Clumsy Pool Player

A sexy but clumsy pool player. Retro pin up by the artist Donald Rust.

Relaxed Backgammon Players

Backgammon players in a courtyard by the Italian painter Giulio Rosati.

Barb Wire

Barb Wire and her enemy Ace of Spades in the Dark Horse comic series.

Card Sharp

The Card Sharp on the Boulevard (1806) by the. French painter Louis-Léopold Boilly:

Spies play Chess

Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman in The Avengers, Season 3, Episode 15, The White Elephant.

Vargas Girl

A Pin Up with lucky cards by the famous artist Alberto Vargas, published in esquire in 1941.

JG 53 with Ace of Spades

The German JG53 used the Ace of Spades on their Messerschmitts in the Second World War.

Blacklisted

Cover of the album We're-Unstoppable (2005) by the Philadelphia hardcore band Blacklisted.

Dices and Lady Luck

A retro pulp cover. Tough guy is risking all, Lady Luck is waiting.

Backgammon in Good Old Times

Backgammon in a Tavern by the Dutch genre Golden Age painter Jan Steen.

Brigitte Bardot Gambling

Brigitte Bardot gambling in "Shalako" a 1968 British western film directed by Edward Dmytryk.

Top of the Heap

Top of the Heap by A.A. Fair a georgeous cover by Robert McGinnis.

The Fortune Teller

"The Fortune Teller" by the French Impressionist painter Jean Frédéric Bazille.

Lucky Luke vs. Pat Poker

Lucky Luke drawing against Pat Poker. Not surprising that the villain has hidden the ace of spades.

Modern American Art

"The Checker Players" (1947) by the American painter Jacob Lawrence. Leisure for the working class.

Queen to Play

Sandrine Bonnaire playing chess in the 2011 film "Queen to Play". Chess becomes here a resource of emancipation.

Symbol of Luck

Cover of a science fiction magazine probably from the good old fiefties. It seems that the cloverleaf will stay a sign of good luck.

Good Old Times

"The Chess Players" (1910) by the French history painter Adolphe Alexander Lesrel. Lesrel idealizes here the good old times: music, good wine and a chess game with friends.

Cool Elke Sommer

Elke Sommer cool gambling, but unfortunately I have no idea which film from that scene is.

Arabs Playing Chess

"Arabs Playing Chess" (1847) by the French painter Eugene Delacroix. A purely romantic view on oriental live.

Christmas Jackpot

The Jackpot for a happy Christmas by MAD magazine 1964.

Vote Strategically

A German poster from pre World War II using the chess metaphor to call for a strategic vote.

Baroque Painting

"A game of cards" by the Flemish Baroque painter Theodor Rombouts. A peaceful scene suggesting leisure.

The Fifth Ace

Cover of an American Pulp. The man who held five aces. No wonder that the fifth is the ace of spades, meaning death.

Gambling Femme Fatale

Rita Hayworth as a gambling femme fatale in the film "Gilda" (1946).

Voltaire vs. the Pope

Voltaire is playing chess with the Pope and it looks like if he’s winning. One of the chess series by the German artist A. Paul Weber.

Sweet Lady Luck

A Lady Luck on cover of the 1930s. She’s also the Ace of Hearts.

Peaceful Card Players

"The Card Players" (1890-92) by the French painter Paul Cézanne.

Ultra Cool Billard

Ultra cool billard by the British fashion photographer Miles Aldridge.

Legendary: The Sting

Poster of "The Sting" (1973), probably one of the best known gambling movies with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Poker with Satan

Cover of a German Pulp. If people are playing poker Death or even Satan aren’t far.

Modernist Gambling Cover

A modernist cover of the 1920s for the novel "The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Game of Light and Shadow

"The Dice Players" by the French Baroque painter Georges de La Tour who was here much more interested in the play of light and shadow than the dices.

Hitler and Stalin

Hitler and Stalin are gambling with lifes of their people. It should be noticed that real political leaders would have played chess.

Jeanne Moreau Gambling

Jeanne Moreau in the 1963 film "La Baie des Anges" (Bay of Angels in English).

Donald Bond

Cover of a German Donald Duck edition. At least it looks like if Donald is playing James Bond, maybe an interpretation of casino royal.

Deadly Checkmate

Great cartoon (sorry I haven’t any idea by whom). Death is playing chess, and it’s already sure how it will end.

Gambling Prostitute

A baroque painting showing an officer playing Backgammon with a prostitute. Maybe it was a popular game in brothels because there quite a few of these paintings.

A Real Tough Guy

Cover of a pulp magazine of 1957. A real tough guy (maybe the king of the slave traders) with all the necessary attributes: tattoos, knife, exotic woman, whisky, cigarettes and last not least … cards.

Ace of Hearts

A pin-up photo from the 1950s. Nice nude girl seems playing (not gambling) with cards in the sand. She helds a Ace of Hearts. What could that mean?