WEIRDLAND: Casinos and gambling tournaments in cinema, Poker games online

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Casinos and gambling tournaments in cinema, Poker games online

Tobey Maguire -who will be playing Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby (2012), directed by Baz Luhrmann, acting as the narrator, a graduate from Yale in this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel- competed on the first day of the World Series of Poker no-limit Texas Hold 'em at the Rio Hotel & Casinoon 28th July, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over 8,500 players joined the event. The final nine players competed for the top prize of more than USD 11.5 million on the final table. Maguire survived days 1a, 2a and 3 but was eliminated in 292nd place on the fourth day, taking $39,445 in prize money.

In "Casino Royale" (2006) there are thrilling adventures and romance amidst rounds of poker culminating in an engrossing high-stakes poker game in Montenegro. In a fight scene Vesper “Money Penny” Lynd (Eva Green) assists James in helping to beat one of the villains.
The pace changes when Bond meets the Treasury's Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) ahead of a poker game against an international money launderer Le Chiffre. Eva Green is a great asset in "Casino Royale", first reluctant to get involved with Bond, and later helping him in eloquent manners. She subverts Bond girl cliches and gives us a female character bluffing her way through poker and later a love story.

Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna in "Casino" (1995).

Based on the book by Larry Shandling and Nicholas Pileggi, "Casino" was directed by Martin Scoresese, starring Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a character based on Frank Rosenthal, who ran casinos in Las Vegas in the 70’s, most notably the Stardust casino (gambling, poker games, etc.)

Jodie Foster plays in "Maverick" (1994) a scheming southern belle and a skillful poker player. Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson) is attempting to enter a five-card draw tournament to prove that he is the best poker player. He needs an additional $3,000 to participate in the $25,000 event. In the town of Crystal Rivers he meets two other poker players: Foster’s Annabelle and Angel, played by Alfred Molina.
The tournament hits a high point when it’s down to three players: Maverick, Angel and The Commodore: While the odds of Gibson’s Ace of Spades draw are low (52 cards in a deck) the Commodore has four of a kind (eights) and Angel has a low straight flush. In the third act, the poker fans will be delighted since the interactions are all secondary to the poker action, which is some of the best captured on film.

Paul Newman playing poker in "The Sting" (1973)

After Henry Gondorf (Paul Newman) and John Hooker (Robert Redford) spot Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), a high-stakes gambler during a poker game, they come up with a cunning method of manipulating him into placing sure bets on fixed horse races.

"The Sting" on Top 250 #99 in Imdb List won 7 Oscars in 1974 - Best Picture, Best Director: George Roy Hill, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published: David S. Ward, Best Film Editing: William Reynolds, Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Julia Phillips became the first female producer to win the Best Picture category.

The incorporation of gambling, casinos, poker and other games in movies goes all the way back to the 1930's with "Gambling Lady" starring Barbara Stanwyck.

Yvonne de Carlo and Dan Duryea playing the roulette in "River Lady" (1948) directed by George Sherman

Dan Duryea, the onetime advertising copywriter turned actor, became synonymous with a particularly decadent and insidious form of evil, Catch "Criss Cross" (1949) for a prototypical Duryea performance as Slim Dundee, a well-dressed gambler and syndicate boss who could teach Dennis Hopper a few tricks about sneering with nasty intent.

Duryea reserves his most chilling glares for Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster), the viral, young buck one married to Dundee's wife, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo) Sultry Anna longs to burn again in Steve's arms, but how can she manage without the money from her sugar daddy Slim?

Accessing this site you can enjoy playing poker online which offers you the most number of online poker games, with continuous tournaments starting. Through Internet you can enjoy one of the largest poker directories, featuring reviews of the best strategies and qualify for live events.
One of their sections is PokerStars Women exclusively designed for female poker players, offering a variety of schemes and exclusive tournaments.

Online free poker allows amateur players across the world to enjoy their favorite casino games withouth limitations, using the possibility of downloading software for playing poker in their PCS and catching up with international poker events.

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