Casino Royale – James Bond As An Undercover Poker Player!

Nobody can be left indifferent when we’re talking about the James Bond saga. You either love or hate the movie, but something makes us think that Daniel Craig’s performance gave the public a truly needed refreshing start. Furthermore, the Casino Royale cast is chosen pretty well, so excellent acting can be expected. Craig’s first appearance in the movie is also accompanied by Bond’s first mission attendance as a ’00’ agent. His main objective? A mysterious banker by the name of Le Chiffre, who organises a huge poker game, with the hopes of winning back lost money to his clients – worldwide terrorists. ‘007’ enters the tournament and is quickly involved in life-threatening situations. With such a tense plot, only high-quality action can be expected but does it mix that well with a $120 million poker tournament? Stay with us until the end, unless you don’t want any spoilers!

An Intense Atmosphere!

Since we’ve revealed a lot from the plot in the previous paragraph, it won’t be hard to tell that the final poker hand will be more than spectacular. When hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, tension can be cut with a knife in such an atmosphere. Four players are left for the showdown with cold stares crossing the table and wide eyes set on the prize. Of course, James Bond is focused, and his presence respects the other players on the table with his stare glazing through Le Chiffre! We all know who will win the humongous prize, but the main question remains – how will this be done?

Flop, Turn and River For The Ages

So, here’s what all Casino Royale poker players have been waiting for – great community cards and pulling the trigger on some all-ins! It may sound like the most typical gaming trivia, but poker has some specific rules that apply to almost all of its versions. The flop, turn, and the river all are A♥, 8♠, 6♠, 4♠ and A♠ , so that we can cross out any royal flush possibilities. Once all of the five cards are on the table, the first two players go all-in for 6 and 5 million dollars each. That seems understandable due to their small stack sizes – this is the final phase of the game with a big blind of $1 million . Le Chiffre acts third and decisively increases the stakes. ‘007’ is cool and calm as water, and pulls the trigger – he makes a humongous all-in bet which puts the evil banker to the test as he must risk everything to call. Le Chiffre seems surprised but content with the outcome and pushes all of his Casino Royale poker chips in the pot. So what hands were all players holding? The first player holds K♠ Q♠ for the highest flush possible, the second player has a full house – eights full of aces, and Le Chiffre holds the second-best full house – aces full of sixes! The banker is inches away of grabbing the huge prize, but Bond turns his cards with his signature cold stare and shatters Le Chiffre’s dreams with 7♠ 5♠ to win the pot with his straight flush combination.

Why This Hand Is NOT Realistic – The Poker Player Perspective

The most awaited outcome of the game is now a fact – James Bond wins the Casino Royale poker tournament and stops Le Chiffre’s evil plans. Justice is restored, and our hero triumphs yet again! However, experienced poker players can’t deny the fact that they’re left with a bittersweet taste from the last hand. There are many unique card combinations, such as the Dead Man’s hand in poker, which can be perfectly performed by an expert poker player. While this might seem like an exciting scene for viewers with basic poker knowledge, with the next list of crucial points, some of you might quickly change their minds!

James Bond Shouldn’t Be in This Hand at All!

Some of you might consider the hand of Agent ‘007’ as a decent one, strong enough to enter the pot. Unfortunately, you are wrong due to certain factors. After carefully analysing each hand’s odds, Mr Bond’s hand appears to be the weakest, with just 12,40 % preflop chances of winning the pot.. Tons of other combinations could easily beat those two hole cards, so it’s not that clear why Daniel Craig’s character decided to participate in the hand with seven high when so much money and a top-secret mission are at stake. For all of you, who would like to know how to avoid such risky situations, this masterclass might be helpful!

Probable Pre-Flop Play – All Options Lead to a Fold for 007!

While the director hasn’t shown what the preflop play was, we’ll have a look at the two possible situations with top poker idioms – pre-flop raises and ‘limps’. If we assume that some of the players have raised and James Bond has called, that makes his play all that unappealing and truly reckless. However, if we assume that all of the players have limped, that means that 007 has defended the small blind with 7♠ 5♠ and a future raise possibility from the big blind behind him. This makes Mr. Bond’s position even more unpleasant and is an easy fold for experienced high stakes poker professionals.

For a Criminal Mastermind, Le Chiffre Plays Like an Amateur

Mads Mikkelsen’s character is a shady banker who has his tricks up his sleeve and is highly intelligent. Those are needed tools to survive among criminals when tons of money and illegal weapon trade are involved. However, it seems that Le Chiffre doesn’t display those qualities at the poker table. By contrast to the top pokies, calling an all-in with the third-best hand possible for a pot of over $100 million seems an unreasonable move when there are possibilities for a stronger full house and a straight flush. Furthermore, since Le Chiffre is so good with numbers, he should have calculated the odds of being beat. Not only that, but Bond’s play is mostly conservative, which means that with his 3-bet to an all-in, he is less likely to bluff.

The Insane Amount of Money Involved

Organising a game with such high stakes also seems too unrealistic. Currently, the top games around the world can attract around 10-15 million dollars at max, which makes this tournament too good to be true. Committing millions of dollars isn’t that common, even among the most notorious gamblers. For reference, one of the biggest cash games of all time was between banker Andy Beal and a group of some of the best poker players, named as The Corporation. In 3 years, the money involved was around 15-20 million dollars. Furthermore, the blinds of the game at the Casino Royale are insanely high and unrealistic for a final phase of a tournament.

Conclusion: Enjoy The Acting, But Don’t Expect Similar Hands!

Casino Royale is widely considered by many as the best James Bond movie ever. Excellent screenplay and Daniel Craig’s perfect Bond portrayal make this film an all-time classic. Тhe poker game efforts at Casino Royale could the preflop play was as thrilling, at least for the eye of non-experienced players. However, don’t expect similar hands at your own game, since chances for such a combination are pretty slim. Fiction has always played a significant role in the James Bond movies, but if you want a real-life poker story, check Molly Bloom’s movie documentary. If you haven’t watched the movie and we’ve inspired your interest, don’t waste any time and make sure to check it out ASAP!