Sports Betting Movie
Love to kill time watching movies? Love to chill while sports betting? Who said you can’t do both at the same time?
- Real-life Ace Rothstein’s fascination with sports betting never dissipated, and he established the first-ever legitimate sportsbook on American soil in 1976. Casino isn’t a light film by any means, and Scorsese deeply investigates the real story and characters.
- Sports Betting Movie Has Dark Comedy. Although California Split inspired the sports betting movie, the comedy of Uncut Gems is much darker than the classic gambling movie. The sports betting film has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes in the review aggregator.
With these 5 great sports betting movies you don’t have to choose anymore between the two of your favorite pastime activities.
Lang is a freelance writer specializing in boxing and sports gambling. He also holds an MA in sociology and taught at UNLV and Tuskegee Institute. Lang has written for many weekly papers, leading boxing magazines, and for Stardust Sports Registry, a publication he created while affiliated with the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas.He is the author of Sports Betting 101: Making Sense of the.
Casino (1995)
If a tale of deception, power, money, fast life, greed and of course, the dark side of Las Vegas casino establishment excites you, then you definitely need to see the Casino.
The movie, which was released in 1995, tells the true-life story of Frank Rosenthal as told in a nonfiction book “Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas” by Nicholas Pileggi.
John Anthony Sports Betting Movie
Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. The movie traces the journey of Sam “Ace” Rothstein (played by De Niro) an expert gambling handicapper who due to his skills was hired by the Chicago organized crime families to oversee the operations of the biggest casinos in Vegas.
Supporting characters in the film included Nicholas “Nicky” Santoro (played by Pesci) and Ace’s girlfriend and eventual wife Ginger McKenna (played by Stone). Stone would later go on to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama and score a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
However, De Niro would get snubbed once again despite playing a leading role in the movie. For industry watchers, De Niro’s miss out in the Oscars for the best movie in 2020 didn’t come as a surprise considering he posted fifth in the Unibet Betting Pennsylvania with +5.000 odds to win the Oscars.
That notwithstanding, Casino is a deeply intriguing movie that thoroughly investigates the influence of mobsters on the Las Vegas casino scene in the 70s and early 80s.
Two for the Money (2005)
An inside-out look at the highs and lows of the gambling world. When former college football star Brandon Lang career was cut short due to a knee injury, he was forced to abandon his ambition of going pro to handicapping football games.
With a knack for consistently picking winning odds, Brandon’s skills didn’t go unnoticed for long until Walter Abrams, head of one of the leading companies providing advisory services for gamblers poached him.
Under the wings of Walter, Lang was transformed into a high-rolling handicapper. However, as is always the case, with time he became cocky about his skills and stopped doing his homework. He started playing his hunches which led to some losses. The movie ends when Lang made a correct prediction for a high-stake came with several millions at risk.
Eight Men Out (1998)
Eight Men Out is a movie that clearly depict what would happen when bookmakers are unregulated and allowed free reins. The movie is based around the life-event during the 1919 World Series.
The eight Chicago White Sox players surprisingly lost, a competition they were favorites to win. The eight players conniving with an illicit gambling ring threw the series and lost in 8 games.
The Color of Money (1986)
A sequel to The Hustler directed by the masterful Martin Scorsese featuring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as his understudy.
The Color of Money opens with Eddie Nelson (Newman) spotted a promising table hustler Vincent Lauria (Cruise) and took him under his wings.
The movie dives into the psychology of bettors exploring the place of pride, identity, and morality of professional gamers. Now, combine this with the star power of Newman and Tom Cruise and you have a must-watch movie.
Lay the Favorite (2012)
When a stripper leaves her job dancing at night clubs to cocktail waitress in Vegas Casino to a professional sharp where she meets a sports gambler that takes her under his wings.
The movie is a TV-adaption of Beth Raymer’s life memoir where she chronicled her journey from a stripper to full-time pool hustler.
Filmmakers have always been eager to make a good story and direct a movie around successful sports stories. There are a couple of films about sports betting as well, altering our views about the lives of players, coaches, wives, and friends of persons involved in the sports betting world. Here are our top five elections for this genre and hopefully, you will love them. This article has been written with the support of the editorial team at bestbettingsites.
Photo from the film Two For the Money.
Two For The Money (2005)
Based on a true story of a former college football player who became successful sports tipster, Two for the Money is a the top of our list. Brandon Lang was a great player, whose career didn’t turn out to be as successful as many predicted. Deciding to leave his telemarketing job, Lang made a contact with Walter Abrams who recognized his true potential. Brandon was a big talent to predict outcomes of football matches. What is interesting to say here is that Lang and Abrams were working together, but not placing the bets themselves. They were selling predictions, useful stats and tips to sports bettors. This movie clearly depicts the whole business of sports betting.
Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey have done excellent work showing the emotional process of winning and losing bets, while also describing how the whole industry works. The movie shows many up and downs, winning and losing streaks both of our characters and their customers, shaping everyone’s lives. If you haven’t already, we highly recommend you to take a look at this masterpiece.
Lay The Favorite (2012)
This movie is based on Beth Raymer’s memoir. She is starting as a stripper (Rebeca Hall) and then she meets Dirk (Bruce Willis) and discovers a huge
aptitude for sports betting. After a lot of convincing, Dirk promised her a spot at his sports betting company, and Beth accepts immediately. She spent days
investigating and blogging about legal sportsbooks and offshore bookies, being a natural talent to spot a person who loves the uncertainty of sports betting.
Eventually, her research does not depict gamblers who are not interested in a positive way of living but shows them as individuals addicted to a life full of
possibilities. The movie is trying to show a humanistic look towards unusual individuals and psychology of everyday bettors. The film succeeded in washing away negative stereotypes of sports betting players.
Eight Man Out (1988)
Sports Betting Movies On Netflix
The 1919 World Series was one of the biggest sports controversies in history so far, and Eight Man Out is based on those events. Eight players of the baseball
team Chicago White Sox have conspired with important persons in the sports betting industry were banned for life from sports after intentionally playing bad.
Of course, there were millions of dollars of bets placed on Chicago’s loss in the series, so they were desperate to make that happen.
Team’s owner Charles Comiskey was heavily condemned in this movie for mistreating his players, taking them as a piece of machinery to generate more money. John Cusack and Charlie Sheen have done tremendous work here even though those were the very beginnings of their careers. This movie has sent a clear message that sports betting needs to be regulated, while maintaining integrity, urging for necessary licenses. Also, it is portrayed how sports betting could have an awful influence on such a beautiful game and traditional events.
Casino (1995)
Martin Scorsese’s movie on the fringe of the USA society. It’s based on a true story of Frank Rothstein, played by legendary Robert De Niro. The Casino is
showing an intense investigation of organized criminal groups in Las Vegas casinos. These events happened in the 1970s. De Niro is one of the best oddsmakers in the country, who became responsible for the biggest casinos in Nevada. The profit margins he created for the owners were insane, while also managing one whole gambling operation. Later on, he was the first to create the first ever legit sports betting company on the USA soil. The location of his shop was inside one of the casinos! Sports betting is depicted as a big need of society’s criminals.
Football You Bet Movie Line
The Color Of Money (1986)
The last but not least on our top 5 list is The Color of Money. Paul Newman has won Academy Award for his performance in this movie is paired with Tom Cruise
here as his protegee. Here, sports bettors are not looking only to earn a massive profit through wagering. The movie illustrates the whole portrait for punters, showing how important identity and pride are for them.