One of the best movies about poker, California Split is a dramatic comedy produced in 1974 and is about the perils of gambling. It is one of the best poker films made, but because of the time of its release it did not get the recognition it truly deserved. Funnily enough, even though the plot was intense, poker wasn’t the main feature of the movie.  

In the movie, the friendship between Charlie Waters (Elliot Gould) and Bill Denny (George Segal) is defined by their mutual love of gambling and this bond superseded the original story line. Charlie Waters was a wisecracking joker looking for the next score and had some experience at gambling, whereas Bill, his soon to be partner, originally worked at a magazine during the day and dabbled at poker during his time off.

The Pair enters a Poker Tournament

Though Charlie was the gambler at first, he released the demon in his friend and soon enough, Bill was deep into debt with a local bookie because he lost so much. As the movie progresses Bill and Charlie get to a point where they hock all they own to buy a stake in a huge poker game in Reno.

One of the players in the game, “Amarillo Slim,” is actually a true former world champion from the world poker tour and he plays himself in the movie. When this type of realism can be added to the poker films it makes movies about poker all the more intriguing. With more poker professionals being well known thanks to the WSOP and WPT , we are pretty sure you will see them pop up more and more in poker films.

At the poker tournament, Bill has a run of good luck and somehow wins over $18,000 and feels he’s on a roll. After playing Blackjack and Roulette all night long, he finds his streak is still rolling garnishing him a pot of over $82,000.

However, when Bill finally hits the craps table he has a sudden realization of what’s going on in his life and cashes out. Both friends split up the money and go their separate ways. The important message here is that its important to know when to stop so you avoid losses of money and even family and friend.

This is one of the classic movies about poker that found fans with poker movie fans and movie buffs alike.