HBO Developing ‘Advantage Player’ Casino Drama Based on Gina Fiore’s Life
HBO has put into development Advantage Player, a new drama series starring and executive produced by Riley Keough. Written by Daisy Jones & The Six co-creator Will Graham, the show is inspired by real-life professional gambler Gina Fiore and her upcoming memoir tracing her career as a high-stakes card counter. Riley Keough will star as professional gambler Gina Fiore in HBO’s upcoming drama Advantage Player.
Riley Keough is set to play professional gambler Gina Fiore in a new drama about high-stakes casino advantage play in development at HBO. The project, in development with Media Res, is written by Will Graham and will also be executive produced by Keough. Riley Keough, left, is the Emmy-nominated actress who also controls the estate of her grandfather Elvis Presley. In HBO’s Advantage Player, she will play a character based on Gina Fiore.
The True Story of the Gambler Who Beat the Casinos
Fiore — who began her career as an advantage player by teaching herself card-counting while working as a blackjack dealer at an unnamed casino on the Las Vegas Strip — spent 24 years legally beating casinos using skill-based technique rather than luck. She began her career as a blackjack dealer in a Las Vegas casino and became intrigued by players who seemed to beat the odds on a consistent basis. She then taught herself to count cards and learned a variety of other techniques, including hole-carding and edge sorting.
Fiore has made money from casinos for more than 20 years, using techniques based on skill, observation, and mathematics rather than conventional gambling luck. Her experience includes blackjack, card counting and other advantage-play methods that can help give experienced players an edge over the house.
Card Counting and High-Stakes Legal Strategies
Advantage play refers to methods such as card-counting, hole-carding, and other legal strategies that give skilled players a mathematical edge over the house.
Over the years, Fiore has worked in many of the major gambling destinations, eventually putting together teams of advantage players. Fiore — who will also executive-produce the HBO series — rose through this secretive world, eventually building and leading teams that extracted millions from casinos while constantly adapting to increased surveillance, rule changes, and the risk of being identified and banned. Their activities made millions of dollars but also required them to deal with casino surveillance, changing rules, and the possibility of being identified and excluded from properties.
The Supreme Court Legal Battle
Fiore’s story also includes a legal battle over nearly $97,000 in cash. Fiore and fellow gambler Keith Gipson had money confiscated by federal agents during a 2006 stopover in Atlanta after the pair returned from Puerto Rico.
Eventually, the dispute ended up in the US Supreme Court in a case about whether the Nevada courts had jurisdiction over the federal agent. In 2014, the justices held that Nevada was not the proper venue for the lawsuit because the agent’s actions had occurred in Georgia.
Riley Keough, Will Graham, and the Felix Culpa Production
The TV adaptation has been in development for several years. Fiore originally contacted Keough, who had heard the gambler’s story on a podcast. Riley listened to a podcast I did for The Ringer network in 2020, Fiore told Casino.org. She liked my story, we spoke, and she’s championed the idea ever since.
According to Deadline, Keough’s version of Fiore will be “a brilliant misfit (who) discovers the secret to beating casinos at their own game.”
Eventually, their collaboration expanded to include Graham, who had previously worked with Keough in Daisy Jones & the Six, as reported by Deadline. Both earned Emmy nominations for their work on that series. Graham will write and serve as executive producer on Advantage Player. Keough and Gina Gammell will produce under their Felix Culpa banner, with Fiore also serving as executive producer.
“I’m grateful we got a deal,” Fiore said. “I know how hard that is. Just to be able get in the room to pitch a show is difficult. Will Graham and Riley Keough’s reputations and talents made that happen. I couldn’t ask to work with better people,” She concluded.
Upcoming Memoir: Advantage Player
The series, called Advantage Player, is based on Fiore’s upcoming memoir, Advantage Player: Blackjack, Backrooms, and Beginnings. It is scheduled to be published on October 27, 2026 by Gillian Flynn Books, an imprint of Zando and Penguin Random House. Fiore’s book, which gets published Oct. 27, is available for preorder on Amazon.
In a blub she wrote for Fiore’s book, Keough gushed that Fiore has lived a life that seems too extraordinary to be true. She called Fiore’s journey as gripping as any screenplay because every impossible twist actually happened.
There is no production schedule or premiere date yet. Meanwhile, Fiore’s memoir should shed more light on the oddball career that HBO’s upcoming drama is based on. With Keough attached to lead and production moving forward at HBO, Advantage Player promises a rare, insider look into the high-stakes world of professional gambling from a woman who beat the house at its own game.
Sources Quoted:
- Casino.org – Author: Corey Levitan (“HBO Developing ‘Advantage Player’ Casino Drama Based on Gina Fiore’s Life, Starring Riley Keough”)
- GamblingNews.com – Author: Silvia Pavlof (“Riley Keough to Star in HBO Casino Drama Based on Life of Gina Fiore”)
Leo Falsafi is a digital marketing veteran and senior journalist at Virlan.co, where he covers the intersection of digital marketing, gaming, and breaking US trending news. With nearly two decades of hands-on experience in SEO and digital strategy, Leo has consulted for and scaled hundreds of companies. His deep industry roots allow him to deliver sharp, fact-checked insights and analysis on the trends shaping today's digital landscape.