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Gambling in movies

You've seen it. For example, I saw it in Rambo 2 the other day.

A room full of shouting guys, all waving their cash around, and some guy taking that cash and apparently it means they placed a bet on one of the two fighters.

How on earth is that supposed to work? Last time I just gave someone cash, he ran off! Ok well no, but still. How are 'the books' supposed to be kept?
 
You've seen it. For example, I saw it in Rambo 2 the other day.

A room full of shouting guys, all waving their cash around, and some guy taking that cash and apparently it means they placed a bet on one of the two fighters.

How on earth is that supposed to work? Last time I just gave someone cash, he ran off! Ok well no, but still. How are 'the books' supposed to be kept?

200.gif
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
You've seen it. For example, I saw it in Rambo 2 the other day.

A room full of shouting guys, all waving their cash around, and some guy taking that cash and apparently it means they placed a bet on one of the two fighters.

How on earth is that supposed to work? Last time I just gave someone cash, he ran off! Ok well no, but still. How are 'the books' supposed to be kept?

Man your mind would be blown if you saw the trading floor of wallstreet back in the day...
 

Prison Mike

Banned
You've seen it. For example, I saw it in Rambo 2 the other day.

A room full of shouting guys, all waving their cash around, and some guy taking that cash and apparently it means they placed a bet on one of the two fighters.

How on earth is that supposed to work? Last time I just gave someone cash, he ran off! Ok well no, but still. How are 'the books' supposed to be kept?
happy wall street GIF by South Park
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
It is an odd thing since there doesn't seem to be any trading (like on Wall Street), just some sort of honor system?

Then again, Hollywood writers seem to live incredibly sheltered lives with little to no understanding of how ANYTHING works yet over time their creations have become permanent fixtures in our minds to the point where films just ape stuff from pervious films and perpetuate the illusion.
 

Stitch

Gold Member
I thought I was the only who doesn't get how betting in these Bloodsport type movies works. (there’s a bunch of similar movies where this happens)

I also have no idea what is happening at the end of Trading Places

mike leake highlights GIF
 

TheAdlerian

Banned
You've seen it. For example, I saw it in Rambo 2 the other day.

A room full of shouting guys, all waving their cash around, and some guy taking that cash and apparently it means they placed a bet on one of the two fighters.

How on earth is that supposed to work? Last time I just gave someone cash, he ran off! Ok well no, but still. How are 'the books' supposed to be kept?
It's what you call "Artistic License" in that what's important is setting the mood for the chaos of a situation like that. They don't have time to show some guy logging everyone's bets and counting the money as that takes away from the scene.

Such scenes are supposed to show "animalistic people" foaming at the mouth for carnage.

So, they don't need to go into the details of the betting as that's not what the scene is trying to depict.
 

Hulk_Smash

Banned
It's what you call "Artistic License" in that what's important is setting the mood for the chaos of a situation like that. They don't have time to show some guy logging everyone's bets and counting the money as that takes away from the scene.

Such scenes are supposed to show "animalistic people" foaming at the mouth for carnage.

So, they don't need to go into the details of the betting as that's not what the scene is trying to depict.
One 5 second shot of a guy with a table, a cash box, a pen and paper or laptop and a line forming. Maybe throw in a bouncer looking guy standing next to him. How hard is that?
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
One 5 second shot of a guy with a table, a cash box, a pen and paper or laptop and a line forming. Maybe throw in a bouncer looking guy standing next to him. How hard is that?

If you ever start editing films for a living, you'll learn how hard it is to keep scenes like that. They serve no purpose, they take extremely valuable runtime, and are the very first things we get rid of when we are (always) over run time. You rely on universally understood concepts to make scenes like that work, I do not need to show everything for your mind to get the point and set the mood.
 
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Tuff McNutt

Member
I thought I was the only who doesn't get how betting in these Bloodsport type movies works. (there’s a bunch of similar movies where this happens)

I also have no idea what is happening at the end of Trading Places

mike leake highlights GIF

A little bit of trivia, I'm a licensed stockbroker and some of the regulation rules are referred to as the "Eddie Murphy laws". Essentially what they are doing is insider trading and highly illegal now.

So what the Dukes are trading on are options on futures contracts - you are making a bet on the price of a commodity, in the film's case, frozen orange juice (which is interestingly a real commodity).

Winthorpe and Valentine get the real orange crop report, which says that the cold weather had no effect, and switch it with a fake one that says the crop will be reduced, thus driving the price higher.

The Dukes start buying options on margin (a loan) to lock in the price, the idea being that they are buying low and selling high. When the other traders start seeing this, they also start to buy, which drives the price even higher.

Meanwhile, W & V have been using options to lock in buying the contracts at a certain price, no matter what the actual value is. So when the actual price is announced, that is why W & V is willing to buy back all the contracts from the other dealers, who are looking to recoup whatever they can.

At the end of trading, W & V make a profit from the difference at what the options were bought at versus the closing price, while the Dukes lose, and also have to immediately repay their margin loan, which bankrupts them.
 
Running man has a scene where it’s just a bunch of people waving cash. No way can the bookie remember 100s of people different bet in his mind lol
 

Hulk_Smash

Banned
If you ever start editing films for a living, you'll learn how hard it is to keep scenes like that. They serve no purpose, they take extremely valuable runtime, and are the very first things we get rid of when we are (always) over run time. You really on universally understood concepts to make scenes like that work, I do not need to show everything for your mind to get the point and set the mood.
You’re right but if the same 5 seconds is people grabbing cash and waving tickets in the air then you can show the other instead. Or don’t show any of it at all if it doesn’t matter.

BTW I have done editing for a couple radio shows and a satellite tv show. I understand the need to even cut half seconds from a take. Editing is a painstaking process. But it’s nice when the filmmaker goes the extra mile to be different.
 

Stitch

Gold Member
A little bit of trivia, I'm a licensed stockbroker and some of the regulation rules are referred to as the "Eddie Murphy laws". Essentially what they are doing is insider trading and highly illegal now.

So what the Dukes are trading on are options on futures contracts - you are making a bet on the price of a commodity, in the film's case, frozen orange juice (which is interestingly a real commodity).

Winthorpe and Valentine get the real orange crop report, which says that the cold weather had no effect, and switch it with a fake one that says the crop will be reduced, thus driving the price higher.

The Dukes start buying options on margin (a loan) to lock in the price, the idea being that they are buying low and selling high. When the other traders start seeing this, they also start to buy, which drives the price even higher.

Meanwhile, W & V have been using options to lock in buying the contracts at a certain price, no matter what the actual value is. So when the actual price is announced, that is why W & V is willing to buy back all the contracts from the other dealers, who are looking to recoup whatever they can.

At the end of trading, W & V make a profit from the difference at what the options were bought at versus the closing price, while the Dukes lose, and also have to immediately repay their margin loan, which bankrupts them.
yeah I get that part, but then everyone starts waving papers at Winthorpe and Valentine. Winthorpe is making some notes and keeps handing out papers and somehow that's ok? Like no one is there to check this or type the trades into a computer. I guess these tradepapers he's collecting are basically like checks?! :goog_unsure:
 
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TheAdlerian

Banned
One 5 second shot of a guy with a table, a cash box, a pen and paper or laptop and a line forming. Maybe throw in a bouncer looking guy standing next to him. How hard is that?
The other guy that answered did a great job, and like he said, they don't always have time for all of that.

In addition, it would mean having to get an actor and props for that on second shot of the guy who is logically taking bets. If you are writing down in a story then it's free to put him in but not in a movie.

Also, some scenes in a movie are meant to be overwhelming. It's as if you spun around in circles until you got really dizzy then looked at a car accident. You aren't going to see a lot of the detail and the big thing about it is HOW you're seeing the scene and if you could translate that dizzy feeling to a film that would make a good scene of you experiencing a car accident.

Also, if you were actually at a fight where someone is going to fight to the death and you weren't used to that, would be thinking about who is taking bets?

You are thinking about that because you aren't into the film for whatever reason. If you were there in real life you wouldn't be thinking about there their purchased their mugs or what brand of sneakers are available in rural Vietnam or whatever.
 

Hulk_Smash

Banned
The other guy that answered did a great job, and like he said, they don't always have time for all of that.

In addition, it would mean having to get an actor and props for that on second shot of the guy who is logically taking bets. If you are writing down in a story then it's free to put him in but not in a movie.

Also, some scenes in a movie are meant to be overwhelming. It's as if you spun around in circles until you got really dizzy then looked at a car accident. You aren't going to see a lot of the detail and the big thing about it is HOW you're seeing the scene and if you could translate that dizzy feeling to a film that would make a good scene of you experiencing a car accident.

Also, if you were actually at a fight where someone is going to fight to the death and you weren't used to that, would be thinking about who is taking bets?

You are thinking about that because you aren't into the film for whatever reason. If you were there in real life you wouldn't be thinking about there their purchased their mugs or what brand of sneakers are available in rural Vietnam or whatever.
Well there is some truth to that of course. I didn’t plop down $10 to watch an accountant write up a spreadsheet but I also didn’t pay to watch the same kind of scene in every movie. Variety should be what filmmakers strive for. To ignore tropes or go against them not lean into them. To do your own thing.
 

TheAdlerian

Banned
Well there is some truth to that of course. I didn’t plop down $10 to watch an accountant write up a spreadsheet but I also didn’t pay to watch the same kind of scene in every movie. Variety should be what filmmakers strive for. To ignore tropes or go against them not lean into them. To do your own thing.
It's a very cliched scene.

However, in movies where there's "underground boxing" and "fights to the death" it's going to be a pretty simple story. I'm have been around awhile and I know a lot of criminals, due to work, and I don't think underground boxing is a real thing in my location. So, you're dealing with heavy fantasy oriented movies and they're just trying to keep the excitement going.

I REALLY HATE when a character sits down to eat, but they "gotta go" thus indicating they are so busy they can't enjoy a meal.

I also can't stand this one, which has been going on since the 40s, a super nice guy in love with a girl and about to get married gets murdered.

There's a lot of these scenes in B movies.
 

Tuff McNutt

Member
yeah I get that part, but then everyone starts waving papers at Winthorpe and Valentine. Winthorpe is making some notes and keeps handing out papers and somehow that's ok? Like no one is there to check this or type the trades into a computer. I guess these tradepapers he's collecting are basically like checks?! :goog_unsure:
Trading floors did function like that back then, there was a lot of yelling, pushing and shoving (some firms would hire ex college/NFL players who would literally push/block traders and prevent them from placing orders). The paper orders from the brokers would then be handed over to a floor trader, who is the one who actually executes the trade.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
another great mystery in bloodsport


I always thought that was someone whistling during cheering.

Granted the audio is warped as fuck but I never thought of it as a cat and I've seen this movie like 500 times lol.
 

Stitch

Gold Member
I always thought that was someone whistling during cheering.

Granted the audio is warped as fuck but I never thought of it as a cat and I've seen this movie like 500 times lol.
The sound guy really didn't do a great job if this is supposed to be whistling. I'm sure he had access to more than one sound effect XD
It's also not a cat sound, but that's what it sounds like. No one really knows what it is. People where wondering about it for ages. There's a GAF thread from 2009 where people are calling it cat meowing :D
 

Mihos

Gold Member
The sound guy really didn't do a great job if this is supposed to be whistling. I'm sure he had access to more than one sound effect XD
It's also not a cat sound, but that's what it sounds like. No one really knows what it is. People where wondering about it for ages. There's a GAF thread from 2009 where people are calling it cat meowing :D

It's all over in another Van Damme movie also, but I can't remember which one.

edit: Kickboxer was the one
 
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