Games Gamblers Play () is a 1974 Hong Kong comedy film directed by and starring Michael Hui, with action direction by Sammo Hung. The film also co-stars Sam Hui, who also served as one of the film's music composers.
Although very successful and netting more than 6 millions Hong Kong dollars at the box offices, the film was criticized because there “gambling is no longer a social vice but a means by which one can get ahead quickly by achieving instant monetary gains. The concept of morality or righteousness is irrelevant: the utilitarian motive of individual accumulation of instant wealth is paramount.”
Plot
Man (Michael Hui) is a prison laborer who has a knack in conning others, which he uses to con other prisoners for their meals. Kit (Samuel Hui) is a novice con-man who has been caught stealing poker chips from another gambler in a casino. While in prison, Kit shares a cell with Man, where they both discover their common interest in pai gow. They start to have a friendship and decide to devise plans to con their way into wealth.
Sometime later, Man has been released from prison. He meets Kit outside, who was released earlier due to a shorter sentence. Kit tells Man about his plan to work together and gamble their way into riches, but Man expresses his concern about their lack of money before they can even begin to gamble. Kit assures Man that he has loaned some money from loan shark, albeit the very high interest charged by the loan shark. Man then tells Kit to arrange a game of pai gow and inform about the game.
Kit arranges a game of pai gow with some friends, including a wealthy man and his wife Pei-pei (Betty Ting). However, Kit has very poor luck during the game, and soon loses all his borrowed money. He desperately calls Man to come over and help him turn the tides, but Man refuses to come over, giving excuses that he has a stomachache, when in reality he just want to rest and relax. Having run out of money, Kit decides to leave the game and find Man. Pei-pei, on the other hand, played well in the game, and has won $7,000.
Kit spends the night trying to find Man, but without much luck since Man only gave him his telephone number. It is later revealed that Pei-pei is Man's mistress and that Man had been resting in her home. Pei-pei returns home to tell Man about the game, her winnings and Kit's losses. Man later discovers Pei-pei only has $1,000 with her and asks where is the rest of the $7,000. She then reveals she borrowed money from a notorious loan shark named Ching, who charges an exorbitant interest rate. She had no choice but to pay $6,000 to him as interest out of fear for her protection. Man is intrigued by this loan shark, and later leaves Pei-pei's residence with $1,000. He then spots Kit sitting outside Pei-pei's home, apparently having spent the whole night waiting for Man to show up.
Kit is worried about finding enough money to repay the loan shark he borrowed from. Man reassures him that it is easy to gamble and win more money to recover the debt, but soon loses the $1,000 after entering a gambling den. Man then decides to bring Kit to his own home to meet his younger sister Siu-mei (Lisa Lui) and his wife (Law Lan), who have been taking care of the house while Man was away in prison. Kit soon becomes attracted to Siu-mei.
One evening, Kit watches a quiz show hosted by Wong But-man (James Wong), and is able to answer every question correctly. Siu-mei is impressed by Kit's knowledge, and suggests that Kit could win a lot of money by participating in the show. Over dinner, Man asks Kit about what he thought of his sister, and convinces Kit to go out on a date with her.
Kit eventually takes Siu-mei out on a date at the beach. While Siu-mei is changing her clothes in a changing room, Kit spots a group of gamblers playing poker nearby. He decides to con them by using his own cards to play a full house, but is soon exposed by one of them (Ricky Hui) who notices Kit's cards. Kit then becomes badly injured after being beaten up by the gamblers at the beach.
After a visit to the doctor, Siu-mei informs Kit that she has gotten tickets for him to participate in the quiz show and for herself and Man to spectate. However, due to Kit's injury, he refuses to participate and appear on TV with his injuries. It was later decided that Man will participate in Kit's place, with Kit and Siu-mei spectating. Initially, Man fumbles and does poorly for the first few questions, as he fails to understand the hints given to him by Kit. But later he starts to perform well when the following questions are related to poker.