A Twist of a Twist No One Seems to Notice...

Well, your theory is plausible if Gondorf and Hooker intended to get out of the game. But there are certain things to consider. One is that Hooker declined his share. Secondly, as Gondorf alluded to Billie at the brothel, they were now a hot number and would need to live low in order to avoid the law and Lonnegan.

By making good on their word to split the take at Boudreau's, they also don't risk losing friends and acquaintances and cause more people to have a reason to come after them. If that were the case, their contacts would be able to tip everyone off as to make it easier to find them. So, to skip out would not work in their best interests.

The "big store" was needed to pull off The Wire on a high roller like Lonnigan. Stores like these were common in the day.

Also, there's no way that Hooker and Gondorf would cheat the others. With big-time confidence workers, there was actually "honor among thieves."

The source for the plot is a book by David Maurer called "The Big Con." It will give much background and insight on how confidence games worked.

As others have said, your theory makes no sense for a number of reasons. There is another reason, however, which everyone seems to have overlooked, and which kills the theory completely. At one point Gondorff tells Hooker "You can't treat your friends like marks". Gondorff was CLEARLY friends with the other men working with him, so tight with them that they would literally quit their jobs to work with him when he gave a simple gesture. It makes no sense at all to think that he would make such a vehement statement and then conspire with Hooker to pay no attention to it.

Your theory is brilliant. It is almost matches the genius of theories like Hitler is still alive and that the world would end in 2012.

Woody Allen is the only genius whose work I have seen and understood.

Gondorff to Hooker, early in the movie: "You can't play your friends like marks."

The night before the big con, Gondorf and Hooker were talking and Gondorf said, "I have to pack." He wanted his suitcase ready so that he could take off as soon as the con was done. They knew what Lonnegan was capable of. He'd already killed Luther, and that was only for a few thousand. He'd just lost half a million. It's obvious that as soon as he gets over his shock, he's going to send some of his henchmen back to kill Gondorff and Hooker and get that money back with orders to kill anyone who got in the way. It took all those people to get the place ready, and all those people to tear the place down. As many have pointed out, everyone was to meet later that night to pick up their share. But Hooker had agreed with Gondorff that the big con was not enough to make up for Luther's murder. Gondorff and Hooker walked out with all their belongings - but no money - in their suitcases.

You're just imagining a scenario. So, you're wrong, Hooker and Gondorf don't rip everybody else off. It would be disastrous to their reputations not to mention their lives, besides they just weren't that character type.