Daily Dialogue — March 6, 2016

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR: With this chip exchange, we enter the final phase of the game, which means no more buy-ins. The big blind is now one million dollars.
DEALER: Four players. It’s your bet. Monsieur Bond?
BOND: Check.
DEALER: Check.
MATHIS: Twenty-four million in the pot already.
DEALER: Check. And check. All check. Four players.
BOND: Check.
DEALER: Check.
FUKUTU: All in. Six million.
DEALER: Bet. Six million. All in.

Infante moves his holdings to the table and holds up his hand.

DEALER: Five million. All in. Bet is 6 million.

Le Chiffre moves his wager to the table.

LE CHIFFRE: Raise.
DEALER: Raise. Twelve million. Heads up.

Bond studies Le Chiffre.

BOND: Forty million, five hundred thousand. All in.
DEALER: Raise. All in.
LE CHIFFRE: Well, I think I will call you on that one.
DEALER: Call.
MATHIS: One hundred and fifteen million in the pot.
DEALER: Gentlemen, showdown, please.

Fukutu tosses his cards to the dealer.

DEALER: Flush. Ace, king, queen.

Infante tosses his cards to the dealer.

DEALER: Full house. Eights full of aces.

Le Chiffre exposes his cards.

DEALER: A higher full house. Aces full of sixes. Monsieur Bond.

Bond turns his cards over.

DEALER: Five and seven of spades. A straight flush. Four to the eight. The high hand.

— Casino Royale (2006), screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis, based on the novel by Ian Fleming

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Gambling, suggested by David Proenza. Today’s suggestion by Will King.

Trivia: James Ferguson, a physician in Aberdeen, Scotland, came up with the idea for the scene in which Bond is poisoned and is remotely diagnosed by MI6 experts. He is a Bond fan, and has been retained as a medical adviser on future Bond films.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “ In previous rounds, Bond, thinking he could read Le Chiffre, lost 15 million of government money. He’s playing now only because CIA agent Felix Leiter fronted him the cash to continue. Bond had been warned earlier, “I suppose you’ve given some thought to the notion that if you lose our government will have directly financed terrorism?” The pressure is on and Bond appears vulnerable. The dialogue is low key, but using Mathis to keep a running total and the dealer to call out the bets continues to raise the emotional, as well as the financial, stakes. As each hand is revealed, each tops the previous, another tactic to raise the stakes and the tension.”