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LONDON
Our first-ever introduction to Bond comes at the beginning of 1962's Dr. No, when we see actress Eunice Gayson pay a gambling debt to the winner at a chemin de fer table. When she asks whom to make the check out to, the camera cuts to Sean Connery as he utters the phrase: "Bond… James Bond." Though unnamed in the movie, the casino was supposed to be the über-elegant Les Ambassadeurs in central London, one of the most exclusive gambling—pardon—gaming institutions in the world. Membership costs £1,000 and is subject to approval; if you do get in, you'll be rewarded with spectacular views of Hyde Park from the lavish gaming room. Nowadays, you won't find chemin de fer (a version of baccarat that was Fleming's game of choice in more than one Bond novel) but you can indulge in American roulette, blackjack, casino stud poker, or one of the club's elegant poker tournaments.
Les Ambassadeurs
Tel: 44 20 7495 5555
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