A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away was a casino city Canto Bight. It had racing and gambling and important matches that control the plot of the show. Decked up in bright lights on the coast of the Ocean of Cantonia Bight provides a resort to the wealthy. It offers jam-packed casinos and game rooms interspersed only with quaint cafes and lavish restaurants. Slot machines have surfed the tide of time and reappeared in The Last Jedi. The largest casino Canto came with a hotel and cabaret rooms.
The Games
Frequented by all kinds of species from across the galaxy who dip their toes in the whirlpool of hedonistic attractions. It is the dream locale of the rich and the looters housing games like swoop racing and, sabacc and tregald complete with betting on fathier races. In this respect, it is rather similar to gambling in our world for these games are parallels of horse racing or Formula 1, or blackjack.
Card Games
Sabacc is a card game of both skill and luck played by two to eight players. Whoever collects a hand closest to 23 won the round and luckily fans can find similar games using NonGamStopSlots casinos. It scores the highest Return To Player (RTP) the rate at which money spent is siphoned back to the players. Other beloved games are Lugjacks, Compmatch, Imperial Commander, and Jubilee Wheel among many others.
Racing
Racing has a rich variety to it ranging from Blob racing where Umgullians (an alien species) run in obstacle races to Odupiendo races where the flightless bird traverses a circular track. The most respected game is probably pod racing, dubbed to be the highest recognition of games of speed, reaching velocities over 700 Kmph. Before he became Darth Vader, Anakin pod raced (rather skilfully) yet his play was marked by a greater level of uncertainty and risk for he betted on them.
Important Gambling scenes
In Star Wars gambling is a motif. It represents a lot of themes like fate, inevitability and appears at various decisive moments. On multiple occasions, characters are found to bet on others’ lives and money on various gambles, both serious and frivolous.
Anakin Skywalker participated in high stake gambling, playing pod race betting. He would play against Watto, who acknowledged his abilities in the game yet was aware of his inexperience that would not allow Anakin to win. It was ultimately Qui-Gon Jinn who won Anakin’s freedom at the Phantom Menace by winning the Boonta Eve pod race. However, this one was not completely fair as he used force to tinker with and change the outcome of the match.
A pair of golden dice appeared during the funeral of Han Solo at cloud city. This led to much confusion among the fans owing to the ambiguity of the reason for its appearance. The revelation showed it was the set he played with against Lando Calrissian that ensured his victory and acquisition of the Millennium Falcon. “But wait, wasn’t it a game of Sabacc, so why was he playing with dice?” you might think. That is because the pair were at a game of Correlian Spike, a spin-off of the card game using dice.
The symbolism of the Golden Dice
Luke took the golden dice in the memory of Han. Then he hands it over to Leia owing to the illusion created by his Force. Once again, they are seen in Kylo’s hands. Though they prove to be a figment of the imagination, planting regret in the boy as a souvenir of Solo. In the beginning, this pair of golden dice was rather domestic in its earthly symbolisms. They later gained new currency loaded with meaning like the ones from Canto Bight in The Last Jedi.
Conclusion
The Star Wars universe has lent itself to many forms. Beginning with movies it got adapted into TV series, comics, and games beloved across the globe theorized upon, and in turn, supported by other fan theories, the canon has proved to be remarkably resilient yet malleable across space and over time. In this cross-spatial journey, a lot has morphed but among that which remains a salient component is gambling. Though it cannot be categorized under the casino movie genre it is not an overcompensation to term gambling as a plot motivator as well as a pivotal aspect.
The story operates on multiple ideological and narrative planes in which chance, as well as manipulation of it, conceives a lot of the action. Purist points of view may undermine its importance yet coming from a liberal angle it is undeniable Star Wars as we know it cannot be sustained by removing gambling.