MovieChat Forums > Focus (2015) Discussion > Bets at the "Super Bowl" (spoilers)

Bets at the "Super Bowl" (spoilers)

posted 10 years ago by jeff-father
36 replies | jump to latest

Ok, they couldn't say Super Bowl but let's all agree they were at the Super Bowl, biggest sporting event of the year.

A few things, extra points are pretty much automatic. Like literally 99%. Why would BD Wong accept the bet that the point was going to be blocked and to actually win.

But the bigger point is how did the fat guy get on the field with the #55 jersey. It's like someone trying to sneak onto the sidelines of the Seahawks at the Super Bowl. With that many cameras on someone would have noticed. And he was mingling with the other players and coaches. You would have thought they would notice "hey who are you again and why are you wearing <real #55 player> jersey?"

[–] jdavisii 10 years ago

The coach lost big at poker earlier in the week , this was how he had to pay his debt

[–] jeff-father 10 years ago

Makes sense. But most organizations the GM or Owner has the power. Not the coach. Paul Allen (owner) or John Schneider (GM) of the Seahawks or the league would have questioned Pete Carrol (coach) why there was an imposter on the sidelines

[–] Prince_Ingus 10 years ago

Is that really what happened earlier In the movie or just sspeculating?

[–] DeviantHitman 10 years ago

Thats what happened

[–] tyrexden 10 years ago

They showed the white-haired man lose betting in an earlier scene, then they showed the fat guy slapping him on the back, while they were on the field together.

[–] temptresstoo-1 10 years ago

And he said something like, "consider you debt paid, coach."

[–] crashdummy35 9 years ago

The coach lost big at poker earlier in the week , this was how he had to pay his debt

Yup. Gotta pay attention in fast-paced movies.

[–] Alfabeta 10 years ago

Because BD Wong was a compulsive gambler, but in all honesty that is the most ridiculous part of the movie.

[–] chilijoe-119-573916 10 years ago

Woah! More ridiculous than the getting shot in the chest part???

[–] crashdummy35 9 years ago

Because BD Wong was a compulsive gambler, but in all honesty that is the most ridiculous part of the movie.

You aren't familiar with gambling are you? Gambling gambling--not "Took the wife to Vegas," gambling.

Here:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/super-bowl-bets-props-katy-perry-coin-toss-bovada

And those are just legit bets that the books would have for the Super Bowl.

Craziest bet I personally have ever made: 50 bucks on "What will the very first play from scrimage be. 1) Pass 2) Run" Pass had 2/1 odds so I made it, and won.

That scene was good. Not ground breaking but, not as implausible as you make it out to be.

[–] lampefeber 10 years ago

All of that made sense, but the odds of the final game was pretty perculiar.

He had already thrown 1.2 m in the pot to trap the gambler
Then he throws 2 m. extra which is 3.2 in total to win 4 m. That's 80% of the pot (not to mention all the money spent to set up the scam, releasing the coaches gambling debt etc.)
And then he tells her that there's about a 59% chance of him picking the right player and that it's "better than Vegas". Not really. It's terrible odds.
Of course then he says that he would keep doubling until he choice the right player, but that isn't a winning proposition either unless he's insanely rich. He would need a 13.3 m dollar bank roll just to break even. And in this case of doubling up, he would need a 15.2 m. dollar bank roll to gain a very small edge.

Doesn't seem like an awesome scam. Or am I mising something?

[–] marcochazz 10 years ago

Yes. You are missing something.
Its your suspender of disbelief that missing..

All aside, im agreeing with you .

[–] civ-e 10 years ago

plus i think 59% is waaay too high, to pick one out of a hundred some jerseys, and you have to assume he gets spotted by the binocular to begin with. random statistically it's about 1%, and i think with his "subliminal" 5's throughout the day (most of which probably went unnoticed/unseen completely), it might up it to i'd say 2 or 3% at most.

[–] Strawberrry35 10 years ago

I had watched some magician on tv many years ago, somewhere in the middle of the show he asked the audience to pick a number between 1-1000. I remember I picked something like 342, and it was the exact number he said. So I guess getting the guy to pick 55 wasn't that much of a stretch for me.

[–] eonaxes 10 years ago

I had no issue with the Chinese man offering that bad bet. He was very rich, loved to gamble, and atleast at that point felt bad he took so much of Will's money when they were gambling just for fun.
But I had a big problem with the premise of this scene overall. Even with all the stunts they pulled to try to influence him to pick 55 that was still a very risky bet. And as someone already noted the overall money they made from this whole scheme was relatively small, and thats not even factoring all the overhead costs for their stunts to set this scheme up

[–] bmcardle2121 10 years ago

Incorrect. Football teams have a roster limit of either 52 or 55 (it's one of those, but I'm too lazy to look it up). So even if he had but in no preparation for the con, there would only be 55 numbers to choose from, not 100.

For what it's worth, I still think it was ridiculous.

[–] alphamale34 10 years ago

On game days, each team is allowed a 53 man roster. The bet was pick a player from EITHER TEAM. 106 players to choose from.

[–] xSinistradx 10 years ago

He just had to pick a number, not identify the team. Therefore, only 53 choices - 10 is 10 no matter what the team.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] morgant6911 10 years ago

When he said he would just keep doubling up, I started laughing out loud. So he really thinks this guy is going to take a 16 million dollar bet from a guy who says "he's good for it"? This whole movie was an insult to my intelligence.

Besides, who caries multiple millions in cash to the Super Bowl?

[–] alotanor 10 years ago

Ya putting in 3.2 mill to win 4 mill is not a good bet even at a 60% chance of winning.

[–] LapDogg 10 years ago

It wasnt the actual betting on "55" that got me, it was his explanation of their setup process prior to the bet. putting '55' everywhere as a subliminal suggestion was just too much of a [suspensionOB] for me. But, I know its just a movie.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] cm8040 10 years ago

The theory that he would continue to double the bet until he wins wouldn't work because they were counting on the number 55 to be the one and only number he chooses. After they guess #55, Liyuan (BD Wong) is never going to pick that number now. Their odds just skyrocketed and their whole scheme unfolded. There's no way the bet would continue 2-3 more times.

[–] cinetobe 10 years ago

Liyuan didn't have to write the number down. How did they know he would be honest?

[–] dantso 10 years ago

there is (at least) one flaw in the 55 setup...Jess asks "well what if he DIDN'T choose the right number (55)"... and Will answers "Just double the bet til it happens..." EXCEPT that they can only use 55 ONCE. What's he going to do, guess 55 again? 55 would be totally poisoned after the first wrong attempt...

[–] transmentalist 9 years ago

Without tipping too much, it's conceivable that Nicky wouldn't have let Jess start looking until he was sure Liyuan had chosen "55."

Nicky would know that right choice had been made because he knew where Farhad would be standing, and he could see the look of recognition on Liyuan's face when the number they'd been planting in his head suddenly "came to the surface."

B.D.Wong played it that way too; as Liyuan, he let us (the audience as well as Nicky) see Liyuan's smile of recognition at seeing a football player with "that number that's been in my head all day."

So suppose he didn't stop his binoculars in the right place, or didn't look relieved to have finally seen "55" yet again; Nicky could simply direct Jess to look elsewhere or pull a number out of the air (might even get lucky).

I'm not saying this would work in real life. Just that it would permit Nicky to keep doubling until he knows "55" has been chosen. He controls Jess's selection more than even she knows or the movie shows.

[–] eonaxes 9 years ago

@dantso
good catch! didnt think of that! even more reasons why this scene was so flawed

[–] qofreason 10 years ago

Some people are inclined to believe the 55 nonsense because this is exactly like something the magician Derren Brown has done for TV. It's ridiculous, and no real con man would ever execute that scam with that much money on the line.

[–] KingChrome 10 years ago

Having to listen to will Smith describe the con afterwards like it was guaranteed to happen was too much for me. I'm sure the Chinese guy saw more numbers than just 55, numbers are everywhere.

[–] rpressley 10 years ago

The fat #55 said 'thanks coach, your debt is settled'

[–] danmax67 9 years ago

This was actually a decent movie until this scene. It was just plain silly and stupid. He didn't even have BD Wong write down the number? Why? Gamblers are so honest that they would never lie for a million dollars? A non-player gets on the field at the Super Bowl because the coach lets him? Really? Security doesn't notice? Nobody notices? I guess the coach also arranged to miss the extra point and to have the kick returner run the ball out? The Rolling Stones can magically make someone want to guess the number 55? Groan. The whole scene really started the freefall of this movie.

[–] jesse-carrero 9 years ago

Well he knew b.d. wong was a rich gambler that didn't mind losing money, as to why it wasn't a big deal to not have him write it, but YES the just keep doubling it was stupid. I did come on here to write that this scene had me fooled though, I was as blind as jess was until we seen farhad, because of the scene where we see will lose at the horse track, and his friend telling him to stay away from the tracks. I think another question to is what if he would have gotten the extra point, got the high card, it was a pass instead of a run than they would have went through that whole subliminal thoughts and getting him on the field for no reason!

[–] Ed in MO 9 years ago

Yes, it seemed like a lot of work for a bet that might have never happened. That's the difference between movie life and real life....you can control the future in movie life with just a few keystrokes to the script on your Macbook.

The two things which really bugged me about this film:

1. Gerald McRainey is Will Smith's father? Really? And he shoots him at an exact spot in the chest which just magically misses his heart and arteries? And then the bad guy just leaves??? What is this, Batman in 1966 or James Bond in Goldfinger where the bad guys don't stick around to see if their arch nemesis actually dies? You might at least think that he would stick around to see McRainey put a bullet into that beautiful blonde's skull, at least from some ghoulish interest.

2. Will Smith walks into the Super Bowl with a bag full of cash which isn't opened by security. Yeah? They won't let me into a sporting event without running me and my girl through several security checkpoints, and they particularly check bags and purses. I think that $1.2 million in wrapped hundreds might raise a few eyebrows.

[–] RickSPI 9 years ago

I just saw the latter 1/2 of the movie last night, and am 'taping' it for later.

I probably don't mind things as much as others, but IIUC G McR took Will in off the streets and taught him to be a con man (or a more polished one). He probably used him in cons as he grew up. Oh, I guess he took off at some point, doesn't matter.

Yeah, shooting and hitting the ~1" area where this can happen (IF it can even happen) is a little bit of a stretch, but whatever. The owner took off saying 'sheesh, now there's a body to dispose of, take care of it' or something. He didn't want to be there.

Maybe not the Super Bowl, but whatever - VIPs don't have to be frisked at security checkpoints. Will Smith or was it Margot 'scored' the tix and passes/entrances that allowed them the freedom to come in.

Again, these things seems 'plausible' in the context of the movie, didn't bother me much. YMMV of course.