The best gambling movies on Netflix feature major casino heists, inside looks at sports betting, and loads of drama. You can find hours of entertainment in the genre, and I’m here to share my top picks. I’ve got some documentaries, action-comedies, and even a zombie casino film with Dave Bautista (you read that right)!
Let’s discuss the top movies about gambling currently available on Netflix US and a few titles that will be available in the near future.
Best Gambling Movies on Netflix (Snapshot)
Here are the top gambling movies on Netflix I recommend:
Movie | Year Released | Plot |
---|---|---|
Now You See Me 2 | 2016 | The sequel to Now You See Me, the Four Horsemen return for another heist, this time in Macau. |
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar | 2023 | Based on the book of the same name, the short film follows a bachelor who uses the power of meditation to cheat at blackjack |
Army of the Dead | 2021 | A casino heist film with a unique twist. Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) leads a group through a zombie-infested Las Vegas to steal money from a casino vault. |
Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul | 2022 | A documentary providing an inside look at the 2007 NBA betting scandal orchestrated by former referee Tim Donaghy. |
Now You See Me 2
- Year Released: 2016
- Genre: Mystery, Action/Adventure
- Director: Jon M. Chu
- Runtime: 2 hours and 9 minutes
- IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
The second film in the Now You See Me series deserves a spot on my list of the best gambling films on Netflix. In the first movie, a group of magicians known as the Four Horsemen used their skills as illusionists to rob banks all over the world.
Much of the ensemble cast from the first movie, including Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, reprise their roles in the sequel. Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Radcliffe, among others, join the franchise.
Caplan plays Lulu May, the Four Horsemen’s newest recruit. Radcliffe, on the other hand, portrays Walter Mabry, a young tech tycoon who forces the Horsemen to help him steal a data chip.
The screenplay for Now You See Me 2 was written by Ed Soloman, one of the three writers who developed the first movie. It was directed by Jon M. Chu, who has also directed G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Step Up: All In, and Wicked.
There are a lot of cool twists and turns in this one, casino heists, and a lot more that I don’t want to spoil. This movie won’t win an Oscar, but it provides pure entertainment for just over 2 hours.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
- Year Released: 2023
- Genre: Drama
- Director: Wes Anderson
- Runtime: 39 minutes
- IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
Next on my list of the best Netflix movies about gambling is The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and this one did win an Oscar in 2024! The short film has a run time of 39 minutes and is an adaptation of a Roald Dahl short story of the same name.
Dahl’s story was originally published as part of a collection of short stories in 1977. However, the film adaptation, which Wes Anderson directed, was not released until 2023.
The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Max Engelman, a wealthy bachelor with a gambling habit. After learning about Imdad Khan (Ben Kingsley), a yogi who can see without using his eyes, Engelman masters his meditation techniques.
Engelman, working under the pseudonym Henry Sugar, then uses the skills he learned from Khan to cheat casinos while playing blackjack. This supernatural casino movie has been widely praised by audiences and film critics alike, like most of Wes Anderson’s projects.
Army of the Dead
- Year Released: 2021
- Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
- Director: Zack Snyder
- Runtime: 2 hours and 28 minutes
- IMDB Rating: 5.8/10
Army of the Dead is not your typical card game movie on Netflix. Instead, it takes the trope of casino heists and adds a unique twist: zombies.
Dave Bautista stars as Scott Ward, a mercenary hired to break into the vault of a Las Vegas casino. The vault has $200 million in cash, and Ward is tasked with clearing it out. There is just one problem: the film is set six years after Vegas was overrun by a zombie outbreak!
Ward and his band of mercs are also racing against the clock as the military is preparing a nuclear strike against the zombie-infested Sin City.
Starring alongside Bautista are:
- Ella Purnell
- Omari Hardwick
- Theo Rossi
- Tig Notaro
- Ana de la Reguera
While not as highly rated as other movies on this list, Army of the Dead still boasts a respectable 5.8 out of 10 on IMDb.
Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul
- Year Released: 2022
- Genre: Sports documentary
- Director: David Terry Fine
- Runtime: 1 hour and 17 minutes
- IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
There are also great sports betting movies on Netflix, such as Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul. The Untold series covers lesser-known sports stories, and Operation Flagrant Foul provides a look at the 2007 NBA betting scandal.
Specifically, it takes viewers through the incident from the point of view of Tim Donaghy. A former referee in the NBA, Donaghy helped fix games he was officiating. The disgraced former official was also betting on the games he fixed.
Betting on games, especially online sports betting, is now commonplace in most of the US. That was not the case when Donaghy was running his point shaving scheme.
Not everyone agrees with Donaghy’s account of events. However, even if the former referee is not the most reliable of narrators, this documentary still provides a fantastic inside look at one of the biggest gambling scandals in the 2000s.
Operation Flagrant Foul was released in 2022 and is the eighth part of the Untold docuseries. While other popular gambling movies may be based on real events, this is the only entry on my list that is classified as non-fiction.
More Netflix Gambling Movies Returning Soon
Netflix has a massive selection of movies, but only a portion of the total catalogue is available at any given time. Some casino movies on Netflix that are not available in the US as of July 2025 but should return to streaming soon include:
- Uncut Gems (2019)
- The Gambler (1974)
- Win It All (2017)
- Casino (1995)
- 21 (2008)
- Molly’s Game (2017)
- Casino Royale (2006)
You can use the “Remind Me” feature on Netflix to be notified when the casino films above become available for streaming again.
Gambling Television Shows on Netflix
Full-length movies and short films are not the only way to get your gambling fix on Netflix. The streaming service also has several TV series that heavily feature gambling themes.
Some of the gambling TV shows on Netflix include:
- Kakegurui: A gambling anime on Netflix based on a manga of the same name. It follows students at a special school where the student hierarchy is based on gambling ability.
- Bet: A live-action adaptation of Kakegurui with Miku Martineau starring as the protagonist, Yumeko Kawamoto.
- Bad Sports: A docuseries detailing major scandals in sports. Episode 1, “Hoop Schemes,” discusses the 1994 betting shaving scandal involving the 1994 Arizona State men’s basketball team.
- Ozark: Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) is forced to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. Among his schemes to clean the money is opening a riverboat casino in Missouri.
How I Met Your Mother, Better Call Saul, and many other shows on Netflix also feature gambling scenes as subplots at one time or another.
What Are Your Favorite Netflix Movies About Gambling?
Did I miss a cool gambling movie available on Netflix? I’m sure there are more exciting titles related to casino and betting, so I’m always open to suggestions.
If you have some films or TV shows in mind, let me know in the comments below.
You must be logged in to comment. Don't have an account? Sign up today.