Hollywood has always had a massive fascination with the glitz, glamour, and inherent danger of the casino floor.

From gritty mobster epics to slick, fast-paced heist movies, the genre has produced some of the greatest films in history.

The Dark Side of Vegas: Casino (1995)

Martin Scorsese’s epic film ‘Casino’ is widely considered the greatest and most accurate portrayal of 1970s Las Vegas.

The movie meticulously details the daily operations of a casino, showing exactly how the ‘eye in the sky’ and the pit bosses operated.

• Pesci’s terrifying portrayal of mob enforcer Nicky Santoro remains one of the greatest cinematic villains of all time
• The famous ‘head in a vise’ scene demonstrated the brutal methods the mob used to deal with casino cheaters
• It is a historical document showcasing the exact moment the mafia lost their grip on the Nevada gaming industry

Ocean’s Eleven and Rounders

If you prefer slick, stylish entertainment over gritty realism, the 2001 remake of ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ is absolute perfection.

For fans of intense card games, the 1998 film ‘Rounders’ is credited with helping launch the global Texas Hold’em boom.

They serve as a permanent cultural record of how the gambling industry has evolved over the last fifty years.