Whether it’s baccarat, roulette, or slots, casino games are often featured in movies—but none get as much exposure as poker does. The excitement and unpredictability it brings to the table (pun intended) make it perfect for creating tense scenes you can’t take your eyes off of, which is probably why you’ll often see it featured in drama, spy, and even heist films like Ocean’s Eleven.

As poker gets even more popular—Verified Market Research finds that participation in major tournaments like the World Poker Tour has increased by a whopping 30% in the past decade—people are doing more than just stream classics like Maverick and The Sting. They’re looking for even more films that feature poker, and filmmakers are delivering. A recent example is 2024’s Dead Money, which follows a pro poker player during the most hectic 24 hours of his life. Movie buffs can also look forward to the release of Crossroads Revelation, a fictional deep dive into Munich’s poker scene, this year.

With all the films that already feature poker, however, you may be wondering if showcasing it on the silver screen is a tired strategy for building up viewer excitement—and asking if that will affect the release of new movies that revolve around the game. Fortunately, you don’t need to worry.

As long as it’s done right, poker can significantly elevate movies regardless of plot or genre. To prove that, here’s a brief overview of how some of Hollywood’s most popular poker films have fared at the box office over the years.

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Budget: $3,333,000
Box office: $7,000,000 (rentals)

Though poker has appeared in movies throughout the history of cinema, 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid—released shortly after the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood—is arguably one of the earliest that’s still remembered today for featuring the card game. The film, which comes from Academy Award-winning director Norman Jewison of Fiddler on the Roof and In the Heat of the Night fame, was Jewison’s first-ever drama after a string of comedies and helped his career soar to new heights.

The Cincinnati Kid follows the story of Eric “The Kid” Stoner, a Depression-era poker player looking to establish his name in professional circles. The movie climaxes amid a tense, final hand between Stoner and Lancey “The Man” Howard, who’s considered the best player around—making for a particularly exciting conclusion. Upon its release, The Cincinnati Kid did relatively well at the box office for its time, earning a profit of over $4 million. However, it wasn’t without its issues.

Critics found it to be a little too similar to The Hustler, which revolved around pool instead of poker but boasted similar themes, characterizations, and storylines. However, publications like Variety found it to be a “respectably packaged” drama with sufficient action to reel viewers in. Howard Thompson of The New York Times added that The Cincinnati Kid’s appeal was limited “strictly for those who relish—or at least play—stud poker.” That said, though it wasn’t earthshaking by any means, this film definitely laid the groundwork for the continued featuring of poker in cinema by illustrating the need to use more unique plots to help it shine—and integrate it in a way that more of the audience can relate to.

Rounders (1998)

Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $22,912,409

You’ll find Rounders on practically every list of best poker movies on the internet, primarily because Matt Damon went all-in to prepare for it. For his leading role as Mike McDermott, a “rounder” who travels between high-stakes poker games to pay off debt, he needed to learn more about the World Series of Poker, the world’s biggest poker tournament. Damon did that by actually joining the 1998 World Series of Poker, lending Rounders an unparalleled sense of realism. It ended up earning nearly double its budget at the box office after its release. Though that may sound impressive to the casual viewer, it wasn’t a head-turning outcome at the time. In fact, Rounders only truly came into its own in the noughties, and many now consider it to be the best poker film ever made.

The reason why poker fans and casual movie buffs alike started coming back to this film can be attributed to the poker boom of the early 2000s. This began with accountant Chris Moneymaker’s win at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Moneymaker’s rise to poker stardom was unprecedented—he won the top prize at his first-ever live tournament by qualifying online with a buy-in of just $86, being the first champion to do so. After quitting accounting, he became a celebrity spokesperson for Harrah’s Entertainment. He then signed with PokerStars, but eventually opted to move to ACR Poker as he felt it was more aligned with his personal brand. Moneymaker sees his ACR ambassadorship as his way of paying it forward, noting that ACR’s provision of buy-ins at all levels and unique promotions, including satellite tournaments and qualifiers that level the playing field between physical and online players, “gives everyone a chance to change their lives,” similar how to how things played out in his story.

Moneymaker’s success story, along with the resulting poker boom, brought Rounders back into the public eye, drawing an even larger audience in with how realistic the gameplay was. “There have been lots of movies that have included poker, but only Rounders really captures the energy and tension in the game,” poker pro Vanessa Rousso added, describing how the film inspired multiple players, including herself, Brian Rast, and Dutch Boyd, to play full-time. More importantly, critics from USA Today noted that Rounders was shot in such a way that even general audiences could understand what was happening on the felt—helping it overcome the hurdles The Cincinnati Kid faced and setting the stage for further box office poker success stories.

Casino Royale (2006)

Budget: $102,000,000-$150,000,000
Box office: $616,000,000

Yes, there’s a James Bond film on this list—and we’re particularly honing in on the installment that helped reboot the franchise for the 21st century. We’ve previously noted that producing Casino Royale was a pretty risky move, much like playing poker itself, but its producers were able to pull it off thanks to their casting of the remarkable Daniel Craig. Sure, not a lot of people were on board with it when the news first broke out, but Craig’s rugged looks and acting skills played to the seriousness of the role to perfection—even if, visually, he didn’t fit the bill for Agent 007. When combined with a heart-pounding plot set in a realistic rather than a more fantastical setting, it’s no wonder why Casino Royale was the fourth highest-grossing film of 2006.

One of the reasons this movie engaged viewers so well and performed so effectively at the box office undoubtedly lies in how effectively poker was integrated into its storyline. Though the game only appears in a single scene, Polygon described it as being so well-executed that it was “as elaborate as a James Bond stunt.” The high point of Casino Royale sees Bond facing off against antagonist Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) over three rounds of the popular poker variant Texas hold ‘em, which was specifically chosen to replace the baccarat played in the 1953 novel because it was more dramatic and delivered higher stakes.

The film’s crew spent weeks perfecting how the scene was shot and edited, researching real-life poker games to deliver the most authenticity possible. Director Martin Campbell even watched classics like The Cincinnati Kid to get a feel of what and what not to do when filming the scene. He ended up shooting everything possible—from the table and poker hands to close-ups of the cast’s eyes—to blend the body language aspect of poker into the film. When combined with Casino Royale’s larger plot and setting, the scene was better able to showcase the excitement of playing the card game to the audience, something that positively impacted its box office performance—proving that poker can truly heighten movies when used right.

Mississippi Grind (2015)

Budget: $7,100,000
Box office: $422,746

Poker can even elevate independent films—something made apparent in the 2015 release of Mississippi Grind. Produced by A24, the same company behind hits like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Midsommar, centers around real estate agent Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn)—who’s not particularly good at poker—after he meets charismatic poker player Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) and starts believing the latter is his lucky charm at the table. In diving into the unpredictability of goodness and fortune while raising questions about determining one’s life purpose, the film struck a chord with audiences when it was screened at multiple international festivals—including Sundance—and released on the pay-per-view platform DirecTV Cinema.

Though its box office performance may look disappointing, Mississippi Grind received generally favorable reviews from critics, including a 9.6/10 from Aspen Times and a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A decade later, publications like PokerNews laud it as among the five best poker films of all time, finding it to be a reprieve after the slew of “lackluster” movies released after the Chris Moneymaker-driven poker boom came to an end. Grantland even goes as far as to say that Mississippi Grind “solves the poker movie conundrum” by realistically focusing on the “lows” and “middles” that come with playing the card game—not just the “highs” that come with winning it—and that’s what arguably bolstered both its box office performance and its continued success on streaming platforms.

Molly’s Game (2017)

Budget: $30,000,000
Box office: $59,300,000

Following Rounders, Molly’s Game is the next biggest film poker enthusiasts are quick to bring up. It’s entirely based on a 2014 memoir written by entrepreneur Molly Bloom, who’s also known as “The Poker Princess.” In dramatizing her experiences, Molly’s Game follows Bloom after the FBI uncovers the underground poker games she runs for influential personalities, including actors, athletes, and business tycoons—and begins investigating her. The film’s tense plot and grounding in real life gave it the success it needed at the box office. To pull that off, however, Aaron Sorkin needed to cement his directorial debut by seamlessly blending poker with political intrigue and allusions to real-world household names.

He did that seamlessly with the introduction of Player X (Michael Cera), who many now know to reference actor and celebrity poker player Tobey Maguire. Though most popular for his work in the early 2000s Spider-Man films, he’s also famous for participating in the World Series of Poker Main Event Championship from 2005 to 2007. However, he also played high-stakes games with other A-listers in more private spaces, eventually bumping heads with Ruderman Capital Partners CEO Brad Ruderman in 2011. As per ScreenRant, Player X perfectly mimics the supposedly “boorish and cruel” nature Maguire displayed on the felt.

However, what makes Molly’s Game even more compelling—aside from portraying accurate poker scenes, of course—is the fact that it also deals with the struggles of a woman learning to play ball in the male-dominated world that is poker. Combined with Jessica Chastain’s explosive performance as Bloom, critic Todd McCarthy concluded his review by writing that “one strong woman and many rich men make for a good show.” In a time when many uphold the importance of including diverse perspectives in film, Molly’s Game’s use of poker to uplift female voices like Bloom’s only helped strengthen its box office performance even further.

In the end, it’s clear that poker has become an even more versatile storytelling tool through the decades. From the 1960s to today, it’s been used in increasingly clever ways, allowing it to go beyond adding drama to scenes by helping highlight various challenges viewers are concerned about and can relate to—and with that, movie buffs can expect it to continue bolstering box office ratings moving forward.