The Name of the Game

J-B-007

Today I've seen Casino Royale and I must say it is a very good movie. Daniel Craig is a real refreshment and my critics are very positive! He'll be even better in next Bond movie, but we'll have to wait for next two years... and so will he.

My question is... can anybody give me a link with instructions, descriptions, explanations... of that poker game that was played... and won by James Bond, of course.

Thanx in advance.

lavabubble

The game is No Limit Texas Hold Em. You can google for loads of links and there are lots of sites where you can play for free with play money. Just download the software from the more reputable sites i.e. half the ones that sponsor every event from snooker to snail racing (and their programmes are not malicious as I have most of them)

I personally loved the poker aspect as I play Hold Em online and the run of cards in the final hand was just brilliant as far as I was concerned, a bit predictable but I loved it!

sampile2005

There's a direct link here: http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/training_poker.php3?t=bond21&s=bond21 enjoy!

Mr Martini

Here's another link also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hold%27em_poker

MI-6 AGENT 003

lavabubble wrote:

The game is No Limit Texas Hold Em. You can google for loads of links and there are lots of sites where you can play for free with play money. Just download the software from the more reputable sites i.e. half the ones that sponsor every event from snooker to snail racing (and their programmes are not malicious as I have most of them)

I personally loved the poker aspect as I play Hold Em online and the run of cards in the final hand was just brilliant as far as I was concerned, a bit predictable but I loved it!

I liked the poker playing as well, however I thought the actors didn't do a very good job. By that I mean, they didn't play like poker players would. The way the bet, the amount they bet and shoved their chips in the pot wasn't very accurate. I don't know, as a poker player, I guess I notice that stuff more and it bothered me!

Sir Hillary Bray

MI-6 AGENT 003 wrote:

I liked the poker playing as well, however I thought the actors didn't do a very good job. By that I mean, they didn't play like poker players would. The way the bet, the amount they bet and shoved their chips in the pot wasn't very accurate. I don't know, as a poker player, I guess I notice that stuff more and it bothered me!

I was wondering if anyone would chime in on this. You're right, although it's not the actors so much as the writing. In general, the players were far too reckless, and good poker players wouldn't play that way. The best example was the final hand. First, I have NEVER seen a hand in which four different players go all in -- it just doesn't happen. Players tend to get eliminated one at a time, leaving the final two to play "heads up". In this particular case, once the heavy-set guy went all-in, the ponytailed Japanese guy should have dropped out to let heavy-set and either Le Chiffre or Bond duke it out. In real no-limit Hold 'Em games, the best strategy is often to wait on the sidelines while players get eliminated, then get aggressive in a smaller group. Call this the "Siamese Fighting Fish" strategy, if you will.

The problem with all this is...real no-limit Hold 'Em games are incredibly tedious. For those who have learned about poker by watching it on TV, you see about one hand of every ten -- the remainder are just not exciting. Therefore, the filmmakers had no choice but to concoct some less-than-plausible scenarios. And despite my nitpicking, they did a very good job -- any inaccuracies from how real games would play out absolutely DID NOT detract one bit from the film.

MI-6 AGENT 003

I agree it didn't detract from the movie, but I just found the way the players bet their chips to be unrealistic. I thought they were filmed nicely as well. I'm still trying to decide if they were playing a sit and go style or a high limit cash game. Seeing how it was a winner take all thing I'm leaning toward the sit and go.

lavabubble

I saw it as a STT as there was the option to 'rebuy' and its not usually called this in ordinary table play in my experience, you'd just go and get more chips until you were sick of losing .

I have seen it said that a poker players who have seen the film disliked it most when people were splashing the pot. I can't say it bothered me too much and I just enjoyed the fact that it was a game I love and can relate to.

Slazenger7

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

MI-6 AGENT 003 wrote:

I liked the poker playing as well, however I thought the actors didn't do a very good job. By that I mean, they didn't play like poker players would. The way the bet, the amount they bet and shoved their chips in the pot wasn't very accurate. I don't know, as a poker player, I guess I notice that stuff more and it bothered me!

I was wondering if anyone would chime in on this. You're right, although it's not the actors so much as the writing. In general, the players were far too reckless, and good poker players wouldn't play that way. The best example was the final hand. First, I have NEVER seen a hand in which four different players go all in -- it just doesn't happen. Players tend to get eliminated one at a time, leaving the final two to play "heads up". In this particular case, once the heavy-set guy went all-in, the ponytailed Japanese guy should have dropped out to let heavy-set and either Le Chiffre or Bond duke it out. In real no-limit Hold 'Em games, the best strategy is often to wait on the sidelines while players get eliminated, then get aggressive in a smaller group. Call this the "Siamese Fighting Fish" strategy, if you will.

The problem with all this is...real no-limit Hold 'Em games are incredibly tedious. For those who have learned about poker by watching it on TV, you see about one hand of every ten -- the remainder are just not exciting. Therefore, the filmmakers had no choice but to concoct some less-than-plausible scenarios. And despite my nitpicking, they did a very good job -- any inaccuracies from how real games would play out absolutely DID NOT detract one bit from the film.

Good post, Sir Hillary. As an avid player, I of course noticed all these details as well, and I completely agree that in no way did they detract from the movie.

I thought the final hand would have been more fitting as a heads up battle too, rather than the loose four way action you might see in a $20 home game! )

To nitpick some more, when you have the best possible hand, or "the nuts" as its referred to, in no way do you allow your opponents to show down their hands first, only to crush their hopes and dreams as you arrogantly show them how badly they are beaten. This is called "slow rolling" and is considered very poor poker etiquette in any serious game. Once all the money is in you flip over "the nuts" immediately to spare your opponent's agony. This happened when Bond had trip Aces at the Ocean club, when LeChiffre had quad jacks at CR, and then of course when Bond won the whole thing with the straight flush. The way they did it was cool though, since the point of the games was that it was "more than just a game", and the "one-upping" on card flipping was more dramatic that way.

Also, the way Bond always toppled all of his chips into the pot irked me a little as well, because of course nobody knows how many chips you are betting in a big sloppy pile! The correct way of course would be to put your hands behind all of your stacks and smoothly slide them into the middle while saying "I'm all in".

Rant concluded. :007)

MI-6 AGENT 003

Good post Slazenger! My points exactly!

lavabubble

One of the funniest things is that in the UK screenings I have seen of CR there is an ad on before the film for a well known poker site in which Chris Moneymaker turns up at his old basement poker place with all his pals sat round.

He pulls up in some flashy car with his sunnies on, almost a parody of Bond and I thought even though it was an ad it was great.

Maybe they should have stuck to baccarat and less of us would have known what was being done wrong )

MI-6 AGENT 003

They showed a Pokerstars ad in the previews when I watched CR as well!