MovieChat Forums > Let It Ride (1989) Discussion > So how much did he end up winning?

So how much did he end up winning?


Anyone know how much he ended up winning at the end? I remember he bet
$68k, but can't remember what he finally ended up winning.

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[deleted]

As a matter of fact, Trotter went home and showed her wife the champagne and "Sixty-nine-THOUSAND-dollars (money box opens)". Later on, he said he was betting $69,000 when he went to the ticket seller minus a gift for his wife, but the movie doesn't describe exactly how much he spent on the jewelry he bought for his wife, the box of champagne that he sent to the horse rider, the roses for the horse plus the $850 dollars that he paid for Lonney's debt (Or was it 750?...anyway). After Trotter's bet, Hot-to-Trot was paying 8 to 1, but the exact amount of money he bet and won probably...will never be known.

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[deleted]

Re-posted from below for visibility:

As noted by others, in America your winnings are based on the adjusted odds when the race starts, not the odds when you bet. This is demonstrated by the 1st race in which the odds go from 40:1 to 20:1 when the guys from the taxi make their bet. By the time Trotter bets, the odds are 13:1. (note that these are rounded numbers)

In the 1st race, Trotter bets $50 on #2 Charity, and wins $710, making the final odds 13.2:1

In the 3rd race, Trotter bets $700 on #7 Faith Healer, and wins $2,450, making the final odds 2.5:1

In the 5th race, Trotter bets nothing on #6 Lord Byron, who loses.

In the 7th race, Trotter bets $2,400 on #3 Fleet Dreams, and wins "69 thousand" – presumably this is an approximate amount since he spends at least a thousand on various gifts and settling his friends debt.

In the 10th race, Trotter bets $68,000 on #2 Hot-to-Trot, which drops the odds to approximately 8:1. based on that Trotter's final gross winnings are over 600 thousand dollars.

According to Trotter—about halfway through the film—the government gets "half the money" in taxes. However that was clearly just an estimate, since in 1989, the federal tax on that level of winnings was 28%, and Florida does not tax income (which usually includes gambling).

So in the end Trotter took home around 440 thousand dollars.

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I think that these confused people should put on their "Bucket List" to go to a horse race. Maybe then they'd understand.

I can't remember after all of these posts who said that Trotter realized that money can't buy happiness. Are you kidding?????????? The fact that Trotter won made his life much happier. Sure his wife came to say that she forgave him and he made friends and had a great time; however, it's the money that makes the final line in the movie.....

"I'M HAVING A REALLY GOOD DAY!"

This is an American movie....trust me, it's all about the money.

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I saw Trotter as the perpetual loser, as he stated in the beginning of the film he wanted to know what it felt like to have one really good day. And he got it, as you said he got the notoriety, the excitement, and the money. But I think he also got a taste for how fickle that can be - on both sides, the poor side (from the bar) and the rich side (in the jockey club) he got to see how much anger success can bring from your supposed 'friends.' Not to mention he'd seen what a lifetime of gambling could do to someone - he even states early in the film he saw what the future had in store for him if he continued down that path.


So the big quesiton is, after tasting success can he walk away from trying to recapture that day once it ends? I believe he can and will, that's the big take away from the movie - he learned a lesson and enjoyed his success but surely he would have also had a greater understanding what really mattered to him with the love of his wife.

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I've been to race courses and have seen a Trifecta pay $20K. I've also seen show tickets win more than winning tickets. I watched the Hambletonian Stakes one year and some dope bet $100k on the favorite to show. He finished out of the money. Show tickets were paying over $100.

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[deleted]

If you've never been to track you wouldn't know this, but while $68,000 x 8 does equal $544,000, each betting ticket is based on a $2 bet. If you bet $10 on a 5-1 shot, you don't get $50, you get $25. So he would only win about $272,000. My friends and i have discussed this a zillion times, and this is the number we have always come up with as his winnings. of course, that is only approximate, they never showed the final odds. the odds can go up or down until the race is about half over.

the great part of loving this movie and being a Philadelphia Eagles' fan is everytime Jeremiah Trotter makes a tackle, my brothers and i all scream, "I'll get you for this TROTTER!!!"

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I can't remember the exact odds but it was much much higher than 8-1. I keep thinking the counter guy told him in the counting room towards the end something like 40-1 odds, and it was only after his bet the odds went to 8-1.

No more Mr. nice Gaius!

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I'm not sure what track you go to...$10 on a 5-to-1 shot would pay $ 60 (the 5-to-1 is the PROFIT ($10 x 5 = $50) + THE ORIGINAL $10 bet = $60.

otherwise, if you bet on an even money horse, all you would get is your $10 bet back with no profit.

Worse, if you bet on a heavy favorite that payed 1-2 (less then even money) you would lose even if you won. Absurd.

so, if he bet $ 68,000 on an 8-1 shot, he would get 68000*9 or $612,000. Keep in mind that at some point during all of this nonesense the track will start filling out W2-G's and withholding 20% of the payout, so he would walk out with less then $500k.

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[deleted]

otherwise, if you bet on an even money horse, all you would get is your $10 bet back with no profit.

Worse, if you bet on a heavy favorite that payed 1-2 (less then even money) you would lose even if you won. Absurd. <<<<

What track do you folks go to??? Or better yet where did you learn math??? You can't lose by betting on the winner to win. Obviously if you lost money betting on a 1-2 favorite noone would bet on the horse and it would no longer be a favorite. So... If you bet $2 on a horse that pays 1 to 2 then... if you win you would be paid $3.00 $1 winnings plus your $2 bet back. If you bet $2 on a horse paying even money and win you get paid $4...$2 winnings and your $2 bet...Get It????

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learn to read

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he would NOT have to sign, he didnt win 300 times the amount he bet, all that cash is his. The movie is erroneous just as you are.

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sir, you cannot be anymore wrong in your addition of racetrack payouts. go learn and repost please

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A 5-1 shot can pay up to $12.00 so for a $10.00 bet times it by 5 and get $60.00. If he bet about $65,000, remember he bought her a necklace and paid off some other things...Looneys bookie losses. The horse went off at 8-1 as I recall...So we times 32,500 x 16.00 and get what he won less of course the original wager of 65K.

This was a great film that had laughs, a tad of drama and great casting and acting. A gem of a film that any person that has ever gambled will be able to relate to. Let it Ride....you will never lose On this film....

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Dear Philzrule,

3 years after you wrote what you did, and I'm laughing hysterically about your screaming that line when Jeremiah Trotter makes a tackle. I even took it and threw it up on my Gchat status message because I laughed repeatedly after reading it. Noone else knows what I'm referring to, and that's how I like it. Well done, sir!

Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead.

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Well I tracked down his post and can hear that line in my head. Great stuff. And I love that you love it too. I'm always impressed with people who obsess about this nonsense as much as I do. I'm thinking of changing my name to Trotter.

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According to odds calculators I have used before, the total payout for a $68,000 bet at 8:1 odds would be $612,000.

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The amount of money he won is a small plot hole. (over $600,000.)

It is unlikely there would have been that much money wagered in the win pool.
Including the tracks takeout, there would have to be $700,000 bet in the win pool, since he and only a few others held winning tickets.
How many people were at the track? 5,000? And, it's the last race of the day.
How many people even had any money left by then to wager.
And, more bets are made on exotic wagering (exactas, triples, etc.) instead of just straight win.
It is unlikely there would have been that much money bet at the track for him to win that much money.
Most tracks today have around a 1 million dollar handle. (for all races)
The handle for the entire day, the wagering on all races, in the 1980's at Hollywood Park was 5 million. That is spread out over 9 races.
There would at most been 200K in the win pool in the last race.
The track would not "make up the difference", because they only pay out whatever is in the win pool, minus the "takeout".

They can claim the 40-1 odds are knocked down to 8-1, but in reality it would be
2-1 or 3-1 at most and not worth the bet. For example, he could have bet $10,000
and still probably cleaned out the win pool if the odds went to 20-1. Betting that much money follows the Law of Diminishing Returns.


That being said I always enjoyed this film very much.

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You don't think tracks in the late 80s had 1MM+ pools? Of course there were. Besides, why would a multi-million dollar track refuse a 68k bet from Dreyfuss, when they had a huge edge, especially with the long shot he was betting on and the odds they ended up getting. Even if they had to cover the insurance on the bet, getting a 20-1 at an 8-1 is huge edge for them.

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Here is the math, and why he can't win $600,000.
Hollywood Park mid 80's average daily handle 5 million. The handle is the total amount of all wagers. Win, place show bets. Exotic wagering which accounts FOR THE MAJORITY of wagers, daily doubles, exactas, quinellas, trifectas, (I don't know if they had Superfecta wagering then at that track.)
5 million divided by 9 races is roughly 550,000 bet on that race. The majority is going to be bet on the trifecta, exacta, place and show. Let's say 60% ( It's more but lets just show why he can't win $600,000 in the win pool.)
That leaves 220,000 in the Win pool. Minus track takeout ( 17% is close )
equals 182,600.

How can he win $600,000 when there is less than $200,000 in the win pool?

In order to win $600,000 there has to be $702,000 in the win pool. Plus all the other bets means there had to be 1,750,000 bet on the 9th race. It's the last race of the day, there's less money bet on that race because people have left the track. The handle for all 9 races is 5 million, but you are saying more than 1/3 of that money is all bet on the 9th race.

The fact that the race is at Hialeah Park ( it's never mentioned in the film what track they are at, but we see the palm trees and flamingos, and it was filmed at Hialeah) means the handle is even LESS.
If you understand the way pari mutual wagering works, he can't win very much and it's not worth betting 68,000 if there's no odds and 8 horses can beat you.


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each betting ticket is based on a $2 bet. If you bet $10 on a 5-1 shot, you don't get $50, you get $25.
A 5-1 horse wins, the odds on the board for the winning horse will read 10 point whatever and yes THAT is based on a $2 bet. $10=5 $2 tickets. 5X10=$50 plus your bet back equals $60

the odds can go up or down until the race is about half over.
The odds go up or down by people betting on different horses in the race. Once the race starts you can't bet on that race anymore. In football you can bet on the second half up until the just before the second half starts because they stop play for halftime and just like horse racing the odds go up or down depending on which side more money is on and once the second half starts, you can't bet on the second half


I have 2 sets of twin boys, Pete & Repete and Mark & Remarkable

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very wrong u r

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Lord, I hate knowitalls so I guess I'll have to hate myself a little to clear up the issue of Trotter's winnings.

The paramutual payout is based on the final odds. If Trotter bet his 68K at 40-1 which then knocked the odds down to 8-1, he would be paid on the base of
8-1, if those were the odds when the gate opened. When the betting public sees the odds on the tote board drop like that, the lemming effect kicks in and he would be fortunate to get 5-1 in real life. That's why the "insider money" is bet just before the race starts or is sometimes bet incrementally as to not start a stampede on that horse.

As to the payoff. It is true that the winning prices are based on a $2 bet,but the odds are what you can figure on. At 8-1, a $2 win ticket would pay $18; 2x8 plus your $2 wager. A 2-1 winner pays $6 and so forth. So Trotter cashed in $68K x 8 + his $68 wager for a total of $612,000. He started with a $50 wager so his net profit (before his bar bill, etc.) is $611,950. Of course, this does not take into account the odd cents based on the true odds. What shows on the tote board is rounded down. That's why you see prices like $18.40 based on true odds of 8.20:1.

Sorry for being so longwinded. I'll get back to my Daily Racing Form now.

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Thank you for clearing that up. I thought the payout was what you stated and not (no offense to that person) what the person above described.

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Philzrule if you bet $10 on a 5-1 shot you get back around $60 not $25. 5-1 pays about $12(because you're getting your 2 dollars back too) 12 times 5 equals 60. Yes trotter won $612,000

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"My friends and I have discussed this a zillion times, and this is the number we have always come up with as his winnings."

Then you and your friends are idiots





""Worse, if you bet on a heavy favorite that payed 1-2 (less then even money) you would lose even if you won. Absurd. "

This is wrong. At these odds you would get a dollar back for every $2 you wagered. You can't ever LOSE money by picking a winner. Even at 1-9 you would get 10 cents back for every $2 "

He said it was wrong learn what the word "otherwise" means

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Trotter won a lot... WHAT A GREAT MOVIE!!

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I have to reiterate about paramutual betting. This isn't like betting a football game or betting on the Super Bowl winner before the season starts. For example: Say you fly to Las Vegas in July and look at the tote board. You see the Houston Texans as an 11-1 pick to win the AFC. You bet $100 so you have a shot at winning $1100. In late August, the oddsmakers see that Houston made a million off season moves and aquired Peyton Manning, Shawn Alexander, Anquan Boldin and Brian Urlacher. This, of course, is going to change things and all of a sudden the odds are knocked down to 4-1. They go on and win the AFC and go to the SB. Lucky for you you win $1100. Not the same in horse racing. A horse can open up at 20-1 but then someone gets inside info and a minute before post bets $100K. This kills the odds to 2-1 so the betting ticket you got at 20-1 is now at 2-1 because instead of getting locked odds all you did was bet on that horse to win.

As for Trotter, did he have a good day or what?

"The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch."-Jim Rohn

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I'm from Australia and most of us don't mind a bet. This movie is cult classic among punters here, and most (if not all) the blokes I know who bet (99% of the blokes i know) know & love the film.

Hey don't you guys have legal on-course bookmakers (bookies)? We have both the TAB (totalisator Agency Board) off course operating in suburban branches (and in most pubs and clubs) and the on course tote equivalent which both operate on a paramutual basis. The state Govmnt takes it's tax from the pool and the div is worked out by how many dollars are wagered on each runner so the payout per unit is relative to the "weight of money" on the runner. For a bit of variety the bookies offer fixed odds, which do come in with money on, but whatever odds you get your runner at, at a particular time, that's what you get paid, (unless there are deductions for a barrier scratching or something). So it's part of the oncourse experience to shop around, anticipate moves and get the best price before it firms.

Our TAB even offers "fixed odds" betting on "black type" races (ie: Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 and Listed races). A catch with this though is that they only sell for a race on a particular program up until 30 minutes prior to the post time of the first, (a concession to the bookies who protested that the government run TAB was ruining their livelihoods). Another is that you are often taking unders.

Our Totes show the div as a dollar value of what you will get for each $1 invested, and a watch on fluctuations is advised. The bookies do too now, but up until a few years ago they used the 7/2, 11/4, 8-1, 1-2 1-1 (evens) etc. As you guys have explained to some others who've had trouble with the odds, evens or 1-1 is a buck on for a buck profit (the first number is the profit, the second number is the wager amount to get it). So if you have $4 on at 11/4 you get $15.00, or If you have $20 on at 1/2 you get $30 collect.

Anyway 1 thing I had to get my head around is the "show" ie: Win, Place, Show. We don't have that, a place here is 1st 2nd or 3rd. A bet for the win and place is known as "each way" ie: "Can I have ten each way the #7 thanks". Place tote is usually 1/4 (often less these days) of the win tote. We have stacks of exotic bet types though, quinella (1st 2 any order), exacta (1st 2 exact order), duet (any two of 1st 3), trifecta, first four, daily doubles, superfecta (first 6 in order), quadrella (winner of last 4 races), running doubles, all up (Like letting it ride but put on up front before the first leg maximum 4 legs), and parlay betting (multiple doubles triples and quads).

Sorry for raving on but I got fired up when thinking of betting talk and this great Movie). If any of the readers here have seen Simpatico (another racing Movie about race fixing etc with Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte, Albert Finney & Sharon Stone) can you Let Me know what you think of it? I Haven';t seen it but the concept and cast appeal to me.

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Just replying to an ancient post in case the user's still around...no, we don't have oddsmakers or bookies (not legally, anyway). In America the only legal wagering on horse racing is parimutuel , whether it's at the track, OTB parlors, or on-line (I'm a TVG girl myself but I'm flirting with Twinspires.) And it varies by jurisdiction (what's offered by NYRA may not be legal in California...) In a NORMAL race, as a rule, you can bet win, place, show, win/place, win/show, place/show, win/place/show, exactas (1-2), trifectas (1-2-3), and if the field is large enough, a superfecta (1-2-3-4) and boxes or wheels of all three of those. Some tracks offer quinellas, some don't, most offer Daily Doubles (set or rolling depends on the track), Pick 3/4/5/6, and a few tracks are now offering Super High Fives (1-2-3-4-5 in a race, but those are expensive, especially if you box it.)

And it's a good thing I have to wager on line because I'd wind up like Trotter's friends if I had a track in driving distance. I love that movie...

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[deleted]

"Lord, I hate knowitalls so I guess I'll have to hate myself a little to clear up the issue of Trotter's winnings.

The paramutual payout is based on the final odds. If Trotter bet his 68K at 40-1 which then knocked the odds down to 8-1, he would be paid on the base of
8-1, if those were the odds when the gate opened. When the betting public sees the odds on the tote board drop like that, the lemming effect kicks in and he would be fortunate to get 5-1 in real life. That's why the "insider money" is bet just before the race starts or is sometimes bet incrementally as to not start a stampede on that horse. "


Totally wrong, if you bet on a horse at 40-1 you get the odds of 40-1 to regardless of what the odds are when the race starts, or at least you do at every race event I have ever been to.

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have you ever been to the track? You get the odds posted when the race is closed. If you bet him at 40-1 and he goes off at 8, you get 8, at least in the USA you do, and I do know alot about this. Now the UK may be different, but here you get final odds.

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in uk u get what the price is at time u put on the bet

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Not on the Tote you don't Shanio, you'll get whatever the tote dividend pays at the off. the price is fixed with the bookies but not the tote.

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I'm sure Trotter is betting at a 'paramutuel' track, which by definition means that every better on a winning horse gets an equal share of the winnings, proportional to how much they bet. That is, all the betters get the same odds, which are determined at post time. His odds, and everyone else who had that horse, were 8-1. Thus, if I bet $2 bucks, I get (2x8)+2(my original bet)=$18; and if Trotter bet $68,000, he gets (68,000x8)+68,000=$612,000.

And yes, he definitely had to fill out tax forms if he won over $5,000. (You're right about the 300-1 rule, but that didn't happen in this movie.)

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a horse go off higher than 100-1. Has anyone else?

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'In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a horse go off higher than 100-1. Has anyone else?'

Tote boards only go as high as 99-1 but I've seen several horses win at higher than 99-1 odds over the years.

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Arcangues won the Breeders Cup Classic in 1993 at 133-1 odds. Paid $269 to win for a $2 bet!!

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no you are totally wrong. a 40-1 horse that goes off at 8-1 pays out at 8-1. only way u would ever get the horse at 40-1 is if u put in an each way/antepost bet and lock it in at least a day in advanced. but those lines are usually not offered for small local races and if the horse is scratched u lose ur money unless specified otherwise. but if u place a bet on a horse on the day of the race then u get the odds it goes off at, not what it was when u first placed ur bet.

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Thanks calfan. I just watched this movie, for the 2nd time in 10 years. I really enjoyed seeing it again, and since I've never been to the track, I never could figure out how much Trotter won at the end. Your explanation is the best I've seen, although the betting odds & winnings are still greek to me. Too much for my poor brain, at this stage in life. (LOL)

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[deleted]

Base on what you've written, How come Trotter's initial wining is $710, instead of $760 ( $50/$2 x 28.4 ) + $50?

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i was fortunate to be employed as a teller at a prominent race track for eight years.everyone should rescroll and read " calfan's" post .he is absolutely
correct with his information.in the U.S and Canada the final odds are what your winnings will be based on .NOT what the odds were at the time you bet.
The payout you receive on a winning wager will vary based on the number and size of other winning wagers and on the total amount wagered for the given type of bet. The odds presented for each entry are a reflection of the potential payouts. For a $2 WIN wager the following approximate payouts are typical:

Approximate Payouts

Odds Pays Odds Pays
1-9 $2.20 2-1 $6.00
1-5 $2.40 5-2 $7.00
2-5 $2.80 3-1 $8.00
1-2 $3.00 7-2 $9.00
3-5 $3.20 4-1 $10.00
4-5 $3.60 9-2 $11.00
1-1 $4.00 5-1 $12.00
6-5 $4.40 6-1 $14.00
7-5 $4.80 7-1 $16.00
3-2 $5.00 8-1 $18.00
8-5 $5.20 9-1 $20.00
9-5 $5.60 10-1 $22.00

this method is used at every north american race track.i cannot speak for overseas or betting with bookies.

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[deleted]

He won his wife back and aquired the knowledge that money doesn't make you happy.


(Are you guys _serious_ that in the US you get the odds when the gate opens, not when you bet? That's stupid!)

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I just love some peoples total obsession with gambling and/or trivia. It's like a real life version of this film. Brilliant.

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[deleted]

in uk you can choose to fix the price of the odds when u place the bet. sometimes the odds go down sometimes they go up so like gambling on your gamble.

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As noted by others, in America your winnings are based on the adjusted odds when the race starts, not the odds when you bet. This is demonstrated by the 1st race in which the odds go from 40:1 to 20:1 when the guys from the taxi make their bet. By the time Trotter bets, the odds are 13:1. (note that these are rounded numbers)

In the 1st race, Trotter bets $50 on #2 Charity, and wins $710, making the final odds 13.2:1

In the 3rd race, Trotter bets $700 on #7 Faith Healer, and wins $2,450, making the final odds 2.5:1

In the 5th race, Trotter bets nothing on #6 Lord Byron, who loses.

In the 7th race, Trotter bets $2,400 on #3 Fleet Dreams, and wins "69 thousand" – presumably this is an approximate amount since he spends at least a thousand on various gifts and settling his friends debt.

In the 10th race, Trotter bets $68,000 on #2 Hot-to-Trot, which drops the odds to approximately 8:1. based on that Trotter's final gross winnings are over 600 thousand dollars.

According to Trotter—about halfway through the film—the government gets "half the money" in taxes. However that was clearly just an estimate, since in 1989, the federal tax on that level of winnings was 28%, and Florida does not tax income (which usually includes gambling).

So in the end Trotter took home around 440 thousand dollars.

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Yeah, but in the end, it didn't matter how much he won, but just that he won. He was a cab driver always grasping for successful moment.

He got that moment at the end of the day when his horse came in. He had that one perfect day when he "couldn't lose". And a day like that may only come once in a lifetime, if at all, for a guy like that. Will he quit gambling? Sometimes when you realize you'll never get that lucky again, you can walk away the winner and move on.

Others just keep chasing the shadow of a dream.



Speak louder, Mr. Hart! Fill the room with your intelligence!

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