Five films, and what is actually in them.

Mixed, with no limit hold em at the centre

Directed by John Dahl, written by David Levien and Brian Koppelman

With Matt Damon and Edward Norton

A crime drama about two friends in the underground high stakes poker world of New York, built around raising enough money to clear a debt.

It is the film that made a generation want to play. Wikipedia records that it found a cult following during the poker boom of the early 2000s and that several professionals credit it with starting them off, among them Brian Rast, Dutch Boyd and Hevad Khan. It also carries real footage of the 1988 World Series final hand between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel, which is why that hand is better known than any other from before the television era.

Five card stud

Directed by Norman Jewison, from the 1963 novel by Richard Jessup

With Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson

A young player during the Depression challenges an older master to settle who is best, and the film builds towards a decisive hand between them.

It is the oldest film on this list and the one that fixed the shape every poker film has followed since: a young challenger, an old master, one long game. Worth watching for how differently the game reads when it is five card stud rather than hold em, and for two performances that carry an entire evening of cards without a camera under the table.

Poker among a wider range of gambling

Directed by Robert Altman, written by Joseph Walsh

With Elliott Gould and George Segal

Two gamblers in Los Angeles become friends and chase progressively larger risks together.

The least glamorous film here, and the most honest about what compulsive gambling actually looks like from the inside. Altman shot in real venues, including the Mapes casino in Reno, and the result feels closer to a documentary than to a thriller. If you want one film about the cost rather than the glory, this is it. The same subject, without the cinema, is on our page about responsible play.

No limit Texas hold em

Directed by Martin Campbell

With Daniel Craig

The central card game is a Texas hold em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.

Included for one reason that says everything about how poker took over: in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel the game is baccarat, and the film changed it to hold em. A story from the 1950s was rewritten in the 2000s because hold em was now the game an audience would recognise. As poker, the scenes are heightened; as evidence of the game’s place in popular culture, the change of game is hard to beat.

Private high stakes hold em

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, his first film as director, from the 2014 memoir by Molly Bloom

With Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner

A former competitive skier runs an exclusive private poker game and ends up the subject of a federal investigation.

The only film here that is about the business around the table rather than the cards on it: who is allowed in, who pays for the room, and what happens when the money attracts attention. It is based on a memoir, which means it is one participant’s account of events, and that is worth remembering while watching.