Let’s take a moment to look up from Casinos, where we always play online, and immerse ourselves in a world where chips, in addition to generating immense hopes and resounding defeats, have shaped our culture!
Music: When Cards Dance to the Rhythm of Rock
“Viva Las Vegas” by Elvis (1964). The King literally transformed Sin City into a pop myth. After that song, Vegas became more than a city: it became a state of mind! And to think that Elvis, off stage, was a terrible gambler.
Literature: When Dostoevsky Lost His Shirt
The great Fyodor Dostoevsky was a compulsive gambler. His novel “The Gambler” (1866) is not the product of fantasy, but of sleepless nights spent at the green tables of Baden-Baden!
Poor Fyodor even gambled away his publisher’s advance. And as if that weren’t enough, he wrote the novel in just 26 days to… pay off a gambling debt!
But he’s not the only literary giant to have fallen into the rabbit hole of gambling. Ian Fleming, James Bond’s father, was a regular at the Casino de Monte-Carlo. It’s no coincidence that 007 seems so at ease with a martini in one hand and a deck of cards in the other!
TV series: when binge-watching meets gambling
And what about TV series? “Las Vegas” (2003-2008) made us dream of running the Montecito Resort & Casino. But the real gem? “Kakegurui” (2017), the Japanese anime where gambling is… a school subject!
The undisputed king remains “The Sopranos” (1999-2007). Tony Soprano and his gang showed us the dark side of illegal gambling like no other. Incidentally, actor James Gandolfini, just like Tony, struggled with gambling addiction in real life.
Comics: When Batman Plays Poker
Yes, nerd friends, even superheroes are not immune to the allure of gambling! In “World’s Finest Comics” #180 (1968), Batman and Superman challenge each other to a poker game to… decide who should capture Lex Luthor.
“Joker’s Millions” (1952). The Joker inherits a fortune and stops being a criminal… until he discovers that most of the money is fake! A gambling metaphor so powerful that even Freud would applaud.
Video Games: When Las Vegas Comes to Your Living Room
“Fallout: New Vegas” (2010) brought the post-apocalyptic to Sin City in a way that not even the craziest casino architect could have imagined. Mutants playing blackjack? Check. Robot croupiers? Double check!
The “Grand Theft Auto” series. In “GTA: San Andreas” (2004), you could literally gamble away all your illegal winnings at the casino.
“Red Dead Redemption” (2010). Poker in the Old West has never been so engaging. Of course, if you lost, you could always shoot your opponent.
In short, gambling has infiltrated every corner of our pop culture like an ace up the sleeve. From Dostoevsky to Batman, from Elvis to Tony Soprano, gambling has inspired some of the most compelling stories humanity has ever told.