Sat on the shelf for two years before release.
Disqualified from the Academy Awards after being shown on Dutch television.
The film was a surprise hit in the US despite being an unsupported flop in its native UK. Director Mike Hodges was particularly disheartened by the fact that the British posters for Der Croupier (1998) read "From the director of Auf den Schwingen des Todes (1987)", a film from which Hodges had tried to have his name removed from the credits.
Clive Owen, Kate Hardie and many actors who played croupiers were trained by professional croupiers.
Michael Davis, the writer and director of Shoot 'Em Up (2007) wrote the film's main protagonist Smith for Clive Owen to play after watching him in this film.