Poker and gambling have been featured in movies for as long as the film industry was around. And not from somewhere – poker rounds are exciting, provide a thrill and can be inserted into any story. The first films in which the popular poker game was more or less part of the plot appeared shortly after the First World War. An amazing example of this is the film adaptation of the book “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by the American author Bret Harte from 1869. The short story about a poker player and a place called Poker Flat had so much potential that it had more over the years than has been filmed three times. In 1919, 1937 and 1952 there were the most famous film adaptations ofWatch The Outcasts of Poker Flat . Certainly, these films are not works that every poker fan must have seen, but it does show what a dramatic attraction the aura of a poker player and the game of poker itself have.
Poker in western and wild west films
Poker is an important part of Western and Wild West films . After all, the times of the Wild West in America were also the time of the birth of the game of poker as we know it today. Well-known films are 5 Card Stud (1968 – German title: Mortal enemies), A big hand for a little lady (1966 – German title: Highest bet in Laredo). This was followed by The Hi-Lo Country (1998 – German title: Hi-Lo Country) and 5 Card Draw (2015). In 1980, The Gambler was even an American mini-series about a few poker players starring Kenny Rogers.
A western didn’t always have to be a movie with lead flying through the air. Old stars Elisabeth Taylor and George Hamilton brought some romance to a western with Poker Alice in 1987 , which is about a female poker pro in Arizona in the 1880s. The spaghetti western Trinity is still my name (German title: Vier Fäuste für ein Halleluja) with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer from 1972 was a western comedy. Many poker fans say that the best poker scene of all time features in this movie. Just shuffling the cards is absolutely worth seeing.
Over the decades, western films were more or less out of date, but the game of poker stayed and some films worth seeing were made with stories and characters related to poker. It was about professional gamblers, cheaters, criminals and gamblers, but the game of poker almost always played the leading role .