It's in the Cards

Some people have luck. Some people don't. When we first meet Strangways, he's playing a card game with other men at a country club. He seems lucky. It's the middle of the day, and he's in Jamaica not working, but playing cards. What a life.

When he takes a break, one of his card-playing buddies tells him not to take too long.

MAN: Hurry back before the cards get cold.

It's not the cards that get cold, though. It's Strangways' body. He's killed before he can return to the card table. What a life…while it lasted.

Contrast that with Bond, whom we also meet at a card table. Bond appears to be winning not just money, but lusty looks from the woman across the table. However, it isn't too long before Bond is called away from the card table, much as Strangways was. Will he be killed too?

No, of course not. And as the movie progresses, Bond appears to get out of dangerous situations through sheer luck as much as skill. For example, it's pure luck that Dr. No reveals his entire plot to Bond instead of killing him instantly.

But Bond takes advantage of that lucky break to turn the tables on No and defeat him in a fistfight over the nuclear reactor. The perfect combo of luck and skill keep him alive.