Wide shot of a Monte Carlo casino. The room sways with opulence.

A sea of formal attire. Smoke drifts from the masses hunched over fields of emerald. A croupier's bark crests the din.

Meanwhile, a battle rages at the chemin de fer table. An adventurous beauty coos her wagers, snaring enchanted punters in her high-stakes trap.

The mysterious gentlemen across the table snaps cards from the shoe with a subtle bravado. He draws from a fresh cigarette. Up the stakes? Without hesitation. An 8 against the bank's 9.

Another win.

The crowd celebrates as the victor rises. In a single move he tokes the croupier, commands a chip runner, and sets a trap of his own for the recently impoverished Sylvia Trench.

The saunter to the cashier is James Bond's coup: we, like Miss Trench, fall uncontrollably into his world.

And it all started with that game of cards.

Chemin de fer is an older version of the game known as baccarat. As casino games go, baccarat is an enigma: unknown to a plurality of gamblers and also one of the industry's perennial cash cows.

The object is simple and it plays like blackjack. The player and the dealer draw hands of up to three cards. Whoever is closest to a total of 9 wins. Like blackjack, the dealer acts second and enjoys a mathematical advantage.

Unlike blackjack, however, there are exactly two hands in play: the player's and the banker's. Other players wager on the outcome of the hand.

In the famous Dr. NO scene, you only see Bond and Trench drawing cards. They represent the banker and player, respectively.

While the days of patrons handling the shoe are behind us, the mystique of a Bond-like baccarat game lives on. Whales love it. It's a massive hit in the Asian territories. It's recession-proof.

People want to imagine they're seated in that exclusive salon, puffing an oak pipe, winking at spies, getting the best of the house. Their world is Bond's world.

And they came to play.

Sharpening the Toolkit

• Long-awaited sequel to the seminal computer RPG series, Baldur's Gate III goes into early access today
• Universal Studios Japan's $559 million Mario-themed Super Nintendo World ready to open in 2021
• Silver Hoof Games to host an online tabletop RPG game jam starting October 14th

To future worlds,

Matt Ventre

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