When it comes to casinos and pop culture, there’s an endless reel of entertainment. Even without popular media involved, people simply love to play casino games, ranging from slots to roulette to craps. In fact, offers on sites like oddschecker highlight just how many quality platforms are available to players today.
With so much intrinsic excitement, casino games also make for highly entertaining content. Even the casino itself, as a hub of chance and skill, offers a complex setting for writers and producers to draw on. Beyond the casino, cities like Las Vegas also take on a larger-than-life reputation thanks to its association with gaming.
Films like The Hangover take a comedic look at the city and casino culture. Meanwhile, projects like Rain Man highlight just how much skill is involved with games like blackjack. Throw in cowboy Westerns, card counting teams, and mafia-inspired dramas, and it’s clear to see why casinos are an engrained part of TV shows and cinema.
But which casino scenes have flown below the radar in pop culture? And why do they hold up when compared to projects that tackle the casino as a primary topic? Let’s explore the best scenes below.
The Office, ‘Casino Night’
At the end of season two, viewers were treated to one of The Office’s best episodes, titled ‘Casino Night’. The episode goes down as the first romantic encounter between Jim and Pam, who are ultimately fated to end up together (though further down the line). Behind the drama is a backdrop of a company casino night—and it’s got all the trappings of that familiar basement poker tournament viewers know so well.
First, there are true ‘casino’ characters. Kevin, for example, knows all the complicated poker lingo… even if he can’t turn his knowledge into a win. Second, the story includes plenty of that infamous ‘beginner luck’, which helps Phyllis beat Kevin even though she’s just playing for fun. Throw in fancy lingo, and overconfident players, and ‘Casino Night’ plays out perfectly.
Sex & the City, ‘Luck Be an Old Lady’
In season five of Sex and The City, Charlotte is turning 36. To offset the pain of ageing, Samantha invites the girls to Atlantic City to take advantage of her boyfriend Richard’s tight-knit relationship with the staff at the Taj Mahal.
Throughout their harrowing evening on the casino floor, they’re treated to all the ups and downs of gaming. Carrie manages to walk away with a hefty chip… but can’t seem to part with it. Meanwhile, Miranda runs into a few annoying characters while playing craps—something that Atlantic City has a reputation for. In fact, that’s the whole appeal of the episode: attempting to reconcile Atlantic City, which has a rough reputation in the US, with Vegas. And it includes a high-class Upper West Side crew.
Friends, ‘The One in Vegas’
Both examples above are popular episodes because they touch on some stereotypes about casinos. First, casino players like Kevin think they know more than they do. Second, Atlantic City might always be the ugly stepchild compared to Vegas. But Friends takes an even funnier look at Las Vegas, the City of Lights.
The episode includes a few hilarious callbacks to the city. For example, Phoebe is faced with a slots player who sits down to play at every machine after Phoebe leaves, considering them ‘hot’. Then there’s the whole ill-advised marriage scene… which ends up taking place between Rachael and Ross instead of Chandler and Monica.
Blade Runner 2049
Not many people remember one of the earliest scenes in the Blade Runner reboot, but it’s a classy callback to Vegas. In fact, the entire reboot takes place in a futuristic and barely recognizable City of Lights. In it, Deckard watches a show from the Vintage Casino, a holographic performance that takes him back to the early days of Vegas, when Elvis, Liberace and Marilyn Monroe graced the Strip.
In the film, Deckard lives in the remnants of Las Vegas in an abandoned casino. Though the Vintage Casino isn’t based on a real-life location, it calls back to the Strip in a post-apocalyptic way—which, aside from projects like Fallout, is a rare take on casinos and Vegas in general.
