James Bond’s Favourite Games

Oct 07, 2020
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Bond films are easily the most popular spy films of all time - and why not? Handsome, bold, and suave, 007 is the ultimate British spy.

Conceived in a popular series of novels by Ian Fleming, the playboy secret agent has been played by many different actors in the movies. Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig have all had their turns. One common theme in all the films has been money. Characters are seen stealing it, fighting for it, receiving it, and yes, even gambling for it. In fact, if you Google “James Bond Favourite Games,” you will come across a list of the casino games favoured by the playboy spy.

Bond has been depicted playing all sorts of gambling games in stunning casinos, usually with a martini (shaken, not stirred) in one hand and a woman at his shoulder. Mastering casino games helps Bond blend in with the wealthy criminal masterminds he tracks in film after film. Bond’s expertise at the gaming tables has even helped MI6 get out of some tricky situations.

It stands to reason that the world’s greatest spy would be a great poker player too. Who could out-bluff James Bond? Maybe it would be easier if he played online poker?

James Bond and Baccarat

In Fleming’s books, baccarat is at the top of Bond’s list of favourite games - perhaps because it was so glamorous at the time the books were written. Baccarat has several variants. The version that Bond most enjoys is known as Chemin de Fer. The name translates to “railway” in French. Railroads were the fastest mode of transport in the 19th century when this game was created, and the game is known for its fast pace. Perhaps that accounts for its presence on the list of James Bond’s favourite casino games.

In baccarat, the dealer shuffles together six decks and deals each player two cards. Players can request another card to make a better hand or stay pat with the two they have. When the player and dealer are settled, the hands are revealed and the best hand wins.

Bond can be seen playing baccarat in Dr. No, Thunderball, GoldenEye, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The suave secret agent first plays the game in Dr. No, which was released in 1962. In the movie, Bond is featured dealing cards to the first Bond girl, Sylvia Trench. This was the iconic James bond gambling scene in which 007 first says his trademark line: “The name’s Bond. James Bond.”

Baccarat was made famous by the Bond movies and remains synonymous with them to this day.

James Bond Plays Poker

Although Bond’s favourite card game is clearly the Chemin de Fer variant of baccarat, the handsome secret agent shows his expertise with a different game in the 2006 remake of Casino Royale. In that movie, Bond plays no-limit Texas Hold’em poker. As in all the other films, we are treated to a scene of James Bond winning at poker thanks to his consummate skills as a gambler.

In the movie, we see Daniel Craig as Bond up against Le Chiffre — played by the enigmatic Mads Mikkelsen — the paymaster of a Soviet counterintelligence agency, SMERSH. The two engage in a high-stakes poker tournament in which Bond is forced to lose millions of dollars in a single hand and nearly dies because his drink is poisoned. Even though Le Chiffre’s name translates to “The Number” or “The Code,” the Soviet villain’s full house proves to be no match for a James Bond straight flush. Bond pockets winnings of $115 million after that game.

We are meant to believe that Bond’s poker skills were honed only for the sake of duty, but Fleming’s super-spy is good at everything. In Casino Royale, MI6 head M states that Bond is the poker champion among the agency’s agents.

Casino Royale was the first Bond movie to feature a card game in such detail. Poker expert Thomas Sanbrook was enlisted to teach the actors about the game, and he says after months of practice they all became pretty good. After the movie, Texas Hold’em poker became one of the most popular games at online casinos.

James Bond Craps Out

In 1971, the top choice among James Bond gambling games was craps, which was featured in Diamonds Are Forever. Not a fan favourite, the movie depicts Bond playing a high-stakes game. Naturally, 007 makes winning at craps look as easy as a walk in the park.

Bond wins thousands of dollars at the craps table before making a gracious exit - impressing Bond girl Plenty O’Toole, played by Lana Wood. The confident, self-assured Bond looks like a seasoned player, but he mentions that he has played the game only once before.

Diamonds Are Forever is the only movie in which Bond plays craps, so we are not certain how much 007 loves dice games.

What is beyond dispute is that when it comes to James Bond, cards are his forte.

James Bond and the Art of Bridge

The game of bridge plays an important role in Ian Fleming’s Moonraker. In the novel, the owner of the Blades gentlemen’s club tells M that a club member, multimillionaire Sir Hugo Drax, is cheating at bridge and winning substantial amounts of money. Since Drax is also involved in a crucial nuclear missile project, M wants to avoid a scandal. He invites Bond to Blades to find out how Drax is cheating.

James Bond and bridge? It might seem too tame, too suburban a game for the suave spy and his international reputation. But Bond joins a game, and quickly comes to suspect that Drax is using a silver cigarette case with a mirror shine to read the cards he is dealing. Bond engages Drax in a high-stakes bridge game. The spy switches to a cold deck, deceiving Drax into believing he has an exceptionally good hand and then winning the game with a grand slam that costs Drax £15,000.

James Bond: Roulette Master

If you have never read Ian Fleming’s books about the accomplished British secret agent, you must be wondering why roulette is on this list. One reason is that Bond is depicted playing roulette in Casino Royale - not the 2006 version, but the 1967 original with David Niven playing the suave superspy. The other reason is that Bond frequents roulette tables in Fleming’s novels.

In fact, Bond is so good at roulette that there is a real casino betting practice named after him, the James Bond roulette strategy. It requires you to place three unequal bets. The first bet should amount to a total of 70% of your bet, the second should be 25% and the third, 5%.

If you are betting £200, you bet £140 on numbers from 19 to 36, £50 on 13 to 18, and £10 on zero. If you hit a number from the highest range, you win £80. If you get a number from the middle range, you win £100. And if a zero comes up, you win £160. You lose only if a number from one to 12 comes up. Your chances of winning are about 67.6%. This strategy works even when playing online roulette.

The Name is Bo, Sic Bo

James Bond gambling games include sic bo. You may have noticed 007 playing this game in 2012’s Skyfall.

Sic bo has many alternative names: tai sai, dai sui, hi-lo, and big and small. Players try to predict the outcome of three dice shaken in a mechanical shaker. Sic bo is an extremely popular casino game in Asia. It is played as dai sui in Macau casinos.

In Skyfall, 007 gets some chips from the fictional Floating Dragon casino in Macau and engages in a game of sic bo. James Bond casino time is limited in this film, and Bond doesn’t play for long. He quickly retreats to the bar to talk to Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe), the movie’s anti-hero Bond girl.

The Showdown

It takes both skill and luck to win a game of chance. James Bond demonstrates time and again what an accomplished player he is when it comes to gambling games, the more glamorous the better. If you aspire to gamble like James Bond, there is no reason you can’t. With enough practice and a winning strategy, anyone can succeed at cards. Get yourself a nice tuxedo and a distinctive way of describing how you like your cocktails mixed. You’ll do fine. Of course, if you can’t be bothered with this high-class attire, just hop onto the web and test your skills in one of the best online casinos.

FAQ

What game does Bond play in Casino Royale?

In the book version of Casino Royale, the glamorous secret agent plays baccarat, which is his favourite game. In the 2006 movie starring Daniel Craig, baccarat is replaced by Texas Hold’em Poker, mostly because poker was experiencing a popularity boom at the time.

What casino is in Casino Royale?

The book and movie feature a fictitious casino named Casino Royale. The hotel in the book is located in the fictional French seaside resort of Royale-les-Eaux. In the movie, the filming location for the casino and its adjacent hotel were in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. A Czech spa known as Lazne I was used to film the exterior of Casino Royale and the Grandhotel Pupp served as the exterior for shots of the Hotel Splendide.

How do you play poker like James Bond?

The 2006 remake of Casino Royale starred Daniel Craig, who had to beat the bad guy in a game of Texas Hold’em poker. Since he is the hero, 007 was able to win the game with the style and class he is famous for. If you want to play like James Bond, here are a few things you need to keep in mind.

  • Read your opponent: 007 has a knack for reading his opponent like an open book. His most popular strategy is to use the art of deception to force his opponent into a wrong move. In Casino Royale 2006, Bond loses a big pot to test his theory that Le Chiffre was bluffing. He also learned his opponent’s tell sign, which was the factor that let Bond win in the end.
  • Be confident: Playing with confidence means having a firm belief that you can outwit your opponent and win the game. Once you have found your opponent’s tell sign, you can use it to attack weak hands with confidence.
  • Use caution: There is a time to take risks and a time to benefit from caution. With James Bond’s favourite games, success largely depends on luck, so it’s important to be cautious. If you are not certain of your opponent’s moves, you should be cautious and fold, waiting for better cards in the next hand. If you are overly cautious, however, you may miss opportunities to deceive your opponent. Be cautious but not too cautious.