Top 10 Gambling Movies – Croupier – 10th Place

Updated: 2025.12.10

Croupier is a 1998 British film directed by Mike Hodges, starring Clive Owen and Kate Hardie.

In the story, Jack Manfred is a struggling novelist living in London. To cover his basic needs, he sells his car and, using his father’s connections, gets a job as a croupier at the Golden Lion Casino, even though he doesn’t like gambling. His girlfriend Marion, a former police officer, dislikes his job even though it brings significant income into their household.

The Golden Lion Casino in London, although second-rate, has strict rules: for example, gambling is prohibited for staff, relationships with other casino employees are forbidden, and befriending gamblers is not allowed.

Although Jack cannot cheat, he doesn’t mind if these rules are bent in ways that work to his advantage. Over time, Jack allows an alter ego, Jake, to emerge – someone who does things Jack himself would never be capable of.

When Jani, a gambler Jack likes, asks him to be the inside man in a planned casino robbery, Jack thinks it will be simple. But fortune is fickle; even a professional like him cannot predict what cards he will be dealt.