Five Of The Best Gambling Movies Filmed In Canada

Gambling movies are great, even for folks who have zero interest in gambling. Such films often present exciting and intriguing storylines that are attractive to persons who partake in casino games and sports betting, as well as those who don’t.

Gambling is, of course, pretty big in Canada, with Ontario Bet365 one of the top platforms for residents. Canadians would also be proud to know that there are several gambling movies that were filmed right there in the country.

Let’s take a look at the five of the best.

1. Lucky Girl

Also known as My Daughter’s Secret Life, this 2001 movie starring Elisha Cuthbert and Sherry Miller tells the story of a girl named Kaitlyn who becomes addicted to gambling. Obsessed with always being right, nothing pleases Kaitlyn more than winning a bet. 

She wins a pretty huge prize due to her magic-wand lottery ticket but things begin to spiral out of control when she deepens her involvement in gambling with the aim of making enough money for a holiday in Amsterdam with her friends.

Kaitlyn begins to take bigger risks, making many regrettable decisions along the way.

2. Cold Deck

Cold Deck, released in 2015, is directed by Zack Bernbaum and is centered on the life of Bobby, who is a poker player and gambling addict. 

Bobby lives with his sick mother Audrey who, as you would expect, is disgusted by his gambling habit, more so as it contributed to the deterioration of his father. The addict frequents a place called Chips, where he spends most of his time playing poker and also dates a waitress who works there named Kim. 

His friend Ben wisens him up to a high-stakes tournament after a losing streak, while his mother’s health bills continue to pile up. The pals steal a car to get enough money for the buy-in, believing that the bankers who are set to be participants will be easy marks. Bobby also steals Audrey’s life savings in order to play and forms a connection with a violent character named Turk.

Cold Deck is an emotional roller-coaster of a film that could easily leave you on the edge of your seat.

3. Owning Mahowny

Owning Mahony is especially a thrill for folks who enjoy visiting the biggest casinos in Canada. Released in 2003, this film hardly showcases the glitz and glamor most gambling films tend to portray, instead depicting the dangers of addiction in a true story retelling the misadventures of a Canadian bank manager who steals money from his bank to make bets in Atlantic City. 

Played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Mahowny is a man who simply cannot control his urges but tries his best to.

In real life, the bank manager steals over $10 million from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to feed his gambling addiction. If there was ever a movie made to scare people off getting addicted to gambling, this would have to be it.

4. The Last Casino

The Last Casino strays away from the traditional gambling movie mold as it shines on a bit of gambling history, particularly blackjack. The 2004 release gives a humorous take on the world of gambling and is similar to the Hollywood film 21.

It tells the story of a professor who taught three students to count cards and help him turn $1,000 into $35,000 for him as he’s banned from gaming houses in Ontario and Quebec. 

The movie makes many references to the famous MIT Blackjack Team of 1979 and is loosely based on its forays. The real-life team was made up of a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who were trained by Bill Kaplan. 

Kaplan had turned $1,000 into $35,000 in nine months in 1977 and delayed his entrance into Harvard as he was sure he could create a mathematical model that would help him maintain success in blackjack.

5. Dead Heat 

The 2002 film stars Keifer Sutherland, who plays a 35-year-old cop named Paul “Pally” LaMarr. Forced into retirement after suffering a heart attack while confronting a bandit, Pally goes into a depressed state and contemplates suicide. His wife calls his half-brother Ray, a small-time crook, to visit Pally and boost his spirits.

Ray eventually convinces his brother to finance a racehorse with a long shot of winning, with the odds obviously pretty wide on a successful outcome. Unbeknownst to Pally, Ray’s jockey Tony LaRoche is a gambling addict owing lots of money to mob boss Frank Finnegan. 

The brothers unwittingly become associated with all sorts of crime, even murder, as they inherit Tony’s debt to the mob.