History Headscratchers / OceansEleven

* In Ocean's 13, Danny's gang has a way to rig the progressive jackpot on slot machines. When they use it in Banks's casino they had to let a random stranger win the money, because of the fancy infrared computer thing. But they can also use it on some ordinary slot machine in the Las Vegas airport. Why not use that to win a lot of other jackpots? That's hundreds of millions of dollars they could walk off with.

** What's more, even if Bank successfully proves to the governing board that it was all a massive set-up aainst him personally, what would be their logical decision on how to deal with it? That's right: ''if there are people who are prepared to go THAT far just to screw with Bank, it's better to keep BANK as far as possible from our hotels and casinoes''. Nothing personal, just business.

** What's more, even if Bank successfully proves to the governing board that it was all a massive set-up aainst him personally, what would be their logical decision on how to deal with it? That's right: ''if there are people who are prepared to go THAT far just to screw with Bank, it's better to keep him as far as possible from our casinoes''.

* The guy shouting "Saul!" to Saul - was he a part of the plan, or was it just a coincidence? If the latter, was it a happy or unhappy one for the gang?

*** "It was a test for Linus, to have him prove himself to Danny and Rusty" - what was the test, exactly? They thought he might chicken out if Danny's not there, or what?

*** A RiddleForTheAges, then.
*** Right before Linus leaves, Livingston tells him "Don't screw up." Maybe he was completing the line?

*** Heck, it's even mentioned in the film that Tess doesn't like being reminded of her resemblance to Julia Roberts, and even bites Linus's head off when he bring it up.

*** If they do measure distances, then there must be a sophisticated system of measuring where the laser is supposed to be pointing and comparing that something akin to a 3D laser scanned data set, triggering an alarm when there's a significant discrepancy. (Okay I've thought about this more than I needed to)
* And in case that isn't a problem, the grid is said to be changing "randomly". Night Fox would need access to the RNG, and calculate a dance hours in advance. If he were THAT deep into the network, couldn't he just shut the lasers off?

*** Not sure if it was JUST for fun though: Linus had clearly expresed a desire to play a more prominent role and thus, in Rusty and Danny's eyes, it may have been necessary to take him down a notch...

** The Night Fox issues the challenge , BEOFRE the transportation of the egg happened ,
(He told the Ocean crew that , "the egg WILL be carried by armed truck , from Paris to Rome.")

*** Quoting what Roman said: '' they'll all think it's their lucky night, but you'll never get them out of there with their winnings, they're going to gamble it all back''. That's true, and the exit strategy takes the "think it's lucky night" out of the equation. It's one thing to be there in the casino after hitting it big, thinking you are Mr. Luck and that you are an invincible high roller. But the situation is entirely different, these are people who went back to their hotels, cooled down and spoke with their relatives, who most likely would say "don't even DARE to lose of that cash!". Granted, some would just go for it anyways, but odds are most of the people returning next day will cash out their chips.
*** On the other hand, gamblers wouldn't ''be'' gamblers if they didn't believe in luck. Having an earthquake-warning go off and force you to evacuate a casino isn't going to make you think it's a very "lucky" spot to be, is it? Plenty of those players are bound to cash out their Bank chips, head up or down the Strip a ways, and lose their new winnings at somebody ''else's'' casino.

** Except that by law it's illegal for him to cash the chips without the issuing casino's permission or agreement. By law, all chips need to be cashed at the casino that issued them. When a Casino in Vegas cashes in your chips from another site - it then needs to cash the chips back to the original casino himself (Most casinos have agreements or rules for this). There's no way for Benedict to cash in that many chips without Banks' approval. And if he has no intention to cash in the chips at Banks = then the point is Moot. Banks lost nothing, as the chips are worthless till they are cashed out ''in his own casino'' and don't hurt is bottom line. So even IF Benedict buys all the chips, he has no way to force Bank to honor the chips (Especially since Banks know they were won fraudulently and can prove it thanks to all the evidence the Thirteen left behind) and so long as Banks doesn't honor them, he's not losing money. It'd be Benedict who is losing all the money (Since none of those chips were bought with money in his casino, and any winning the people have from now on are on him) while Banks only has to worry about his peronal diamonds being stolen.
*** Not really any evidence to speak of. The only real physical evidence of any of the Thirteen Bank would have is Linus' fingerprints on the diamond case...which was pulled out of his casino completely. Even if the ''hotel'' makes back the money they lost that night, that wasn't the point of the hit in the first place. The hotel still lost that money, if only for a night, and that would be all Bank's investors would need to muscle him out of his ownership and takeover. The point wasn't to rob the hotel, it was to screw Bank over in the worst way because he betrayed what was seen as a very sacred brotherhood(that being "The Men Who Shook Sinatra's Hand").

*** Proving the winnings are illegitimate isn't too tough when the tempered dice, balls, and machines have all been left at the Casino.
* Here is a possible theory : All Ocean's gang want to do is to "make the casino lost That much money at the opening night".....Or to put it simple , it's all about "how much" for the "opening night"...People are most likely not going back into Bank's until dawn.(Both for typical evacuation plan standard reason and pure fear). And by than , even if they go back and gamble it all back. The board of Bank's casino can still play on the numbers(by some basic accounting method , and moves number around) to focus on "how much lost at opening night" instead of "how much lost after people gambled all those winning away". Use it to against Bank , and kick him out.....)

Why would the Greco ''lock the control room'' in an emergency? Putting aside that it accomplishes nothing, it's also kind of a hazard if there's a fire or a threat to both the servers AND the people.
* It doesn't lock the control room in an emergency. It locks the control room when it detects a threat against itself (in this case, the magnetron). Presumably it's to ensure that nobody can tamper with it and get away, the minute you start tampering with it, you get locked inside and security notified.[[/folder]]

In ''Twelve'', Terry Benedict scares them into returning the money they stole from him in ''Eleven'' plus interest just by revealing he knows where they are. How can they give away his share of the Bank heist and not fear the same retaliation they feared back then?
* Well, let's put it this way: In "Eleven", Benedict lost something - a girlfriend and self-respect if not exactly money. Whereas in "Thirteen" he didn't lose anything. It's just that he did not gain - money, that is. But then in the end he gained, admittedly through no effort of his own, something probably even more valuable - fame and glory, to the allure of which he seems more than susceptible. (And, well, he probably really wanted to see Bank screwed!) What's more, he was able to see that his plans to double-cross the gang are futile more often than not. So I think that, on the balance, he might be willing to finally put the entire thing to a rest. Or at least that's what the gang might be reasonably counting on. Not that the "reasonably" qualifier can't be disproved by some future sequel, of course.
* He was cheated out of 72 million dollars. Even if he gained everything else he said he wanted out of the deal plus the fame and glory that came with donating that money to charity, shouldn't Danny's crew be worried about him demanding them to get him other 72 mil plus interest? Wouldn't the newfound fame and glory keep people from suspecting him?

** Well, he was cheated out of 72 million ''that had never been his to begin with'', as opposed to losing his lrgally acquired property in the first instalment. All while trying to cheat ''them'' and get the diamonds that were never part of the deal. It might make a difference even for a man like Benedict - at least, one can't be blamed too strongly if they believe it does.

*** Not sure if it was JUST for fun though: Linus had clearly expresed a desire to play a more prominent role and thus, in Rusty and Danny's eyes, may have needed to be taken down a notch...

** Short and simple answer: it didn't. Pay attention to the conversation between Linus and his mother a bit later on...

** Bank says, "I don't ''want'' to." But if that's the angle, then Reuben was just TooDumbToLive, going up to a high building in the middle of the night to meet with somebody who would be willing to throw him off.

[[folder: Banks not going to the cops?]]
* Why is Danny so sure Banks isn't going to the cops after what Danny and his crew did to them (While leaving a ton of evidence behind)? Part of their plans ''hinged'' on Banks having contacts with the cops, so why the sudden change in character?

** What illegal stuff? The contract with Reubens? If that was so easy to prove the illegality (And Reubens signed the damn thing), Reubens wouldn't have gone catatonic. He'd have gone to court. What else is illegal in his casino? the waitresses-as-models things is explicitly a legal loophole (And not one the cops would care about since it's more civil than criminal law anyway). Otherwise for everything we see him do he goes out of his way so it can't be considered illegal (Get papers for the chefs to show up on time rather than have them work under the table. Get the city council to change the signeage leading to the casino. Etc...). The only remotely illegal thing he'd have is tapping into the FBI fingerprint databanks, and he can just cover that up by removing the computer involved and burying it somewhere deep in the Nevada desert. Banks has ''no'' reason to go to the cops. Plus seeing as Banks stands to lose his casino, even if the cops find something illegal on him, it'll take them years to prosecute and he might be able to escape it. And the cops finding another crime doesn't exonerate them from arresting Danny and Cie for the crime the committed. There's no "The guy we robbed was a douche so it's not a robbery" in Nevada law.
** Banks can't call the cops because he has no proof Danny was behind it, at least nothing that would stand up in a court. Also, similar to Terry's situation in ''Eleven'', calling the police would mean admitting that you were outwitted, garnering further humiliation. There was also the fact that given how Linus' parents have been able to pose as FBI agents, they'd be able to sabotage any possible investigation.

* In ''13'', it's mentioned the plan revolves around getting everyone in the casino out before they can lose their winnings by playing more. Fine. Except... The people running out during the "earthquake" are running out with their chips - not money. Only Danny's friend who beat him up in the first film cashes out his chips - the rest are seen grabbing their stacks of chips and running out. Those are worthless until they cash it in. So by the end of the film, Banks hasn't lost any real amount of money. So for one, they'll have to return to the casino anyway, where they are likely to play again and lose their chips back to the casino. Furthermore, since Banks knows he's been had (Coz Danny more or less rubbed it in his face), and the Thirteen have left a ton of evidence behind (Stolen diamond, giant drill in a tunnel somewhere, magnetron cellphone, tempered machines), he's in a position where he could just decide to refuse to cash in the chips since they were obtained illegally, and are stolen goods. Effectively he's not lost much money (And what he's lost is likely insured) so it seems far from certain he's not going to meet those financial benchmark he has to meet to keep his seat running his casino.

** '''Yen's job''': The whole reason Yen has to go in is because ''he'''s the one who has to blow the vault doors open for Danny and Linus, and then the others to get inside, with the explosives smuggled in as [=Saul/Zerga's=] "jewels". The SWAT team conceit would have no bearing on getting in: the only way they can bypass all the vault's countermeasures is to blow the locks off the vault doors, which are in the inside, and the only one who can get inside is the little acrobat who can fit into a cart.

** '''Danny's job''': Him getting red-flagged, then removed from the floor, then being roughed up by Benedict's heavies is a KansasCityShuffle. Terry thinks Danny showing himself the night before and night of is him up to something, and taking care of him puts his mind at ease thinking he's already nabbed the mastermind. Meanwhile, Danny paying off his friend Bruiser allows him to get into the vault and assists Linus by knocking out the vault guards. Also, by returning back to the room with Bruiser, it allows him an alibi to confess to a lesser crime of violating his parole, which for the time, keeps him away from being linked to the team and diverting Benedict's attention, while accomplishing his second goal of getting Tess to leave Terry for him.
** '''Why not the SWAT to begin with?''': As mentioned, they can't get inside the vault doors without Yen blowing them first. They could've gambled with all going in as a SWAT team, but it takes variables out of their control: if they are locked out, they have to hope Benedict is willing to open it himself, or not send one of his own men to open it for them. By blowing the vault ahead of time, they're already and buy enough time to bag $150 million, while again, allowing Danny to run a diversion to both infiltrate, exit, and win back his wife.

* Stealing the pinch (the FridgeHorror of the use whereof have already been discussed on the Fridge tab), contacting Bruiser, risking Yen's life... while in the end they all got there posing as a SWAT team anyway. Remind me what exactly those three did there what couldn't be done by the SWAT team? The explosion part could actually fit even better that way - executed by the SWAT team instead of "the trio", it would raise no suspicion even if detected by the Benedict's security staff. And the entire footage of them breaking into the vault was fake anyway. So what's the purpose?.. So that they have enough time to pack the money into the bags? Hell, they're the SWAT team - will Benedict's security really try to interfere before getting the clearance from them?
And why wasn't Linus on the SWAT team in the first place? Unlike Danny (detained by Benedict's men) and Yen (who had his own "route"), there seems to be no real reason why he didn't just go in there with the others.

Why would the Greco ''lock the control room'' in an emergency? Putting aside that it accomplishes nothing, it's also kind of a hazard if there's a fire or a threat to both the servers AND the people.[[/folder]]

* Well, let's put it this way: In "Eleven", Benedict lost something - a girlfriend and self-respect if not exactly money. Whereas in "Thirteen" he didn't lose anything. It's just that he did not gain - money, that is. But then in the end he gained, admittedly through no effort of his own, something probably even more valuable - fame and glory, to the allure of which he seems more than susceptible. What's more, he was able to see that his plans to double-cross the gang are futile more often than not. So I think that, on the balance, he might be willing to finally put the entire thing to a rest. Or at least that's what the gang might be reasonably counting on. Not that the "reasonably" qualifier can't be disproved by some future sequel, of course.

* Well, let's put it this way: In "Eleven", Benedict lost something - a girlfriend and self-respect if not exactly money. Whereas in "Thirteen" he didn't lose anything. It's just that he did not gain - money. But then in the end he gained, admittedly through no effort of his own, something probably even more valuable - fame and glory, to the allure of which he seems more than susceptible. What's more, he was able to see that his plans to double-cross the gang are futile more often than not. So I think that, on the balance, he might be willing to finally put the entire thing to a rest. Not that this can't be disproved by some future sequel, of course.

: Well, let's put it that way: In "Eleven", Benedict lost something - a girlfriend and self-respect if not exactly money. Whereas in "Thirteen" he didn't lose anything. It's just that he did not gain - money. But then in the end he gained, admittedly through no effort of his own, something probably even more valuable - fame and glory, to the allure of which he seems more than susceptible. What's more, he was able to see that his plans to double-cross the gang are futile more often than not. So I think that, on the balance, he might be willing to finally put the entire thing to a rest. Not that this can't be disproved by some future sequel, of course.