Thursday, 28th March 2024 09:44
Home / Features / Stay home: Best Netflix TV shows related to poker

We all have a variety of ways to consume “content” these days. Netflix remains a popular option for many, and so we thought we’d take a quick look to see what good poker TV shows are available on Netflix at present.

In truth, Netflix doesn’t have an abundance of poker-related content available for streaming just now. However there are a number of titles available via DVD.

You’ll also find available a number of shows produced during the “boom” years of the mid-2000s. Such programs like some early season World Poker Tour programs might satisfy some nostalgia cravings.

Along the same lines, there are also some instructional videos by and instructional videos by Mike Caro, Phil Hellmuth, and Phil Gordon. Those might still work for some seeking how to learn about poker, even if some of the specific strategies might be better applied to an earlier version of the game.

If you’re looking for a poker documentary, Netflix does have All In: The Poker Movie, which is also a little dated by now but includes an impressive collection of interview subjects and a comprehensive overview of the game as it existed circa early 2010s.

Directed by Douglas Tirola, All In originally had a limited release in 2009. But when Black Friday happened in April 2011 the filmmakers conducted additional interviews and reworked the film to incorporate that part of poker’s story. A wider release then came in the spring of 2012. If you watch the film today, you’ll see that’s the vantage point of the film which not only tells poker’s history including the rise of online poker, but defends the game as a truly American pastime.

Dozens of “poker people” (and others) appear in the film, including Poker Hall of Famers Mike Sexton, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Henry Orenstein, Tom McEvoy, Phil Hellmuth, Barry Greenstein, Scotty Nyugen, T.J. Cloutier, Daniel Negreanu, and Chris Moneymaker.

There’s a terrific, lengthy segment in the middle telling the story of Moneymaker’s run to the 2003 WSOP Main Event title, a standout portion of the film.

Matt Damon, Jennifer Tilly, Kenny Rogers, Peter Alson, Mike Caro, Doris Kearns Goodwin, James McManus, Brian Koppelman, Steve Lipscomb, Nolan Dalla, Sam Simon, Vince Van Patten and many others turn up as well. It’s well worth a look if you haven’t seen it before.

There’s also Zak Penn‘s “mockumentary” The Grand from 2007 available via DVD, a fictional spoof that nonetheless captures much of the “poker boom” atmosphere amid the farce.

In the past other poker-related documentaries like No Limit and Kid Poker have appeared on the platform. Keep an eye out as such poker shows sometimes cycle back.

As far as other places where to watch poker documentaries, you might check Amazon Prime especially as it has a number of titles, including some we covered here before.

Looking beyond TV shows and nonfiction content to poker films on Netflix, there, too, you’ll find many popular titles available via DVD though not streaming at present. Those include popular ones like Rounders, Mississippi Grind, and Molly’s Game.

You’ll find a lot of gambling movies on Netflix, too, including many that are streaming like Uncut Gems. Also, if you haven’t seen the Netflix original series The Queen’s Gambit (which is still streaming), let us recommend that as well. There’s no poker in it, but as you’ve probably heard the series has a lot that appeals to poker players.

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