January’s Poker Series focuses in on a medium that drew many new players to the game, featuring poker games in Hollywood films. Countless movies over the years have highlighted the trend of playing poker in Vegas, drawing more players to the game and introducing it to a whole new generation.
One of the most recent films to glamourize playing poker in Vegas is 21, which was released in 2008 from Columbia Pictures. Starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne, the film is adapted from a true story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich.
The film follows MIT math major Ben Campbell, who is struggling to put together the $300,000 cost of attending Harvard Medical School, where he has just been accepted. Campbell is recruited to the blackjack team, where he learns about card counting. To train, the team travels to Las Vegas over many weekends. Campbell becomes caught up in the glamourous lifestyle of Las Vegas and starts to get into trouble with the casino’s security team.
During the film’s preproduction, some poker players consulted to ensure playing poker in Vegas was accurately portrayed in 21. However, the Las Vegas casinos were not too helpful considering the film was telling the viewers the basics about card counting, an illegal activity. In fact, a featurette that is included with the DVD completely and accurately describes the “Hi-Lo” system used by the MIT Blackjack Team in the film.
Even more interesting is that the producers from MGM Studios agreed to finance the film, even though “MGM” casinos are owned by MGM Mirage and are no longer related to MGM Studios. It turns out that the casinos, including MGM Mirage, saw the film as an attention-getter for playing poker in Vegas. You see, people who saw it would be drawn to visiting Las Vegas and maybe even be tempted to try card counting. In reality, the film and the DVD featurette withheld critical details, including the fact that it is very, very difficult to successfully make money counting cards.
Tune in through January for this Poker Series to find out about other Hollywood films that glamourize the game of poker.
