Out of Luck

Las Vegas — to many it's a 24-hour fantasy world filled with showgirls, high rollers and outrageous theme hotels. With a roll of the dice, 75 year-old Lou stakes everything to retire and start a new life there. But beneath the glittering surface of the city, Lou discovers a world quite different from his dreams. This compassionate portrait follows Lou and several other residents over a two-year period, documenting a community living in the shadow of the Las Vegas strip, where gambling is a constant temptation and reality is more subtle and stirring than any game.

Comedian and presenter Lloyd Griffith embarks on an experiment to find out if he can uncover the secrets of gambling success and in the process learn the truth about how the industry operates.

Documentary tracing the attempts of a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institue students to become rich playing blackjack at casinos throughout the United States and the attempts of the casinos' management to thwart them.

A documentary on the life and windfalls of professional gambler Harry Findlay and his wife Kay.

When downtrodden 1980s Ireland inaugurated a National Lottery, the people began to dream. For Stefan, it was an obsession. Seeing a flaw in the system, he attempted to fix the draw but the heist became public and the lottery tried to stop him, dividing the nation on a very public caper.

What do Bingo and Sponge Bob have in common? Dusan, an eight year old boy trapped in limbo between two polar opposite worlds, spends his time amongst gambling adults in a casino while his imagination is captivated by children's television series. When does one grow up? Let's play and find out!

The desert city of Las Vegas embodies the American Dream in its most extreme form. Turbo-capitalism and gigantic shows are a magnet for gamblers and adventurers. Since its founding, Las Vegas has developed into a global entertainment center, attracting millions of people and generating billions of dollars in revenue. From a dusty backwater, it has become a glittering gambling metropolis.

“The NFL Today” on CBS was one of the preeminent sports programs on television in the early 1980s. It was a perfect combination of reporting, analysis, predictions, humor and talent. But there was no personality on the show more popular than Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. Born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Greek immigrants, Jimmy overcame childhood tragedy, moved to Las Vegas, and eventually became the biggest name in the world of sports handicapping. When CBS added him as an “analyst” on “The NFL Today,” “The Greek” not only further increased his stature as a sort of national folk hero, but he also gained an air of respectability never before associated with gamblers. Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Fritz Mitchell, who broke in as an intern on “The NFL Today,” will examine Snyder’s impact on the growth of sports gambling, while also taking a fresh look at The Greek’s tragic downfall.

Lucky Number addresses the world of compulsive gamblers. Topics include who these individuals are, what drives them to gamble, the consequences of compulsive gambling, and treatments available to them. Interviews with gamblers, various experts (such as professors), and major individuals (such as Pete Rose and Brian Maloney) are also present.

Alexis Conran explores gambling addiction, an affliction that ruined his estranged father, and seeks to understand how and why this compulsion destroys people's lives. A documentary where Alexis Conran of The Real Hustle explores the effects of gambling addiction on his life, and the lives of others. Gambling addiction ruined his father's life, so the documentary seeks to find why gambling addiction is powerful enough to destroy someone's life.

Die-hard regulars at a Canadian bingo hall, hope their next card will be the one that wins them the jackpot.