Top 8 Saturday Night Live Sketches About Casinos and Gambling

Saturday Night Live hit a home run a couple weeks ago with a sketch about sports betting apps that gave a proper ribbing to some realities we all may know too well.

The bit “Rock Bottom Kings'' offered a witty, biting take on present-day sports betting culture and related marketing efforts. It also inspired us here at Casinos.com to seek out other SNL clips putting their spin on casinos and gambling over the decades. 

Here, in no particular order, are my top eight SNL sketches lampooning what we love. 

1. Rock Bottom Kings (2024)

Host Shane Gillis was joined by Keenan Thompson and Marcello Hernandez in this parody bit that got millions of views on YouTube and who knows how many on X. Online critics applauded their hilarious take on the thrill of sports betting and the wink-wink-nod of sorrow for those who can’t handle their gambling with a commercial for the only app that lets you bet on how your most degenerate friends will finally bottom out.

2. Casino Proposal (2021)

This sketch parodies the 1993 movie “Indecent Proposal,” when a wealthy man (Kenan Thompson) offers to help a couple (Jason Sudeikis, Heidi Gardner) after hubby loses big at a casino. It raises the question: how much is one’s dignity really worth? 

3. Super Bowl Gambling Memories (1987)

Though sports gambling was legal only in Nevada when this bit ran, NFL broadcasts were regularly talking about point spreads. And with that in mind, this NFL Films remix asks what it really means to win the Big Game. 

4. No Time to Die – Sneak Peak (2021)

Daniel Craig was the last James Bond and an SNL guest host who gives a view of 007 that we hadn’t seen before. Bond is experiencing the newfound thrill of rolling craps in Las Vegas – forget the martini, it’s time for a vodka-Red Bull! Not even the sultry Paloma (Chloe Fineman) can pull him away when he’s on a hot streak.  

5. The Last Dance: Extended Scene (2021)

Michael Jordan (Keegan-Michael Key) really loves to gamble – anywhere, anytime. In this unseen scene rescued from the cutting-room floor, we get a documentarian’s insight into the competitive spirit that drives Jordan to want to win – here when taking money from his head of security John (played by Heidi Gardner) in a game of throwing quarters. Dennis Rodman (Chris Redd), Phil Jackson (Alex Moffat) and Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson) help us understand the scale of Jordan’s need to dominate and humiliate. 

6. Live Another Death (2008)

In another Bond sketch, this one at the Casino du Palais in Monte Carlo, James Bond (played by Bill Hader) and his scar-faced nemesis Le Chiffre (Fred Armisen) are involved in a high-stakes poker face off in a scene from “Casino Royale'' until country singer/guest host Tim McGraw joins the game. McGraw plays Dwayne Bodine, a Coors Light-drinking bumpkin who is flush with cash after winning a personal injury lawsuit and fully enamored by Pussy Galore (Kristen Wiig).

7. Gambling to Win (1990)

Stan Duffy is a professional gambler (played by Kevin Nealon) who has a system for beating roulette. The VHS tape of his secrets can be yours for just $39.95. Victoria Jackson plays the dutiful cocktail waitress, as Duffy is happy to mitigate his losses in the form of free drinks. David Spade plays the roulette croupier, watching this casino expert all but lose his shirt.

8. Bullets Aren’t Cheap (1987)

And lastly, one more James Bond sketch … in the latest 007 film, Bond (Steve Martin) takes a holiday, but on his own dime. Turns out when expenses aren't covered by the British government, Bond is more frugal than many would imagine. You see it when ordering drinks for himself and his date (waiter played by Phil Hartman) and even more so when he’s playing baccarat at a table with the evil villain Goldsting, played by Sting.