“From a dramatic point of view, each of the card games has a good climax,” says Campbell, and if the final scene still grates with some poker fans, there is a reason. He believes the 30 minutes of gameplay that made the final cut, showing three massive hands, was critical to the success of the film, admitting: “It was the thing I sweated on more than anything else.”Īfter discovering Le Chiffre’s ‘tell’, Bond has to survive two assassination attempts in his bid to end the villain’s hopes of winning the $130million poker game.

The Englishman, who finished ahead of Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman and EPT legend John Duthie to win his title, explained: “We’d be playing games constantly between takes,” adding cheekily, “I saw it as their privilege to learn by paying me this money.”ĭirector Campbell somehow pulled together all the elements of the game in an almost believable series of poker scenes, mixed in with the usual action-packed adventures of a typical Bond movie. Sambrook also admits to making a bit of money on the side, taking the actors for their ‘per diem’ in hastily-arranged games in the studios. Not an easy task for poker consultant Tom Sambrook, the 2002 winner of the European Championships explaining: “I’d just basically tell them what the absolute bare minimum was that they needed to know to look like they had been playing this game.” …the cast and crew had to be taught the game basically from scratch to ensure everything from continuity to poker tells would come across as realistically as possible.

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