At first glance, love and gambling would seem like a natural pairing. Isn’t love itself a gamble? With the potential to win a fortune, lose everything, and feel your emotions run wild, games of chance seem like a perfect symbol for the mating game. It’s no coincidence that Las Vegas is full of both casinos and wedding chapels. (Well, maybe the undemanding marriage laws in Nevada have something to do with it.)
Speaking of Vegas, gambling can make for an atmospheric setting, no matter what kind of atmosphere you’re going for – a glitzy casino, a working class bar, a poker night at a friend’s home, even just an ordinary living room with options available online to play online slots, poker, blackjack and roulette.
Even a bet that involves no money can make for a dramatic and suspenseful story. A character who finds themselves on the losing end, maybe owing someone a huge favor or losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, has the audience wondering how they’ll deal with it.
So why haven’t we seen more rom coms that use gambling as a theme or a plot element?
There are a couple of striking examples, though we have to go back a few years to find them. Maybe the most famous is 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians . In a tense scene near the climax, the main character, Rachel, and her boyfriend’s mother face off over a mahjong table. They’re both doing way more than playing a game their moms taught them, as they openly clash on whether or not Rachel belongs in the son’s life. The setting also plays a role as all around them, other players (including two non-English speakers who are playing with them and no doubt wondering what else is happening) go on with a game they know well. No matter how the conflict ends, the game of mahjong, and all of Singapore society, will keep going.
The next gambling/romance film that comes to mind is 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Its plot is a prime example of what TV Tropes calls simply “The Bet” – that is, the version where “a character is bet that they won’t/can’t win over/date/sex up a certain lady”. The twist in this film is that the “lady” is also playing the game. Ben is trying to make Andie fall in love with him to prove to his boss that he knows enough about romance to head up an ad campaign for engagement rings. But meanwhile, Andie is using Ben to demonstrate to a friend that clingy behavior will drive a guy away. When Andie finally tells Ben to save his mind games for his next bet, she should be looking in the mirror. Maybe these two schemers deserve each other – anyway, somehow they get to the point of “meaning every word of it”. Does the audience buy it? Reviews were mixed on the plausibility of the plot. Then again, maybe the entertainment value of this film consists in seeing if it can convince you that the couple could get together after such a conniving beginning.
Convincing an audience of this isn’t easy, which may be why many filmmakers choose not to try. As audiences find themselves with ever more options, they’re less likely to settle for stories that don’t resolve in a way that feels real.
Audiences may also have grown more critical about other elements of plots featuring “The Bet” – it asks us to root for someone who’s manipulating someone else’s vulnerability. Our tolerance for that is growing less by the minute.
If that explains why we don’t see more “betting on love” comedies, what about the atmosphere that gambling can add? Why don’t more filmmakers set scenes in places where gambling is going on?
Maybe it’s a matter of plausibility again. How many people would really choose, like Rachel in Crazy Rich Asians, to confront a difficult potential in-law at a mahjong parlor? Has anyone ever fallen in love at a casino? Though it would be an interesting place for a lovers’ quarrel . . . Still, these are comedies we’re talking about, and most of the scenes are not going to need a serious setting. And in the rom com genre especially, privacy isn’t always a consideration.
In How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, for example, Ben and Andie hold a highly personal argument in front of a cab driver. So why not a blackjack dealer?
Why not make the blackjack dealer the main character and take a deep dive into their love life? Follow the ups and downs of a couple who meets at poker night?
Why not bet on love?