When Police kicks open the doors of the elite underground fight club Knuckledust, they find seven levels of hell, filled with the dead bodies of countless fighters, assassins and goons. Only one man, beaten up to a pulp, is still breathing: Hard Eight.

Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond—on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.