“Royale” splits this feature between two different games: one Le Chiffre plays and one Bond plays. Nearly every poker movie has an establishing game in its first act, both to tease the finale and to showcase the characters’ skills. It noticeably leans into ridiculous odds, because if the stakes are this crazy, why shouldn’t the hands be too? And just like most poker movies, “Royale” cuts corners. If Bond claims that his poker prowess comes from skill and not luck, then one must judge every hand he plays in the movie by this same principle.
The unfortunate part of “Casino Royale” is how frequently it violates the tenet it so smugly lays out on that jet.
