Spoiler alert So for the ending that confuses people; Axel has just lost his last shred of character and any sense of ethics by corrupting his student basketball player to get out of his jam. He has absolutely nothing left of value and no reason to live, he has proved himself to be the true coward he has always known himself to be. On a death wish he goes into the ghetto looking for trouble, which he finds with the pimp and prostitute. After goading the pimp into killing him fails, he takes his anger and hatred for himself out on the pimp, and the only thing that stops him from beating the pimp to death is the prostitute's knife. His face sliced open, he staggers down the stairs and looks into the mirror with a smile, as while he wasn't killed at least he has been permanently disfigured. This film is all about self hatred - gambling is just a symptom of what is really going on with Axel.
Review of The Gambler
