The House Always Wins, New Casinos 2019, and the Thrill of the Gamble

It isn’t always about winning. As a matter of fact, the very thrill of gambling has little to do with the pay-off and more to do with the rush and risk of the unpredictability of odds—which, if you don’t already know, almost always favours the house. The reality is that casinos draw in more bettors than they produce winners. This is what makes them lucrative businesses. This also explains why new clubs keep on springing up everywhere—including the virtual world. Want to try your luck? New Casinos provides access to the latest and greatest new casinos 2019 that you can explore. You can also watch movies about gambling to get some inspiration. They might make you want to go to on a gambling spree Las Vegas, or at least try the best online casinos to dip your toes in game.

One of the most popular movies for gambling enthusiasts and casino lovers is a film called 21—and it’s easy to see why.  While most other Hollywood flicks seem to demonstrate that “the house always wins,” this story shows otherwise. It lets the audiences in on the real-life account of a band of MIT students who took Vegas game houses for millions by devising a system using simple math—a system that gave a blackjack player power and edge over the cards and the dealer. The story was retrofitted into a movie template designed to keep viewers hooked and invested in the lives of its endearing, unlikely heroes.

Robert Luketic’s 21 proved that there is a way to game the system and turn the tables against the house.  A film based on a book (Bringing Down the House) and based on a true story, it is a loose retelling of the legend of a very real Blackjack Team from MIT who has managed to slip through the radars of Vegas casinos as they perfect their blackjack scheme back in the late 1980s and well into the 1990s.

Although many critics say that the film is only a middle-of-the-line heist film, it has all the makings of a stylish, glitzy, and glamorous Vegas casino movie that makes for a nice rise and fall thrill ride. Indeed, 21 isn’t void of clever twists and turns throughout the film, although the sense of familiarity cannot be denied—especially with the number of films that went out to exploit the “gaming the system” plot device before it. Nevertheless, viewers cannot help but root for its struggling protagonists, in particular Jim Sturgess who plays a father-less and troubled genius named Ben (after the real-life MIT Black Jack Team player Jeff Ma). The film’s story was built upon his made-up struggle to seek money so that the can send himself to study medicine at Harvard.

Although many of the major themes in the film were mere plot devices to help the story more palatable to the Hollywood audience, it did a great job of weaving together a straightforward story with some exciting (albeit a tad predictable) twists that showcased the thrill of trying to outsmart an age-old system. You’ll find yourself cheering for the characters as they challenge the status quo whilst going undetected for as long as they did. While the film left viewers in the dark about how the team’s card counting scheme really works, the fact that the script didn’t try to explain it adds to the sense of exclusivity and genius that the characters have—and it all the more leaves viewers wanting to try card counting for themselves.