In the Fleming novel, the game played at Casino Royale is Chemin de Fer. For the film, the producers changed the game to Texas Hold ‘em poker. Explains Michael G. Wilson, “Although Bond has traditionally played Chemin de Fer, that game is no longer popular and there are very few people who understand it, whereas poker is now recognized throughout the world, with poker tournaments on television and online gaming at an all-time high. Poker requires bluff and strategy, which has more dramatic possibilities on screen than ‘Chimie.’”
Wilson enjoys playing poker himself and describes himself as “a recovering poker addict.” In conjunction with the scriptwriters and Martin Campbell, he designed and supervised the games played at the Casino Royale tournament.
“The setting for the Casino Royale in the novel is Royale Les Eaux in France, but the production moved the location to an unnamed town in Montenegro. We needed somewhere that seemed to be out of the reach of the international banking authorities in order for Le Chiffre to feel safe enough to come out of hiding. We actually filmed all those scenes in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in the Czech Republic, which met all our requirements.”
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