Adam Savage Builds a Poker Set That Captures the High Stakes of Casino Royale

Adam Savage has spent years turning movie props into objects he can actually touch and use. His earlier work on Rounders chips and a matching poker table showed how deeply he loves the gear that surrounds a serious game. This new project takes that same passion and points it at his favorite Bond film. Casino Royale features one of the most intense poker scenes ever put on screen, complete with million-dollar plaques and sky-high tension. Savage decided to build the kind of custom carrier and racks that might actually move such a set between games.

He began by looking for realistic copies rather than making things from scratch, as the details might be very confusing. One manufacturer, Apache Poker Chips, sent him several ceramic pieces that mimic the chips depicted in the movie in every aspect, including weight, sound when knocked together, and feel in your hand. To top it all off, the set includes these large plaques that are worth a million dollars each, as they have the same styling and design as the high-roller tables in Montenegro. It all adds up to over 65 million dollars, but that’s still nowhere near the ultimate sum from the film.

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Next came the design process, which involved Savage working with his shop assistant to create specialized racks that could carry many more chips than a regular tray. Each rack has 175 chips, organized into five stacks of 35. They produced the racks on a two-color machine, so the Casino Royale emblem is visible through the plastic as part of the design. With six racks in all, the set has plenty of capacity, but it all fits in one large case with a lock. Getting it just right required some careful computer work and a lot of test printing to ensure that the fit and logo were correct.

The plaques needed some boxes to keep them in, so Savage used the table saw to make some wooden trays, angled the cuts so the boxes would stack nicely and stand out when pulled out with those old drawer handles. After some testing, he decided to producing them using a 3D printer, which allowed him to get a smoother finish that looked like it belonged in a fine shop. Each box may hold a number of plaques and has the same two-color design treatment as the chip racks.

The case, however, is the true standout, as Savage started with a massive anvil-style box that was essentially a strongbox and then transformed it into something that resembles a bank vault on wheels. He fitted boat-style latches and a very good lock on each side. There are plastic bits to assist everything line up when you seal the lid, and the inside of the lid has a small tufted trim for a luxurious feel. He polished it off with some old aircraft stickers, a Montenegrin flag, and some tamper-evident seals, making it look like something from an extremely secretive high-stakes operation.

The problem is that once the case is filled, moving it around becomes difficult because it weighs around 19kg on its own, before you even consider the box itself. So Savage decided to link the box to one of those stainless steel moving kitchen carts, allowing one person to move it without exerting themselves. Inside the cart, he also fitted some custom 3D-printed card carriers that look just like the original mid-century designs, ensuring that you always have two decks of cards ready. The entire operation is now sitting on the cart, and every detail has been meticulously planned. The chips sound and feel just like the ones in the movie, and the plaques are also spot-on.