertainment. My favorite ‘gambling’ movies are:
The Gambler
Owning Mahowny
I watch both several times each week (I’m serious) while working in my office.
Joe Pesci steaming while playing single deck where he throws his rag hand in disgust and a card sticks to the dealer’s stupid polyester uniform shirt is cathartic and one of the greatest gambling scenes of all time.
PS – I hate dealers.
I did enjoy that scene tremendously. I was actually hoping Pesci was going to go further.
I haven’t seen “21” yet, but I will at some point. When it first came out, my first question to teammates who saw it was, “Will it make me puke?” They told me, “Naw, not really, you won’t puke.” So I expect the movie to be entertaining enough for what it is. We were playing a hole-card game once at a Strip casino across the street from Circ Circ, and the dealer told us, “I was in the movie ’21′” and sure enough, she was a dealer in the movie! Hah hah!
That does seem unbelievable that you haven’t seen 21. It must be On Demand.
Hard 8 with Seymore Hoffman.
Every player loves watching other players unless they are not players themselves.
“Let it Ride” with Richard Dreyfus is a great gambling movie…
So, when do we get to find out JG’s favorite gambling movie?
I too want to know JG’s favorite gambling movie. When will we find out?
Ron
I agree with Michael, “Let it Ride” is great!!!
My favorite part of gambling movies (or gambling scenes in a movie) are the mistakes. In Rainman, Tom Cruise doubles down for more than his original bet when Dustin Hoffman tells him there are plenty of 10’s left. The dealer allows it, of course. Watching “Leaving Las Vegas”, they are playing blackjack on a very obvious Caribbean Stud table. Same in “21”, they are playing blackjack on a 3card poker table. Any other gambling “mistakes” you guys spot in movies?
Let it ride is not only a great gambling movie, but one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
What is the deal? Are we never to find out JG,s best gambling movie?
+1 for “Let it Ride”. Richard Dreyfus,Jen Tilly and somehow Scotlands Robbie Coltrane.
The “job” scene was dramatic license. Rosenthal never stood a chance at a casino license because he was a mobbed-up convict who fixed college basketball games. He turned into a pathetic blowhard selling picks on the internet.
http://frankleftyrosenthal.com/
House of Games
LOL……….. reminds me of the video I made at height of the dice setting craze……
Stanford Wong vs Kim Lee
“Let it Ride” is my all time favorite. Dreyfus had to have had some serious gambling experience. It seemed as if he went through the same emotions I’ve experienced over a lifetime of gambling. It just hit home for me
There’s “Deal” with Burt Reynolds to include.
So far, I think “21” is the best for me, but of course, if you do play, you know there are simplifications and exaggerations in the movie. It’s clever though.