James Bond & Baccarat

James Bond is well known for his love of martinis, beautiful women and fast cars, but did you know that he has a great love for gambling and Baccarat in particular? In most of Ian Flemings books (and many of the movies) whenever James Bond finds himself in a casino he is drawn towards the Baccarat, or Chemin de Fer, tables.

Contrary to the James Bond movie Casino Royale the game played in the casino was originally Baccarat and not poker. In fact in the original novel published in 1953 has a great description of the game played between James Bond and the SMERSH operative Le Chiffre:

"Bond has always been a gambler. He loved the dry riffle of the cards and the constant unemphatic drama of the quiet figures round the green tables. He liked the solid, studied comfort of card rooms and casinos, the well padded arms of the chairs, the glass of champagne or whiskey at the elbow, the quiet unhurried attention of good servants. He was amused by the impartiality of the roulette ball and of the playing cards and their eternal bias."

The storyline of the novel originally had the casino based in France and not Eastern Europe with the game of Baccarat being set up to discredit Le Chiffre, but it captured the "upper-class" view of the game of baccarat perfectly. In fact the same class and elegance can be seen within the JackpotCity.com Online Casino software. But don't just take our word for it, download your FREE casino software and take a look for yourself.

For more on how the game of baccarat works, please see our Baccarat Rules and our Baccarat Strategies pages.