10 Best Poker Movies You Need to Watch Right Now

Lights, Cameras, Deal… Poker is a rare thing: a betting game where skill plays.

To be a great poker player, you need confidence, technique, knowledge, swagger, and nerves of steel. Luck is a factor, but poker is fundamentally a game between people – not against the house.

It’s this blend of nuance and machismo that makes the game such a perfect ingredient for drama. It is the perfect scenario for a showdown; a platform where characters confront each other in a game of bluff and deception.

We shuffled a few of our favorites together to bring you a list of the 10 best poker movies ever.

1. The Sting

Is The Sting a movie about poker? Maybe not.

Does poker feature in one the most memorable scenes in the movie? Definitely, yes.

The Sting was released in 1973. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It is a rollicking riot of a movie, with a glorious cast at the absolute top of their game.

Poker makes a fabulous cameo, in a glorious head-to-head between Paul Newman’s character Henry Gondorff and gangster Doyle Lonnegan, played masterfully by Robert Shaw.

The two hustlers outcheat each other in an unforgettable showdown.

Cinematic Comedy Gold.

2. Rounders

Directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon, Ed Norton, and John Malkovich, Rounders was the right movie at the right time.

The online poker revolution was just starting to gain momentum when this film was released in 1998; arguably one of the best poker movies of all time.

It tells the tale of two friends who hit the underground poker circuit, to hustle their way from a busted bankroll to a seat at the World Series of Poker.

The movie has earned cult status among the poker playing fraternity; not least for Malkovich’s over-the-top performance as Russian gangster Teddy KGB.

It’ll make you want to learn how to play poker, so read our guide if you’re new to the game.

3. Mississippi Grind

Fans of Deadpool are in for a treat with this indie pic starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn.

The pair meet and become friends over a game of poker; it’s the beginning of a gambling roller-coaster of a road trip to Mississippi, New Orleans, and Nevada.

Released at the Sundance Festival in 2015, Mississippi Grind extracts stellar performances from its leading men with a tried and tested tale of gambling addiction.

Once again, poker features in the movie’s pivotal moments, before the hapless duo arrive in Las Vegas, (plot spoiler) win everything, and all is well.

4. Casino Royale

If ever a movie made the perfect substitution, it was switching poker for baccarat, in the 2006 James Bond franchise reboot: Casino Royale.

The movie reaches its climax when Bond, and Spectre uber bad guy Le Chiffre, go head-to-head in a game of high stakes poker.

In the book, the clash takes place at the baccarat table.

Baccarat is a game of pure chance. There is no skill – purely luck. You can learn how to play baccarat in our dedicated guide if you’ve never played.

By swapping the game to poker, the two actors now get to ‘read’ each other; the psycho-melodrama is turned up to 11.

It’s arguably the best one in the Daniel Craig portfolio and the poker game is a nailbiter, which is why it’s made it to our list of the best poker movies.

Licensed to thrill.

5. Molly’s Game

Molly’s Game tells the true story of Molly Bloom, famous for hosting high stakes poker games in Hollywood and New York; attracting celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck.

Bloom was arrested and charged with money laundering, fraud, and operating an illegal poker room.

In the 2017 movie, Jessica Chastain fills Bloom’s stilettos, with a fabulous performance that left the real Molly Bloom ‘blown away’, as well as earning her a Golden Globe nomination.

Bloom was also a professional mogul skier, narrowly missing the Olympics due to a sports injury. What a player.

6. The Cincinnati Kid

Steve McQueen makes his second appearance in our list of the best poker movies, with Norman Jewison’s tale of Eric ‘The Kid’ Stoner’; an up-and-coming poker player, keen to establish a reputation in the midst of the Great Depression.

If you thought Texas Hold’em only arrived when the best online poker sites hit the Internet, get ready for an education.

This classic 1965 movie also stars Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, and Ann-Margret.

It was the breakthrough movie for director Norman Jewison and considered one of the best poker movies ever made.

It’s 50 years old but as brilliant today as it was on its release.

7. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

LSTSB is a fabulous knockabout hit British comedy, from Quentin Tarantino-esque director Guy Ritchie.

The story revolves around a rigged poker game, money owed, and lots of old school London gangsters and villains.

Packed with pace, comedy and wit, as well as the debut of kick ass action hero Jason Statham, it’s a must-see poker movie.

The movie is funny, violent, and full of twists and turns. It’s also a lesson in not lifting your hole cards too high. You never know who’s watching.

8. High Roller: the Stu Ungar Story

When it comes to poker characters, they don’t come any bigger than Stu Ungar.

The three-time WSOP Main Event bracelet winner led an extraordinary life, albeit painfully short. He was 45 when he died in 1998.

A. W. Vidmar’s biopic unpicks the troubled gambler’s struggles with addiction and relationships.

The story is told in flashback, with the lead role taken by Sopranos star Michael Imperioli.

Anyone with an interest in poker, and what it takes to be a professional player, should definitely check this out on Amazon Prime. It’s tough at the top.

9. The Grand

If you love mockumentary, improvised-style movies like Best in Show and Spinal Tap, then The Grand is worth one hour and 44 minutes of your time.

With Woody Harrelson in full wacko-mode, as an ex-poker champ trying to win his casino back at the WSOP, the movie is a (mainly) hit and (occasional) miss affair.

There are some great laughs and cameos from some of the best poker players of all time, including Phil Gordon, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, and Richard Brodie.

It’s filmed at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas. If you’re into movies about poker, this is essential viewing.

10. Lucky You

One reviewer of Curtis Hanson’s Las Vegas-based poker melodrama Lucky You said ‘if you like watching poker on ESPN, you might enjoy this film’.

That’s about as good as it gets.

Unfortunately, most reviewers thought the director should have known when to fold ‘em.

The father-son-stake-gamble-win-lose-lover-rivalry-bitterness-forgiveness-reconciliation drama plays out at the WSOP, with scenes in the Bellagio and Binion’s Horseshoe.

If you’re a fan of poker, it’s another insight into the brains behind a bluff and a bet. Worth a view for Robert Duvall alone.