MovieChat Forums > The Hustler (1961) Discussion > First game played Minnesota Fats vs Fast...

First game played Minnesota Fats vs Fast Eddie how much did Fats win????

posted 11 years ago by Ryannatthew
1 reply | jump to latest

Watching this movie on MAXthriller right now!!

Before I ask my question I just want to say I have seen this movie at least 15 times now in the last 5 years or so, such a classic.. I'm 30 year old and this movie was made 23 years before I was even born.. I never really liked older movies but this is the movie that changed my whole perception and I really started to go back and search and watch older classic movies..

Well as I said I'm watching this right now and in the first game that Fast Eddie is playing with Fats.. Fast Eddie goes up $1,000 on Fats then raises the stakes to $1,000 a game.. Hours go by and Eddie is up $18,000 on Fats.. But he looses it and starts spiraling downward and at the end only has $200 left..

So does this mean that Minnesota Fats actually just breaks even?? Or is it presumed that Fats took more then $18,000 and took all that back plus whatever Eddie came into the pool haul with (which is never stated how much they came with)

I know Bert made all his money by making side bets on individual games, so does Fats make a percentage %% of the money that Bert won..

Just some thoughts that were running in my head as I watch now.. Curious what other Hustler fans think about it..

[–] kag2 11 years ago

Later on at Sarah's apartment, Eddie gets angry after hearing that Charlie held out his 25%, or $1,500. So Fats not only came back but took another $4,500 from Eddie. Actually the math doesn't quite figure unless they changed the stakes to say, $500 a game. But either way Fats came back, recouped his $18,000 in losses, and won another $4,500 or so from Eddie.

Burt got a percentage from Fats, but they don't say how much. At the end Burt demands 25 percent from Eddie, so perhaps he took in the same from Fats. He also may have earned from side bets, but that is not shown.

At the tavern Burt tells Eddie he made enough off him to pay for a new car twice over. A new Caddie or Buick in 1960 probably cost $2,300, or maybe $700 with a one-year-old trade-in. So maybe Burt took in $1,400 from the first match.

And, of course, $1,400 in 1960 was worth maybe $9,000 today.