There has always been an intense thrill associated with the casino and its related games – the spin of the roulette wheel, the turning of the Texas holdem hands, the buzz and whirl of the slot machines. This is why it should surprise no-one that casino games such as poker have found a new life as spectator sports in recent years, with people from all around the globe gathering to watch their favorite players. Now, the phenomenon has been taken to a new level with a new development: the casino film.
Casino Royale from a few years ago was based around live casinos and featured what has to have been one of the top casino scenes in all cinema, but the recent Runner Runner – starring Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck – takes a less obvious approach: it is set in the online casino scene. Timberlake plays Richie Furst, a student who decides to play poker online for money only to end up cheated out of his earnings. Confronting the man behind the crooked online casino (played by Affleck), Furst instead finds himself on the same side and joins this sleazy criminal underworld. Soon, however, the law will be on the trails of these two anti-heroes…
Affleck has his detractors – witness the amount of people who have mocked Warner Brothers for deciding to cast him as Batman – but he shows his acting chops here and shines as the smiling sleazebag which he has been called upon to portray. Timberlake, meanwhile, is the latest of a long string of pop stars who have been cast on their looks, as opposed to their acting ability. He comes across as being a little too glamorous and too obviously Hollywood to be entirely convincing as an everyman – but then, it does tie into the popular image of online poker that a person like this (it is easy to imagine him cruising Malibu while attractive women fling themselves in his direction) is also the sort who enjoys free poker games in his spare time.
The story has been criticized by certain reviewers for being rather too formulaic, with too many plot twists and motivations coming straight out of the thriller toolbox. That said, there is always a willing audience of thriller junkies who will lap films such as this up and not let a few cliches or leaps of logic get in the way of a good ride. After all, that is what most of us expect when we go for a night out at the cinema – a couple of hours’ worth of escapism.
How does Runner Runner compare with the real world of online poker? Well, let us start by saying that the film offers a very downbeat portrayal of the scene. Unlike Timberlake’s character, if you decide to sit down and play online poker USA you will, in all likelihood, not be drawn into a simmering underworld of crime. You stand a better chance of possibly winning some money if you play well, losing some money if you play badly – just like any traditional casino. You are also most unlikely to end up friends with a criminal mastermind, although playing online video poker will be a good way of meeting some interesting people.
So, to reiterate, free texas holdem poker games are not gateways into the world of crime. By its nature, Hollywood thrives on sensationalism: it can take everyday activities and spin them into high-octane thrillers, which are generally meant to entertain rather than to inform their vast audiences about the ups and downs of contemporary society.
Dedicated fans of online casinos may get a buzz out of seeing the warped portrayal of their favorite hobby in Runner Runner and will except the artistic license as being necessary in telling a good story. Others, meanwhile, will sit back and wonder if a more accurate film will ever be made about the world of free online poker games. If it is not a promising subject for fiction, perhaps a documentary will be in order.
Originally published September 27, 2013. Updated December 13, 2019.
