Saw Casino Royale last night. Not a bad movie, but the poker scenes. Oh, the poker scenes. Now I know these hands are not real, yes I know that, it's a movie. But as a poker enthusiast I like seeing the game I enjoy shown in the light it deserves. ie, winning hands with A high happens, you can get lucky, the better player usually wins. For those of you who have not seen the movie and do not want to know what the poker scenes are like, stop reading. Stopped yet? Stop, seriously. Just stop.
Ok, the first poker scene is the bad guy playing a women and some rich business man on a yacht. The turn card is the only part of the board shown and it is a K of diamonds. The bad guy goes all in and says, "I have two pair, you have a 17.4% chance of making your straight on the river." And guess what, the other guy folds! I thought for sure he had a set. Just kidding, wouldnt make much sense to see the bad guy lose to anyone but Bond. This scene I didnt like as he had no idea what the women folded, therefore he does not know how many outs the man has to make a straight.
The second scene is Bond playing a minor bad guy at a club in the Bahamas. Blinds are 100-200 and we pick up the big defining hand on the turn. It is a blank and the minor bad guy bets 5000 on an ace high board. Bond flat calls. The river is a K. The minor bad guy bets everything and then tries reaching into his pocket to write a cheque for 20,000. I would have left the cinema if the dealer allowed it, but thankfully she says only whats on the table can be bet. The minor bad guy then says, "well, my keys are on the table". And throws his expensive car into the pot. Bond then tells the dealer it's ok to bet it and calls. Minor bad guy flips KK hitting his set on the river, while Bond 'luckily' had AA for a higher set. So cheesey and cliched.
The rest of the poker is at Casino Royale in Montenegro and Bond has been bought in by the Mi6 as, "he is the best player in the service" (I am sure they keep records of such things). The buy in is 10 million with a rebuy if needed of 5 million.
Anyway, the first big hand shows the board as 589 hearts and the turn is the 9 clubs. Head bad guy (same from yacht) bets each round and is called by Bond. The river is a 2 and bad guy bets again. Bond calls to see a boat. 22299. I would say in a real game, Bond had either a low flush or a pair. Obviously they dont show it, but it would make sense for the hand. Bond then tells his cohorts at the bar that bad guy had a tell and gives the odds of hitting his set on the river as 23-1. Again, impressing those non poker people, but evident to anyone who has an odds calculator or goes to cardplayer.com. Anyways, the next big hand is where I have a big problem.
The board reads J K A J K and the bad guy goes all in. Bond lifts his cards to reveal AK, the third nuts, behind AA and JJ. Bond then calls for all his chips to be shown JJ. Bond leaves the table and is shown talking to his service friends. He is blamed for losing focus and "how could he lose with such a hand". Ok, that is upsurd. Yes he had the third nuts, but the fact he couln't lay it down is not an obvious mistake. Silly really. He buys back in and wins enough to be a contender again.
The final hand shows a board of Ah 4s 6s 8s As. Everyone goes all in (the four remaining) and they prepare to flip over their cards. Cue the cheese please. At this point I say to my finacee next to me "KQ spades". The lowest stack shows KQ spades. Thank you. I then say "pocket 8's". Next lowest stack shows 88. Thank you. I then say pocket Aces, but bad guy shows A6, hey, I was close. And then I say obviously, "57 spade". And yes incredibly, Bond has it. I know, I was worried he was bluffing as well.
All in all, I was pleased to see poker in a major film which will be seen by poker players and non poker players alike. I think the movie did ok in portraying poker and because it is trying to appeal to many people, it had to be a bit cheesey.
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