5 Best Blackjack Scenes Filmed in Hollywood 

The combination of casinos and cinema is very common in Hollywood history. In fact, numerous movies have been dedicated to gambling halls and the challenges between players at the green table.

The classic card has never lost its appeal, whether it’s in Hollywood or everyday life. We can see how blackjack has shifted from its traditional, physical version into a mode of digital entertainment here: https://www.bovada.lv/casino/blackjack-games. 

Let’s discover the most famous Hollywood film productions that have made blackjack history:

21 (2008)

The movie 21 is undoubtedly one of the best-known about blackjack. Released in 2008 and starring Kevin Spacey, it was filmed by Robert Luketic and was inspired by the 2005 novel “Bringing Down the House” written by Ben Mezrich, in which the exploits of the MIT Blackjack Team, a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology undergraduates who, between the 1980s and 1990s, routed several casinos thanks to a ploy: card counting. 

The story’s main character is Ben Campbell, an MIT student with strong mathematical skills who, to pay his tuition, uses his calculating skills to win at casinos in Las Vegas along with some brilliant fellow college students. The boys play under the supervision of Professor Mickey Rosa and then share the winnings. But, for Ben, things start to get complicated after his early successes, and, kicked out by his mentor, he decides to organize a rematch.

Casino (1995)

Card counting in blackjack is also featured in Casino, a movie directed by Martin Scorsese with a cast that includes such actors as Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone. 

In the movie, Remo Gaggi -leader of the Chicago underworld- entrusts the management of the Tangiers casino in Las Vegas to Sam Rothstein, a trusted man of his nicknamed Ace, for his betting skills. Ace makes incredible profits, which alarms Gaggi, who partners him with Nicky Santoro, a henchman with violent methods that threaten to undermine the business. A meeting with the sultry Ginger McKenna seems to distract Ace from his worries, but the woman is involved in the prostitution trade run by the shady Lester Diamond.

The Hangover (2009)

The Hangover, a famous movie directed by Todd Phillips and starring, among others, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis, is one of Hollywood’s most successful and funny comedies ever. 

The movie (winner of a Golden Globe for best comedy film) tells of the adventures of four friends who travel to Las Vegas to throw a bachelor party. After a truly unforgettable night, the group of vacationers wakes up in a now devastated Caesars Palace suite, having completely lost track of the groom-to-be. 

The three survivors will have only one day to find him, and they will also have to deal with the Asian criminal Leslie Chow, who will order them to return a maxi winning of eighty thousand dollars at the casino on the pain of their missing friend’s death. The three, therefore, will return to sit at the green table, where Alan Garner will manage to bust and win another eighty thousand dollars.

Due to the incredible success of the first movie, two more movies with the same characters will be released in 2011 and 2013.

The Gambler (2014)

Also famous is The Gambler, in which Mark Wahlberg (who lost 30 kilograms to get into the character) plays a literature professor with huge gambling problems amid debts and disappointments given to people he loves. 

Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a gambler. The man decides to gamble it all the moment he offers a gangster his life as a pledge to get a loan. In order to gain both time and money, the young man even involves his mother and a loan shark who takes pleasure in humiliating people.

In the movie, the protagonist can be seen winning a large sum at the blackjack table and then later losing it at roulette.

Dr. No (1962)

And last but not least, another movie not to forget is Dr. No – the first installment in the successful series about the secret agent in the service of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom. 

Inspired by one of Ian Fleming’s books, Dr. No sees James Bond (played by Sean Connery) engaged in stopping the plans of the fearsome Dr. No, a follower of the international crime group Spectre. 

In this film, the British Secret Service agent sits down for a game of blackjack, the stakes of which will become increasingly high and risky as the story continues.

In all the movies devoted to 007, casino games have always played a prominent role and Dr. No is no exception.