The opening scene, where Kenny Rogers is riding his horse, is Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas NV.
The title song, as performed by Kenny Rogers, is missing a stanza in the film. One additional piece of advice he gives is "Every gambler knows that the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep. Because every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser, and the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep." The final verse states that "Somewhere in the darkness, that gambler he broke even," indicating he got his final wish to die in his sleep. Brady obviously doesn't die in the film.
The film is based on a Kenny Rogers song. However, he gets the advice "know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run" from an older experienced gambler. Rogers plays the elder gambler in the film, and Bruce Boxleitner plays the role that Rogers sang in the song.
Actor Ronnie Scribner was the first of three actors to be in the role of "Jeremiah" in the Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" TV movies. The second movie was after Ronnie had halted his movie and acting career. The second actor in the role was Charles Fields. Eventually, there were a total of five "The Gambler" movies, but the role of "Jeremiah" was not used in all five movies. In the fifth of five films, "Jeremiah" was played by an older actor to fit the progress of the movie series, and that was actor Kris Kamm.