Learn to play poker like James Bond in Casino Royale
Famous for being partial to his fast cars and fancy gadgets, our introduction to the new bond man Daniel Craig, is slightly unconventional – his main weapon being Texas Hold’em Poker.
When Secret Service intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre (a corrupt banker to the world of terrorists) is planning to raise money in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale, MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses, it will destroy his organisation.
This latest Bond film brings Ian Fleming’s original 1953 novel bang up-to-date, switching Baccarat for the ever popular game of Texas Hold’em Poker.
The Game: No-limit Texas Hold’em Poker. Ten players, each buying in at $10 million, with a re-buy of a further $5 million. That means that should you be unlucky enough to lose all your cash early on (yeah, Mr Bond), then you have to put a cool $5 million back in the pot to continue the game. Winner takes all, potentially $150 million – not a bad little earner, eh?
The Main Opposition: Le Chiffre, referred to by M as “a mathematical genius who likes to prove it playing poker.” Evil banker, with typical villain scarred face, playing with other people’s blood money. “In poker, you never play your hand, you play the man across from you,” states 007 and he clearly has his eyes on Le Chiffre’s every move.
The Tell: Anyone can win in poker if they hold the best cards; the trick is to win when you don’t. That’s where tells come in—those subtle ways in which opponents betray themselves through body language, table talk, chip moves, eye contact, etc. Le Chiffre’s tell is a rather delightful pulsating vein in his forehead that he tries to surreptitiously cover with his finger. Beware getting played here. Bond losses a monster hand by banking on the tell being a dead cert. Two pairs (2Ks and 2Js) was a fair tasty hand too, but not as good as the four jacks of Le Chiffre, sneaky!
The Play: Unlike most casino games where you bet, get your cards, and then it’s all over, with Texas Hold’em you get some cards, make a bet, get some more cards, have another bet if you fancy and continue this process a few more times. You can leave the game at any point, which is known as folding. Although this does save you from having to put more money in, it also means that you lose any money that you have put in thus far, as you are choosing to leave the game.
And there’s a fair bit of folding in this match. The stakes are huge and the focus is on Bond and Le Chiffre, which often means they are playing ‘heads up’, i.e. the only two left, playing head to head.
For those that remain in the game to the end, the winner is the person with the best poker hand. This lucky person wins the pot (in this case, Mr Bond, given a lifeline from a CIA agent), sometimes minus a 5% rake (the commission taken by the casino). In Casino Royale there was no mention of a rake. With the stakes so high in this match and with it being a prestigious event, the plus for the casino would be the worldwide PR of such a match.
Also, it cannot be denied that the pull of the big screen, means showdowns with monster hands. That’s show business. So if you’re going to play like bond, be wary of reliance on very unlikely cards.
Oh and one last thing on Casino Royale; a bit of a plot hole. In the final hand of the poker game, everybody is all-in and Bond wins. However, LeChiffre has a greater value of chips, meaning that Bond can only win from each player up the amount he put into the pot. Any money in excess of this should have gone back to Le Chiffre and the game continued between him and Bond. In the movie, Bond wins everything. Never let the rules get in the way of a good plot, eh?
