1. Gin (The Apartment)
Similar to Mahjong, gin is a game in which running flushes and matching cards are put together to assemble a winning hand. Played with only two people, it affords itself an opportunity for a quick gambling fix for those with such an itch. In the Apartment, Jack Lemon's C. C. Baxter is smitten with the elevator operator Fran Kubelik. Baxter has made his way up the corporate ladder by pimping out his apartment to the upper level members of his firm in order for them to conduct their affairs. But when the girl he loves ends up as one of these girls-on-the-side in his apartment, Baxter is crest-fallen. He takes care of her when she finds herself at a low spot in life. The film concludes with Baxter and Fran re-starting their gin game from earlier in the film, as she commands him to shut up and deal, an ambiguous ending to one of Billy Wilder's greatest films.
Honorable Mentions: the documentary Word Wars. Thoughts? Leave a comment or find me on my podcast or in the section below.