Blog: Casinos and Pop Culture

How Did The Casino Culture Evolve In Today’s Pop Culture?

Casino culture has been always surrounded by an ominous mystique that continues until today. Casinos have always been considered as a funhouse of perpetual entertainment and have been synonymous with providing overwhelming opportunities.

Besides the gambling community, the concept of the casino has always appealed to the directors, producers, and writers in the film and TV industry. With classic titles like Dr No of 1962 where Sean Connery presented a depiction of James Bond, this connection between the film industry and hot mobile casinos have continued for decades. If you are familiar with the Bond movies, you might recall that Agent 007 was a big fan of Baccarat, a classic casino card game which was dubbed as the game of the elites. Since then, the popularity of the game has grown tremendously in the US and it is hailed as the ‘Number 1’ casino card game of Asia. James Bond will be forever entwined with the image of a man in a classic dinner jacket playing a table for Baccarat and Roulette. This is perhaps one of the main reasons why casinos have developed this sense of splendour and sophistication.
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Birth of The Las Vegas Casino Culture
Close your eyes and think about Las Vegas for a second. What did you think about? We bet it involved casinos, glitters, and the City of Lights! But, it was not always like this. This image of LasVegas involving celebrity, wealth, gambling, casinos and tourists emerged over a considerable period of time from its humble beginnings to what we perceive today.

At the very beginning, a humble European by the name of Rafael Rivera decided to make the valley his place of trade business. In 1905, when the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake railroad was being built, the railroad company auctioned off the stretch of the valley which would gain the notorious name of Sinc City in the coming years. Despite the statewide ban on gambling, the area saw immense growth in illegal casinos and drinking clubs which attracted a network of organised crime. After the gambling ban was lifted in 1931, the Fremont Street casinos and showgirl venues were set up to attract the construction workers of Hoover Dams. We can see that the modern Las Vegas casino culture involving girls and money has already started to develop here. In the year 1941, the Las Vegas strip started to develop after the establishment of the El Rancho Vegas resort. Following this, other hotels and casinos sprung up which attracted a lot of celebrities and mobsters. Renowned casinos and resorts like the Riviera, the New Frontier, the Sahara, and the Sands were constructed with money pouring from organised crimes and major banks and universities. The true casino culture of the Sin City was completely developed by now with people referring to Las Vegas as being synonymous to casinos. Millions of tourists started flocking towards this extravagant culture and to try their luck in a variety of games with popular celebrities like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. From just an oasis to a prominent casino city, the development of Las Vegas has painted an ideal image of casino culture in the minds of billions of people all over the world today.

The Bond 007 effect on the modern casino culture
The influx of casino themed movies has contributed generously to the gambling revenues of Sin City in the West, and Atlantic City on the East Coast. With top-rated movies showing the cultural significance of gambling-related activity in pop culture, people have subconsciously accepted the charismatic character that Agent 007 has introduced for them. Take into consideration Casino Royale which introduced Daniel Craig to the world of 007. After having a two-dimensional character in the previous iterations of James Bond movies, the new era 007 agent, Daniel Craig has invigorated a new sense of excitement in the recent movies. It is not too much to say that the movie would not have reached this epitome of success and popularity without that iconic high-stake casino session. The characters around the table resembled suave and debonair characters which resembled the cool factor that is often associated with casino culture. Maybe, it is this careless attitude of the viewers who expect these ‘cool’ characters to beat the house at the table that has generated such luxurious prevailing image of casinos. ​