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Bond, Baccarat and Poker
Anyone that has seen the movies or read the Ian Fleming novels of Agent 007, James Bond, knows that his casino game of choice is Baccarat. With Casino Royale this was no exception. In the novel his game of choice once again is Baccarat and a large portion that follows is to explain how the game is played. To my amazement, when the movie Casino Royale was released we see James playing his hand in a game of Texas Hold’em no limit Poker! Many fans, myself included, screamed blasphemy, did the movie producers read the novel at all? How can they show the man, that put Baccarat on the map as a popular casino game throughout all novels and movies, playing poker as his game of choice?
When you think about it, it actually does make sense. There are several valid reasons why the producers of Casino Royale would switch from Baccarat to poker, here are a few:
Even though Baccarat has gained a lot of its popularity from novels and movies like James Bond, Baccarat is still unknown to lots of people, but there are hardly any people worldwide that do not know what poker is. Presently, poker is very popular in most parts of the world so switching our favorite agent, with a license to kill, over to play a game of Poker instead of Baccarat actually would make sense.
The above is not intended to be a knock on Baccarat, it is a great game and I enjoy it very much. While Baccarat certainly is as popular as poker in some parts on the globe, overall, poker is more popular than Baccarat, especially in the countries the James Bond movies are produced for, so it makes sense to use poker instead.
Another good reason for going for a game of Poker instead of Baccarat is the huge amount that was wagered in the movie. These types of wagers are much more accepted in poker games than while playing Baccarat. Where Baccarat is mostly a game of chance, Poker requires some skill, and therefore large amounts of money are more often bet on poker games than they are when playing Baccarat.
It is very likely that in coming novels, movies and the likes, featuring our favorite heroes, Baccarat will be substituted for poker, and it will make sense. Hopefully that will be the only change, because seeing a hero play an exciting game of Bingo, just hasn’t the same effect as playing an exotic game of Baccarat.
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