Casino Royale delivers us a gripping encounter James Bond faces Le Chiffre in a thrilling Poker battle. Three words I never thought I would ever type in a sentence. Poker isn’t exactly the most exciting game to play let alone watch in my opinion.
I love the variety of choosing between many games and not being attached to a certain thing.
But I digress. Just how did our suave super-spy pull off the ultimate win against a player such as Le Chiffre?
How Did 007 Beat Le Chiffre?
In our first head to head encounter Bond seems to have sussed his opponent out.
He is adamant he has seen Le Chiffre’s tell but folds his hand regardless. In this scene Bond’s cards are never shown.
I personally believe he had the better hand in this scenario but folded anyways to make Le Chiffre believe he already had the upper hand whilst Bond gains the advantage of knowing his ‘tell’.
Bond only lost $50,000 with this fold which in the grand scheme of things is nothing compared to the huge pot he is playing from.
Le Chiffre Has A Trick of his Own
Bond uses Le Chiffre’s “tell” to his advantage. Little does Bond know it isn’t Le Chiffre’s tell whatsoever. Bond’s tell has also been revealed and Le Chiffre uses it to his advantage.
He fakes a bluff and wins the hand. As it stands bond isn’t coming out too well in this particular game.
It’s at this point in the game where Bond loses $14 million and had a $5 million handout from Felix who is an undercover agent working for the CIA.
Bond Comes Out on Top
Feeling threatened Le Chiffre tries to kill Mr.Bond by poisoning his drink.
Bond has to leave the game, goes into cardiac arrest before being saved by his accomplice Vesper Lynd. After changing into a fresh shirt Bond rejoins the game a new man and finishes Le Chiffre for good.
Only in the movies could a hand like this be played. So rare it may as well be a unicorn play. Le Chiffre shows a Full House of Aces and Sixes. A very good hand indeed.
Well, until Bond reveals a straight flush (4-5-6-7-8 of Spades) and flushes Le Chiffre down the toilet. Bond wins a cool $120 million and all is well in the world.
For a little while at least. The whole reason for the game is so that Le Chiffre can pay off terrorist groups who want his head.
It’s safe to say it’s all downhill from here for our blood weeping villain.
