Illicit Gambling Business Explored in Runner Runner
Gambling movie
Runner Runner Movie explores gambling with Ben Afflek and Justin Timberlake
New Hollywood thriller Runner Runner is due to hit US screens on Friday, and the film – starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake – is set to touch on the problems of greed in online and mobile casino and poker players.
Justin Timberlake plays the lead role as a graduate student who turns to online poker to win the cash to pay for his studies. Thinking he’d hit upon a pretty smart strategy, Timberlake proceeds to be swindled by shady online gambling tycoon Affleck. As a massive poker fan, it probably wasn’t too hard to convince Ben Affleck to be a part of this movie – perhaps to make up for his massive losses from the Ultimate Poker scandal.
The film has also gained some traction in the gambling world thanks to the American Gambling Association attempting to piggyback its calls for federal reform on the film. The AGA has been running a campaign for country wide legislation to eliminate unregulated poker sites – instead of the state by state system the government recently introduced.
They’ve been portraying Runner Runner as a tale of what can happen with unregulated gambling sites, highlighting the difference between play in casino and online. As the gambling world goes increasingly mobile, it seems this message is likely to get lost in the lust for instant, easy and play on the go casino and poker apps. It remains to be seen when the US will open up like the European market, however.
