Top 10 Gambling TV Shows of All Time
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It’s always interesting whenever two worlds collide. Gambling has always been one of mankind’s favorite hobbies and recreational activities. However, as the 20th century rolled along, people started indulging more in content consumption in the wake of the release of a certain device called the television. These days, gambling movies and TV shows make up a huge part of pop culture and mainstream media. So many people are reliant on television to keep them engaged and entertained on a daily basis. One of the most beautiful aspects of television production is that there’s practically a show for any kind of person. And in this article, we’re going to tackle some of the most prominent gambling-related TV shows of all time.
High Stakes Poker
The first show on this list is going to greatly appeal to poker fans around the world. High Stakes Poker is a televised cash game of no limit Texas hold’em. This is the most popular variation of poker wherein players are dealt two hole cards in order to form a five-card hand. The show has been on for 8 seasons and it’s still going strong. As its name implies, High Stakes Poker is only reserved for high rollers, with buy-ins reaching as much as a million dollars.
Breaking Vegas
Breaking Vegas was a short-lived television series that premiered in 2004 on The History Channel. Despite the fact that it was short-lived, many gambling fans still continue the show to be quite binge-worthy. The show covers various real-life stories of people who have been documented to illegally take money from casinos using clever tricks and technology.
King of Vegas
Before Max Kellerman’s big break as an all-around sports commentator for ESPN, he was the host of a gambling series that premiered in 2006 on Spike TV called King of Vegas. Essentially, the way that King of Vegas worked was that it was a competition between gamblers that forced players to play in different kinds of casino games with a fresh set of $10,000 in chips each.
Poker After Dark
Poker After Dark was a very popular poker show that had a very similar format with High Stakes Poker. It first premiered back in 2007 and had a run of four years before the show was cancelled in late 2011. However, due to popular demand, the show was rebooted back in 2017 and it features a lot of familiar faces who were in the original run of the show.
Liar Game
Breaking away from reality TV, the next item on this list is a show that was inspired by a Japanese manga series that was written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani. It’s a show that follows the story of a college student named Nao who receives a mysterious package containing cash amounting to 100 million Japanese Yen. Along with the cash is a note stating that she is now a contestant in the Liar Game Tournament—a competition wherein contestants are forced to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top.
World Poker Tour
Another poker entry on this list, the World Poker Tour is different from the other shows mentioned so far since the game is done in a tournament-style format. Poker tournaments require a lot more focus, stamina, and endurance on the part of players, and WPT is often dubbed as the most prestigious competition in all of poker.
Luck
A gambling show starring Dustin Hoffman. What’s not to love? Luck originally premiered back in 2012 and was cancelled just two months after its release due to animals being harmed on the set. However, despite the fact that the show was cancelled, the remaining episodes of the show’s first season continued to air. This may not be Hoffman’s best work, but it’s still definitely a show that’s worth watching.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is a popular comedy-drama series that aired on NBC from 2003 to 2008. The show revolves around a team of people who are working for the fictional Montecito hotel on the Las Vegas strip. It’s a standard office-setting drama series that takes an interesting approach to telling the stories of people who work in the gambling industry.
The Casino
The Casino is another reality-based television show that follows millionaires Thomas Breitling and Tim Poster as they oversee the operations at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s an interesting and more realistic look into the way that casinos are typically run within the gamblnig capital of the world.
Smart Live Casino
Smart Live Casino is an interactive UK-based television show that was first formed in 2007. It differs from the other shows on this list in the sense that it’s interactive and offers a lot more engagement to its viewers.