Comic book Villains Who Love Gambling

FTC Statement: Reviewers are frequently provided by the publisher/production company with a copy of the material being reviewed.The opinions published are solely those of the respective reviewers and may not reflect the opinions of CriticalBlast.com or its management.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. (This is a legal requirement, as apparently some sites advertise for Amazon for free. Yes, that's sarcasm.)

Submitted by Bill Casticart on Mon, 02/15/2021 - 12:50

The best comic book heroes, whether villains or superheroes, introduce some fun and originality to the story. They have quickly evolved from paper to screens, and games. Through the ages, some of the most popular villains have also been gambling enthusiasts. Here are a few of them:

The Penguin

Oswald ‘Penguin’ Cobblepot is a thief, mobster and a persistent Batman enemy. He also runs a nightclub and casino. The DC Comics villain is one of Batman’s worst foes. He is eccentric and most known for his shady businesses and trick umbrellas. The Iceberg lounge is a front, and he runs lots of illegal businesses.

The ‘Iceberg Casino’ is well-known in Gotham’s underworld. It is a floating hotel and casino that seems legal. However, the truth is that he never left his criminal life. He uses the casino to increase profits, give fellow criminals a place to gamble safely, and plan for future crimes.

The Joker

The Joker is also a villain who loves gambling. He is the first superhero that Batman encounters in DC Comics’ comic book ‘Batman’ published in 1940. Even though he does not gamble, he gets his name from the playing card ‘Joker.’ He uses thematic weapons to commit crimes. They include Joker venom, razor-tipped cards, and other dangerous surprises.

He is one of the most popular villains mostly because he wasn’t always bad. The circumstances of his life made him a villain. He attracts lots of sympathy and in recent movies, he is seen to suffer from various mental illnesses.

Chance

Chance is Spider Man’s enemy, and he was first seen in Web of Spider Man by Marvel Comics. He has an alter ego, Nicholas Powell, who gambles professionally. He is a wealthy man who decided to use crime as a way to add some excitement to his boring life. Since he is a great gambling fan, he chooses to complete a mission instead of getting an easy pay.

If, however, he did not succeed in his mission, he would have lost a bet and would need to pay whoever hired him for the crime. He enjoyed the thrill of crime and gambling, and they made him one of the most exciting villains.

Gambler

This super villain was one of DC Comics Universe super villains. He first appeared against Green Lantern and his alter ego, Stephen Sharpe III, and Stephen Sharpe V are from a long line of gamblers. He adopted the name to commemorate his grandfather and soon got into crime. Gambler was a master of disguise, and he was great with pistols and knives.

His gambling experience was filled with adventure. He won a gambling vessel at one point and lost all of his money at a Las Vegas casino at a different time. Once at a horse race, Gambler provoked the horses to run into the crowds.

Eight Ball (8-Ball)

This is one of Marvel Universe’s fictional villains. He is the nemesis of alien Sleepwalker and superhero. He comes off as an odd character with some odd abilities. Jeff Hagees is his alter ego. He is an engineer and he invented missile propulsion technologies. He became a gambler because of his horrible work stresses.

However, he ended up losing lots of money. Jeff was fired from work and soon became broke. He created the eight-ball villain and got into crime to get his money back. With his cue-stick weapons, Jeff and his crime group terrorized New York. All of his plans were about stealing money, so he could gamble and pay off his debt.

Amos Fortune and the Royal Flush Gang

The superhero Amos Fortune seems to be obsessed with luck. According to him, all humans have ‘luck glands’ which detect whether they will have good or bad luck. After discovering ‘luck glands,’ he came up with ways to control them to suit his needs. He created the Royal Flush Gang to help fight the Justice League.

The group of villains has a playing card theme. It features the Queen, King, Ace, Ten, and Jack. Being the leader of the group, Amos Fortune became the Ace. Every villain had unique superpowers. Together, they formed a full deck.

Two-Face/Harvey Dent

This is a fictional supervillain who loves to gamble as well. He is Batman’s adversary and features in DC Comics comic books. His alter ego, Harvey Dent, is the District Attorney of Gotham and has always enjoyed betting. He was Batman’s ally and for a while until Sal ‘Boss’ Maroni scarred his face with acid. His mental state was affected as well and that is how he became Two-Face. As a criminal mastermind, he was obsessed with doubles and the number two. Two-Face based his crimes on the results of a coin flip.

A two-headed silver dollar was his good-luck charm. He flipped it to determine his victims’ fate. Batman’s attempts to reform his former friend failed. Harvey Dent is obsessed with chance and continues committing crimes to prove his philosophy.

Roulette

Roulette is a devious and manipulative villain who makes money through various illegal rackets. She is great at martial arts and can fight the best. Veronica Sinclair is her alter ego. She owns ‘The House’ casino and gambles professionally.

Her casino is an illegal arena where villains place bets on the outcomes of fights. The fights are between the captured superheroes. Many of them get badly hurt or killed. The loser would be drugged, injected with deadly viruses, tortured to death, or electrocuted. Roulette is very smart and her calculations are accurate. At one time in her career, she captures almost all of the Justice Society.

Blockbuster

While Blockbuster may seem like the usual brick-style supervillain, he used a super-steroid to achieve his monstrous size so he could fight superheroes. When he is not doing that, he is busy running his gambling business. He is the owner of the Marcus Casino.