9 Movies About Poker That Will Change How You Think of the Game – menshealth.com

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Poker: a game, to be sure, but also a metaphor for life, business, and the hustling we all inevitably engage in to get ahead. Also very fun to watch famous actors do on the big screen! Certainly much more fun than watching the World Poker Tour, unless youre a true poker nerd.

The movies have been obsessed with the card game since just about forever. The best of these, showcased in this list, delve into the larger social and psychological implications of those who become deeply involved in the poker worlds tricky web. Plus whats better than watching Matt Damon and Warren Beatty flop-sweat it out over a hustle?

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The Sting (1973)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid director George Roy Hill took the reins of this Best Picture winner (starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman) thats centrally about the art of conning, though poker plays an important role. Its one of the ultimate hustle-as-a-way-of-life allegories. For better or worse, it might also just help you at your next job interview.

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Casino (1995)

One of the many wonderful, dirty things about Martin Scorseses nearly three-hour Las Vegas epic (!) is Sharon Stone as a gambling hustler who marries Robert De Niros casino manager. Poker is one small but critical facet of what happens inside the casino. Another is Joe Pesci. No wonder Scorsese refused to edit this thing down.

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Rounders (1998)

Its hard to say why (the indie film explosion? A renewed fixation with conning?), but the 90s were a golden age for poker movies. And Matt Damon and Edward Norton as friends nervously, sweatily exploring the underworld of high-stakes poker to pay off a debt are never less than riveting. Rounders is one of the true underrated gems of the decade.

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Molly's Game (2017)

Before he directed the Oscar-nominated and then Oscar-snubbed Netflix movie The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin took the helm of this twisty true story of Molly Bloom, who ran high-stakes poker games attended by the wealthy and famous before facing an FBI investigation and criminal charges. Jessica Chastain as Bloom is in excellent form here.

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Mississipi Grind (2015)

The A24-released Mississippi Grind didnt reach many peoples radars, but it should have. After all, you would think Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn as degenerate gamblers on a Southern excursion would have more commercial traction.

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Maverick (1994)

An update of the old TV series, Maverick has Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner as a trio of Old West schemers intent on using poker to improve their station in life. It is funny, weird, and extremely 90s.

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The Grand (2007)

The improv-oriented mockumentary features actual players at a poker tournament at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, with Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, Chris Parnell, Werner Herzog, Jason Alexander, Dennis Farina, David Cross, Gabe Kaplan, Michael Karnow, and Cheryl Hines thrown into the mix. In other words, theres no way not to laugh.

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Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980)

The title kind of explains it all, but if youre only familiar with the Kenny Rogers hit The Gambler (and if youre not, please correct that immediately), check out the surprisingly solid TV movie piggybacking off the songs success. The always good-natured Rogers plays a gambler helping out a young poker player. Revolutionary? Certainly not, but a worthy late-night watch.

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McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

Okay, so its not really about poker, but Robert Altmans masterpiece kicks off with a poker game launched by Warren Beattys newly arrived hustler: Well, you boys don't know nothin' about me, and I don't know nothin' about you. So whaddya say we make this a nickel game, huh, to start off with. Thats just the beginning of McCabes sordid saga, and Beattys performance is poetic.

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9 Movies About Poker That Will Change How You Think of the Game - menshealth.com