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You see the ad for Springbok casino bonus.  You visit the site.

There is something about casino games. It is not just about a physical game. It is the atmosphere and ambiance that surround casinos. Many movies and TV shows love to use physical casinos and even just the casino games on their TV shows and movies.  

The following are just a small sampling of what is out there for your TV and movie enjoyment.

#1 21 (2008)

“21” is based on a true story of 6 MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

“Winner winner chicken dinner” is a famous quote from the movie.  During the main character’s first blackjack game, the dealer would say “Winner winner chicken dinner” whenever anybody won.  After that, the main character would say this line whenever he won.

I also loved the ending scene (which actually starts at the beginning).  The main character is applying for a full scholarship to college. The interviewer says, “What can you tell me that dazzles me?”

The main character tells his story and sums it up with the following quote:

“So my senior year of college, I joined this team.  And I learned this new skill. I went to Vegas 17 times to use it.  I made hundreds of thousands of dollars counting cards. And then I had it all stolen from me.  Twice. How’s that for life experience, professor? Did I dazzle you? Did I jump off the page?”  And then the movie ends with the professor’s mouth just dropping open.

#2 Rainman

Who can ever forget the casino scene from Rainman?  

Charlie Babbitt is a self yuppie.  His father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie.  So Charlie abducts Raymond and they travel across the country.

Charlie realizes that Raymond can count cards, so they take a trip to Vegas.

GIRL: What exactly do you guys do here?

RAYMOND: We’re counting cards.

GIRL: You’re counting cards?

RAYMOND: We’re counting cards.  We’re counting cards.

GIRL: What else do you do?

RAYMOND: We’re counting cards.

GIRL: I know that. What else do you do?

RAYMOND: We’re counting cards.

Then, of course, Charlie arranges to get Raymond his first kiss from a hooker.  

RAYMOND: It was wet.

#3 Star Trek: A Piece Of The Action

In this episode, the crew of the Enterprise struggles with a planet of imitative people who have modeled their society on 1920s gangsters.  

Kirk and Spock are being held, hostage.  The two guys guarding them are playing blackjack.

KIRK: Gentlemen, gentlemen… This… This card game is a kid’s game.

GUY: You think so, huh?

KIRK: Oh, yes, yes.  I wouldn’t waste my time.

GUY: Who’s asking you?

KIRK: On Beta Antares IV, they play a real game. It’s a man’s game, but of course, probably a little beyond you. It requires intelligence.

GUY: Listen, Kirk, I can play anything you can figure out. Take the cards, big man. Show us how it’s played.

SPOCK: Captain, I am familiar with the culture on Beta Antares IV.

KIRK: Spock. Spock.

SPOCK: I don’t know of any game…

KIRK: Of course, the cards on Beta Antares IV are different, but not too different. Name of the game is called fizzbin.

GUY: Fizzbin?

KIRK:  Fizzbin. It’s not too difficult. Each player gets six cards, except for the dealer, the player on the dealer’s right who gets seven.

GUY: On the right?

KIRK:  Yes.The second card is turned up, except on Tuesday.

GUY: On Tuesday.

KIRK: Oh, look what you got, two jacks.  You got a half-fizzbin already. 

GUY:  I need another jack. 

KIRK: No, no, if you got another jack, why, you’d have a shralk. 

GUY: A shralk?

KIRK: Yes, you’d be disqualified. No, what you need now is either a king and a deuce, except at night, of course, when you’d need a queen and a four.

GUY: Except at night?

KIRK: Right.  Oh, look at that. You got another jack! How lucky you are! How wonderful for you! Now, if you didn’t get another jack, if you had gotten a king, why, then you’d get another card, except when it’s dark when you’d have to give it back.

GUY: If it were dark on Tuesday?

KIRK: Yes, but what you’re after is a royal fizzbin, but the odds in getting a royal fizzbin are astron… Spock, what are the odds in getting a royal fizzbin?

SPOCK: I’ve never computed them, Captain.

KIRK: Well, they’re astronomical, believe me. Astronomical. Now, for the last card, we’ll call it a kronk. You got that?

GUY: What?

Kirk purposely knocks the card on the floor.

GUY: I’ll get it.

Then Kirk proceeds to “kronk” the guy.

#4 Star Trek Deep Space 9: Badda Bing, Badda – Bang

When a programming glitch won’t go away, mobsters take over Vic’s and open for business, but the DS9 gang takes it personally when their favorite hangout is no longer their favorite.

There is no specific quote that makes this episode awesome.  It is just a really well-done episode involving traditional casinos and all of the stereotypes that go with it.

#5 Star Trek Deep Space 9 (Quark, my favorite character)

You can’t have any list like this without mentioning Casino owner and barman Quark.  The only traditional game that you will find at Quarks is darts, and it would be hard to classify darts as a casino game … but you just got to love Quark.

In the serie’s finale, there is a conversation between Vic Fonte and Quark.  I think that this conversation not only represents Quark, but everybody in the casino hospitality industry that go into making the games and experience great ones.

VIC: Oh, is that why you dropped by? To insult me?

QUARK: I dropped by because I had nothing else to do. My bar hasn’t had half a dozen customers all day. Everyone’s off fighting this stupid war.

VIC: It’s not easy staying behind, is it? Knowing that your friends are out there risking their lives.

QUARK: They think they have it rough? They should try leading my life for a day. The hospitality industry isn’t for the faint-hearted.

VIC: A bartender’s life is a lonely one.

QUARK: That’s true, but few people understand that. They think it’s one big, happy party. They forget that the person giving the party never has any fun. He’s too busy making sure everybody else is having fun. All I do all day long is give, give, give.

VIC: Bartending is a very noble profession. You do it well, under some very difficult circumstances, I might add. You should be proud.

(The band arrives.)

QUARK: You think so?

VIC: I know so, pallie.

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