Casino Royale Poker Scene Martini
The last game of Casino Royale, a well-shot movie and Daniel Craig's first appearance as James Bond, proves how dynamic Texas Hold'em poker can be. That is the biggest lesson from the movie. It is interesting that after the deal of two initial cards the odds were descending according to the order of the players. James bond wins.
Much of James Bond’s half-century appeal is the fact that he is good at everything. Fighting, killing, running, jumping, driving, fucking—everything. Not only that, but we expect him to be good at everything. When he enters an extremely high-stakes ($10 million buy-in) winner-take-all Texas Hold ‘Em tournament in Montenegro, we fully expect him to win.
JAMES BOND star Daniel Craig made quite the entrance in Casino Royale in 2006 - but now the director of the film, Martin Campbell, has revealed an error in the film's pivotal poker scene, which. Interpreting Bond's Vesper Martini. Here's how to make the Vesper according to Ian Fleming and James Bond: 'Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. (' Casino Royale,' Chapter 7.). Why Casino Royale Director Sweated the Poker Scenes Over Any James Bond Action. The card playing scenes were the toughest part of filming Casino Royale according to director Martin Campbell.
007 does win, of course, but the tension throughout makes for the greatest poker scene in film history, bar none.
First of all, Daniel Craig is by far the most badass Bond in the franchise’s history. He may not be the consummate professional that Sean Connery was or half the pussy-hound Roger Moore was, but Craig brings a ruthless, modern sensibility, along with a surplus of steel-eyed charisma.
Sean Connery may have bested Goldfinger on the golf course, but Daniel Craig’s James Bond was born to play cards.
Secondly, the scene-setting is perfect, the geography of the game room clearly laid out. We know the entrances and exits, the elevation, where the bar is located—we even begin to know who is sitting next to whom.
Likewise, the dealer is basically the James Bond of dealers. Thanks for running a smooth game, buddy!
The game is basically Bond versus main villain Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), who makes an excellent foil throughout the film. But it’s not like the other eight players aren’t there, either. Their presence is still felt, making this tourney highly realistic.
Director Martin Campbell—who also directed Pierce Brosnan in 1995’s GoldenEye—takes his time with the poker scenes, letting the tension build through sustained silence and the occasional commentary from the dealer.
The close-up glares of Bond and Le Chiffre from across the table bring us right into the game. We are in Bond’s shoes. Is Le Chiffre holding? Is he bluffing? Is he cheating? What does it mean when he keeps putting his finger to his forehead?
Likewise, the big hands—and the hefty bets that go with them—keep things very interesting. Bond goes all-in with a kings-over-aces full house, but loses to Le Chiffre’s four-of-a-kind jacks. The final hand, after Bond has bought back in for 5 mill (no big deal, right?), features the greatest showdown of all. James Bond being James Bond, he catches the straight flush for the dramatic victory.
Youtube Casino Royale
Often, the spirit of competitive games does not translate well to film. Casino Royale, at least in my opinion, contains some of the finest portrayal of sport—if you consider poker to be a sport—that I’ve ever seen.
Yet the violent intermissions are what empower the tension at the table. Bond goes to hell and back during the game’s scheduled breaks. When I play poker, I usually have a smoke or take a piss. 007, on the other hand, finds the time to kill Madagascar thugs between hands.
During one intermission, Bond’s heart literally stops—his martini having been poisoned by Le Chiffre—and he is revived at the last second by Vesper. Dude literally comes back from the dead and owns everyone with the most amazing straight flush in cinematic history.
Game. Set. Match.
Last game of the poker tournament in the movie Casino Royale (2006), in which Daniel Craig aka James Bond beats the bad guy Le Chiffre and grabs $115 million. The final hand worked perfectly for him. However, what was his odds of winning on the beginning and during the course of play?
In the movie version of Casino Royale the British secret agent 007, James Bond, takes part of the poker tournament in Monte Negro (however it was filmed in the beautiful city by the name of Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). One of the most popular poker games is played: Texas Hold'em. In the book version Baccarat was played instead. Le Chifre attempts to regain the lost ground after his stock market speculation was spoiled by 007. James Bond must not lose; otherwise the British government would happen to be the biggest sponsor of international terrorism...
Before the Flop
The last game is announced with no more buy-ins and a million dollar big blind. There are four players left in the game and all of them received their two pocket cards. In the bracket are the odds to win the game before dealing up to five common cards (flop + turn + river). It shows whose hand is the most promising at this stage of the play. There is also a tiny chance for a tie, 0.14% to be exact.
Casino Royale Poker Hand
1st player: (34.51%)
2nd player: (30.87%)
3rd player – Le Chiffre: (22.18%)
4th player – James Bond: (12.30%)
We can see that James Bond's chance to win the game after two initial cards is by far the lowest. The odds will get more interesting for him after the flop—the three common cards that are dealt at the same time). This is just exciting about Texas Hold'em, each new card can change the course of events dramatically. It belongs to the arsenal of a good poker player to estimate their chances and keep betting as far as appropriate (positive expected value). And that is what poker is about.
Board Cards
After the Flop
After the flop James Bond's odds improve nicely to 28.29%, despite the second player now holding three eights is still a hot candidate to win the game from the probability point of view. However, thanks to 8 and 6 of spades James Bond has got an open-ended straight flush draw and it means that both 4 and 9 of spades will secure him an invincible poker hand and thus seal his victory in the tournament. On the other hand the winning chances of Le Chiffre drop at this stage.
1st player: 15.00%
2nd player: 47.68%
3rd player – Le Chiffre: 9.02%
4th player – James Bond: 28.29%
tie: 0%
Each Player's Best Hand after the Turn & River
The four of spades appears on the board as the 4th community card (the turn). Now it is clear that James Bond holds an unbeatable poker hand – the straight flush of spades 4-5-6-7-8. The straight flush is the second best ranked poker hand.
Now James Bond knows he can just relax, wait how much money is piled in the pot and then grab it all. Cleverly enough he lets his opponents to 'look' at the last community card (the river) and eventually create some nice hand. Not nice enough though. Unfortunately for them they all are lucky to get quite strong poker hands, which make them go all-in.
1st player: (flush)
2nd player: (full house, stronger than flush)
Casino Royale Best Scenes
3rd player – Le Chiffre: (stronger full house)
4th player – James Bond: (straight flush, the winning hand)
The last game of Casino Royale, a well-shot movie and Daniel Craig's first appearance as James Bond, proves how dynamic Texas Hold'em poker can be. That is the biggest lesson from the movie. It is interesting that after the deal of two initial cards the odds were descending according to the order of the players. But finally it ended up complete reversed. James Bond who had supposedly the weakest hand on the beginning of the game ended up with the strongest one winning the whole tournament.
Casino Royale Poker Scene Martinique
→ Final game Staszko-Heinz at WSOP 2011