Gambling In Fiction: The Best Portrayals Of The Age Old Art

The age old art of gambling remains a hot topic in the 21^st century. That shouldn’t surprise anyone, as gambling has been a part of human culture for as long as humans have been around. It seems that the drive to take risks is an innate human trait, and while it manifests in different ways and to different degrees, it certainly does manifest in everyone.

The connection humans have to gambling has inspired many creatives, whether they be writers, animators, artists, or filmmakers. Many have attempted to portray gambling as accurately and as interestingly as possible. In this article, we would like to take a look at the different works of fiction that manage to do both. We aren’t just looking at films either, but covering a broad range of fiction.

Video Games

Video games and gambling, in some ways, go hand in hand. Studies have shown that gamers are much more likely to visit online casinos than non-gamers for example. The reason seems unclear, but it appears to have a lot to do with the similarities in game development for proper video games and online gambling games.

Online casinos in general are on the rise, in large part thanks to the developing technologies that lead to many improvements. For example, fans can now visit gambling websites, and forego sharing private information in order to make deposits. But, online casinos are not the only correlation between gaming and gambling.

The industry has seen its fair share of poker games. The one we would like to shine a light on today is Poker Night: At the Inventory. This modern classic, crossover game features well-known characters from different video game franchises that come together to play Texas Hold ‘em. Despite being cartoonish and over-the-top, the game does a fantastic job of accurately portraying a game of poker among friends.

Films

The film industry is the biggest entertainment market right now, with most being drawn to movies over books, television, video games, or graphic novels. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that when most think of gambling in fiction, they think of gambling films. Like the 1998 poker film Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton. 

The film tells the story of a poker player whose love for the game drives a wedge in most of his relationships. However, despite that, he refuses to quit the game, which leads to him getting embroiled in a high-stakes poker game. But, what makes Rounders such a good film is the exploration of the psychological tricks that go into poker, as well as the strategies that professional players employ to stay ahead of the competition.

For those who aren’t interested in gambling, but are fascinated by the casino, perhaps the 1995 film Casino, directed by Martin Scorsese. The film follows the story of Ace, portrayed by Robert DeNiro. Ace is the manager of one of Vegas’ top casinos. While the film doesn’t deal with gambling, it does explore the ways a casino manager would have to operate in order to make the business a success. 

Anime

The Japanese animation industry, commonly referred to as “anime,” has gotten a lot more attention. In large part, we have the “shounen action” series to thank for that. Television shows like Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, and One Piece, have done a fantastic job of attracting new fans to the world of animation.

However, anime is much more than just action and adventure anime. In fact, one of the most popular sub-genres of anime is gambling, and the king of gambling anime is, without a doubt, Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji. The show follows Kaiji, a down-on-his luck college dropout, who goes into debt when a mysterious person offers him the chance of a lifetime.

Kaiji, as a show, explores much more than just the psychological reasoning that many gamblers have. It also delves into gambling strategies, the manipulation tactics that both casinos and gamblers themselves use to get ahead of the competition, and the lengths to which some gambling fans are willing to go, not just to win money, but to feel the thrill of adrenaline rushing through their veins. 

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