60 Years of James Bond and Casinos: Why Baccarat Became Poker
The James Bond movie franchise is based on a series of books, initially by Sir Ian Fleming, then later by other writers. But Fleming’s 1953 book Casino Royale wasn’t the first movie. Dr. No (1962) came from the 1958 book of the same name. Casino Royale wasn’t made into a movie until 2006—almost 50 years later. A significant part of the book had to be changed for the movie to be made. The final casino showdown between Bond and Le Chiffre was a high-stakes game of baccarat, yet in the movie, it was changed to Texas Hold ‘em Poker. Why was something so pivotal changed so much?
Here’s a brief 60-year look at the relationship between James Bond and casinos and why the change needed to be made for the film to be a success.
Early Films – Establishing the Casino Formula
Even people who’ve never seen Dr. No (1962) all know these three things:
- He introduces himself as “Bond, James Bond,” the first time he speaks
- He drinks his dry martini shaken, not stirred
- He wears a tuxedo at the casino where he plays baccarat
Every one of these is introduced throughout Dr. No. These three non-negotiables set up a character that was to be played by six actors, with a seventh to be announced soon. However, across the decades, some of these “non-negotiables” changed as the world changed. More on that a bit later.
Let’s go back, though, to 1941, when Ian Fleming visited Casino Estoril in Portugal during WWII as Naval Intelligence Assistant to Admiral Godfrey. Present was an MI6 double-agent, Dusko Popov, playing high-stakes baccarat while on assignment. Watching this game gave Fleming the idea for his character and the plot for his 1953 novel Casino Royale, the first in the franchise.
He chose baccarat for Bond because gambling skill signaled “gentleman” status in 1950’s Britain.
The casino setting as the opening scene becomes a character establishment device, not just a plot mechanism. The martini order reinforces the same thing the baccarat table does: Bond is a classy gentleman who knows how things should be done properly.
The casino as a setting was the perfect location, as back in the early 1960s, these places would’ve been considered exotic by the average viewer, who probably had never stepped inside a casino. In the UK, casino gaming had only just become legal in 1961, restricted to exclusive private members’ clubs where entry required advance membership. And in the US, only one location, a desert town in Nevada called Las Vegas, allowed gambling legally. For many Americans, that meant a long car trip or an expensive flight.
By the time online casinos rose to prominence in the 21st century, people didn’t even need to leave their homes to “visit” a casino. With fully regulated platforms and even offshore casinos like those in Hungary accessible anywhere, anytime, the casino’s glamour and elegance allure was over.
The Decline Era – Moore Through Brosnan
Ask any James Bond movie fan what settings they remember from earlier films, and most will unanimously say there’s always a casino scene. But they’d be mistaken.
The iconic casino scene in the Dr. No movie set the expectation, yet it wasn’t often repeated. In the second film, From Russia With Love, there was no casino scene at all. In Thunderball, the third movie, it was back—a relationship-building scene, between Bond and Largo, then Bond and Domino—but it was not pivotal to the plot.
Roger Moore starred in seven Bond movies, and casinos were featured in only two: The Man With the Golden Gun (1973) and Octopussy (1983). Licence to Kill in 1989 was Timothy Dalton’s only Bond movie with a casino scene, and for Pierce Brosnan, who made four films, only two of them had casinos: GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999).
Casino scenes were no longer relevant as plot devices and nearly disappeared from Bond movies, and there’s a legitimate reason for that. Casinos were no longer exotic. In 1978, Atlantic City opened its first casino, and its proximity to New York City made it more accessible than Las Vegas. The biggest cultural shift, though, was in the 1980s and 1990s, when the strict dress code of tuxedos and formal gowns gave way to casual wear and even flip-flops. Casinos were no longer viewed as high-class establishments where only the elite played. As James Bond still moves in those circles, casinos weren’t the places for him.
Casino Royale (2006) – The Poker Revolution
Casino Royale was the first book of the series, written in 1953, but it took 53 years to make it to the big screen. There were legal issues over ownership of the story, and a dreadful comedy take on it was made in 1967. Finally, thanks to Sony trading Casino Royale rights to MGM for Spider-Man rights (yes, James Bond for Spider-Man), Eon Productions could make this movie.
A Much-Needed Franchise Reboot
This movie rebooted the franchise and introduced Daniel Craig as the modern-day James Bond. A reboot was desperately needed. Pierce Brosnan’s final Bond movie, Die Another Day (2002)—featuring invisible cars, laser satellites, parasailing tsunami scenes with CGI, a techno theme song—was so far removed from Ian Fleming’s concept that it turned fans away.
During the four-year gap between Brosnan and Craig, the Jason Bourne series gained massive popularity, redefining the spy genre with grounded, brutal action. If James Bond were to compete, the movies had to go back to the character of the original books. Replace invisible cars with psychological warfare, and no more CGI stunts; the action needed to be real, with practical effects. What worked in the 1960s—the quipping playboy—needed to be updated to a vulnerable, brutal Bond. Most of all, the over-the-top villain needed to be replaced with a poker-playing terrorism financier.
The Controversial Change from Baccarat to Poker
In Fleming’s Casino Royale, Bond enters a high-stakes baccarat game with Le Chiffre. His purpose is to bankrupt the soviet spy so that SMERSH (Soviet counterintelligence) can hunt him down. The casino setting is vital to the story and once again glamorized these venues.
In the 2006 movie, however, it’s No-Limit Texas Hold’em, not baccarat, that they play. It was a risky move to replace something so important to the book, but there was merit behind the decision.
It started during the 2003 poker boom, when Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP win democratized the game. For the next three years, it seemed like poker was on TV everywhere (WPT, Celebrity Poker, High Stakes Poker). In the movie, the stakes are incredibly high, and producer Michael Wilson insisted that, as poker was so hot and the highest-stakes casino game, it made sense to replace baccarat with it.
His choice to replace Fleming’s baccarat with poker wasn’t random—it reflected a seismic cultural shift. Most of the audience who followed gambling was more familiar with how poker is played than with baccarat. Keep in mind, while the scene is pivotal, it also has to be appealing and entertaining to the audience.
What Happened to the Non-Negotiables?
Earlier, we said there were three non-negotiables: Bond plays baccarat at the casino, drinks a dry martini, and states his name as “Bond, James Bond,” the first time the audience hears it.
Fast forward to 2006, and he’s at the casino, yet he’s playing poker. The martini remains for now—Craig’s Bond actually drinks more martinis per film than any previous 007—but by Skyfall (2012), even that tradition bent to commercial reality when Heineken paid $45 million for product placement, making Bond’s first on-screen beer consumption a financial necessity after MGM’s 2010 bankruptcy. Finally, the immortal line, “Bond, James Bond,” is spoken for the first time by Daniel Craig at the very end of Casino Royale.
Everything that signaled sophistication in 1962—baccarat, martinis, even the famous introduction—had become mainstream by 2006. The poker boom, product placement deals with mass-market beer brands, and saving the signature line for the final moment all reflect how casino culture itself became accessible rather than exclusive.
In summary, Bond didn’t change casino culture. Bond reflected how casino culture was changing around him.