The Best Blackjack Movies

• Published: October 8, 2018
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Many people have been introduced to the charm of gambling through movies. There have been many movies featuring scenes of craps and roulette. This article takes players to two of the best blackjack movies.

21 is the best blackjack movie by far. It was released in 2008 and is based on the exploits of the MIT Blackjack Team. 21 is another name for blackjack. Though fictionalised personal relationships between the team members have been built into the plot, the blackjack part, including the card counting, has been faithfully reproduced. In order to earn extra money, senior math major Ben Campbell joins Professor Micky Rosa and his blackjack team. The other members are fellow students Choi, Fisher, Jill, and Kianna. The members play the minimum bets at the casino blackjack tables keeping track of the count. When the count is favourable other players step in with large bets. Campbell and Jill get close in their frequent trips to Las Vegas. Campbell begins to have problems with other team members, which affect his play and result in losses for the team. Rosa splits from the team and the others continue. The security officer of the land casino beats Campbell for card counting again. Rosa and Campbell reunite for a final fling. But there are more twists in the tale.

Rain Man starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman is not totally about blackjack, but features a small blackjack sequence. This also involves card counting, though in a romanticized manner. Charlie Babbit receives only a vintage Buick as inheritance from his father, while his brother Raymond has been left with $3 million. Charlie decides to kidnap Raymond in order to get a part of the money. In the process, Charlie discovers that Raymond has an amazing memory. He plans to use this for card counting at blackjack tables in the casino. Charlie teaches Raymond the rules of blackjack and the technique of card counting and the two head to Vegas. The brothers get dressed for the occasion and enter the casino. They make their way through rows of slot machines before they reach the blackjack tables where Charlie is able to get his share of the inheritance without taking anything from Raymond. For those who are not familiar with the process, card counting in blackjack does not in reality mean memorizing all cards dealt. There are systems that assign simple numbers to the cards according to their values and the counters track of the cumulative totals of these numbers.