Casino Raiders is overshadowed by the similar HK franchise "God of Gamblers", although the story here really holds its own with strong performances by Andy Lau & Alan Tam along with solid writing by Jing Wong. Two of the best gamblers out of Hong Kong (Lau & Tam) are hired to work as analysts for a struggling US casino which is losing massive amounts of money to a Japanese group of poker sharks. Our duo of protagonists uncover the secret to the success of the Japanese sharks, and shatter their racket to earn any further winnings in the US. Bitter from their exposure, the Japanese sharks (which also happen to be Yakuza) vow to take revenge on Lau & Tam in which a series of incidents all boil down to one huge defining game of high-stakes Poker. The ride to the finish takes a few detours, however with some patience and character attachment to our duo, the time passes by fairly quickly and ends on a satisfying conclusion. I do believe the film could have been edited cleaner though, as there are a few scenes which just feel like filler and really weigh the rest of the movie down. Besides this one fault, Casino Raiders is an original story with no culturally specific elements like in God of Gamblers, to which Western audiences may enjoy better even with the absence of Chow Yun Fat. The tension is genuine because the stakes are set very high without being cheesy or predictable. If your looking for an out of the ordinary gambling-revenge tale, Casino Raiders is an excellent choice. -7/10
