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C-Man

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C-Man

C-Man 27227

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Anybody watching this on HBO? Thought I'd seen a documentary on this year a couple years back but I think instead I read this long-form article:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-an-ex-cop-rigged-mcdonalds-monopoly-game-and-stole-millions

Wondering if there's any reason to watch the 6-part doc if I already know the story. It's pretty incredible.

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Vito Andolini

Vito Andolini 9126

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I also read a really long but damned interesting article on the matter a few years ago.

I’m betting the filmmakers wanted to do a documentary on the story, started interviewing Mathews and knew immediately they had to do a multi-parter. As an old journalist, this guy is pure gold. In fact, all the FBI guys come off pretty well in Ep 1. 

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oSuJeff97

oSuJeff97 3435

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On 2/5/2020 at 7:41 AM, Greg Davis Apologist said:

I watched the first episode last night and really enjoyed it. I guess I’m in the minority here when I thought Agent Mathews was a douchebag. Just thought he came off as unprofessional to me. Anyone who laughs out loud at their own story telling that often is pretty full of themselves.

Ha... you know... the funny thing is that I had that exact reaction to him for maybe the first 3/4 of the episode... mainly because it seemed like he was putting on an act or something.

But as it wore on, and especially when you saw actual video of him literally acting the same way 20 years ago, I kind of softened on it...because at that point it was clear that he wasn't putting on an act...that's just how he is, lol. 

And especially because of all the other Agents' reactions to him... they all kind of acknowledge that the dude is kind of a douche but all do seem to like and respect him.

 

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Texas_Rocks

Texas_Rocks 346

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Enjoying this for the part, but I don’t know about that Matthews cat. He just comes off as reckless and somewhat unabashed on “doing whatever it takes” to get from A to Z without considering the damage done in the middle. Some of his supervisors spoke as if they frequently had to put him in check as he brainstormed ways to bust all of these people as quick as possible. Gotta give him credit for his “get it done” work ethic though. I’d certainly want him on my side if I was in the business of chasing down leads.

The way they worked over that one old guy in the undercover pre-reunion interview was pretty slick. How did that guy not have a heart attack?

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TrashMaster G

TrashMaster G 17557

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38 minutes ago, Texas_Rocks said:

Enjoying this for the part, but I don’t know about that Matthews cat. He just comes off as reckless and somewhat unabashed on “doing whatever it takes” to get from A to Z without considering the damage done in the middle. Some of his supervisors spoke as if they frequently had to put him in check as he brainstormed ways to bust all of these people as quick as possible. Gotta give him credit for his “get it done” work ethic though. I’d certainly want him on my side if I was in the business of chasing down leads.

The way they worked over that one old guy in the undercover pre-reunion interview was pretty slick. How did that guy not have a heart attack?

That dude was sweating in torrents.

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Bama Chick

Bama Chick 28596

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There’s an official HBO podcast hosted by the director and producer of the series that’s got some good tidbits that didn’t make it into the series.

Agent Matthews is apparently super smart math geek who was a CPA prior to joining the FBI and has degrees in accounting and economics.

And Shamrock Productions was named by Matthews after the Shamrock Shake.

The PR lady for McDonald’s came to work for McDonald’s because of the Shamrock Shake. Her dad worked for the Philadelphia Eagles and came to McDonald’s with a marketing proposal - sell a green shake and he’ll get the players in their green uniforms to promote them if McDonald’s gives a portion of the profits to a home for families with kids with cancer.

McDonald’s said, “We’ll give you all the profits if you name the home ‘The Ronald McDonald House’.”

And thus the RMcH and the Shamrock Shake was born.

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JimmyHoffa

JimmyHoffa 1188

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On 2/11/2020 at 9:39 AM, Texas_Rocks said:

Enjoying this for the part, but I don’t know about that Matthews cat. He just comes off as reckless and somewhat unabashed on “doing whatever it takes” to get from A to Z without considering the damage done in the middle. Some of his supervisors spoke as if they frequently had to put him in check as he brainstormed ways to bust all of these people as quick as possible. Gotta give him credit for his “get it done” work ethic though. I’d certainly want him on my side if I was in the business of chasing down leads.

The way they worked over that one old guy in the undercover pre-reunion interview was pretty slick. How did that guy not have a heart attack?

 

He comes off as a used car salesman. He's entertaining but would be annoying if you worked with him. 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 62725

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On 2/5/2020 at 5:14 PM, Bogeywon said:

Affleck apparently is starring as a basketball coach in his next movie. 

 

3 hours ago, Deej said:

Is it a feel good story about a UT basketball coach changing the life of a Pflugerville kid?

It’s actually an X-rated movie. Affleck is apparently dressing up in semi-black face, shaving his head, and then proceeding to brutally buttfuck the UT basketball fanbase in public until the collective collapses underneath its own weight. It’s at this point in which the character steals all of the money from the wallet and pockets and then heads to Nashville on a one-way first class ticket for a new gig. They’re calling it “Going Long Into the Longhorns - The Shaka Smart Story as narrated by Steve Patterson”. 

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Bama Chick

Bama Chick 28596

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Well, episode three sure turned it up a notch!

That cliffhanger!

And I haven’t felt sorry for anyone until Gloria tonight. Colombo basically hijacked her into being a mule for the prize and she’s probably correct in that once they told her the deal, she couldn’t say no because she knew too much.

This story is absolutely nuts.

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Prepuce of Doom

Prepuce of Doom 21073

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9 hours ago, Bama Chick said:


And I haven’t felt sorry for anyone until Gloria tonight. Colombo basically hijacked her into being a mule for the prize and she’s probably correct in that once they told her the deal, she couldn’t say no because she knew too much.
 

Yeah, and by the simple fact that she was a black woman that Mrs. Colombo knew. 

Mrs. Colombo is anecdotal confirmation of my long-held belief that the more animal print in a woman's wardrobe, the crazier she is.

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Kyle

Kyle 207

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3 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Yeah, and by the simple fact that she was a black woman that Mrs. Colombo knew. 

Mrs. Colombo is anecdotal confirmation of my long-held belief that the more animal print in a woman's wardrobe, the crazier she is.

Agreed. The directors did a great job of teeing up with "FBI" side of Gloria's story and then given us her personal POV. Her and the airline goombah really showed how Colombo really screwed the "winners."

I sort of think Mrs. Colombo is the worst person in the show. I mean at least Jerry "has a code" and sticks to it ... that wanker not only sets up her friends but also wants both sides ... the money, the materialism, etc., but loses her mind when her husband opens a fake nudie bar? I mean she destroyed her dad and good friend and seems to have zero remorse.

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oSuJeff97

oSuJeff97 3435

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 2/17/2020 at 11:32 PM, Bama Chick said:

Well, episode three sure turned it up a notch!

That cliffhanger!

And I haven’t felt sorry for anyone until Gloria tonight. Colombo basically hijacked her into being a mule for the prize and she’s probably correct in that once they told her the deal, she couldn’t say no because she knew too much.

Yeah, IIRC the $1,000,000 prize was $50k/year for 20 years right?  And she had to give Jerry $25k off the top, so after taxes she was netting around $10k per year or so?

When it comes down to it, that amount of money, even for someone like her, certainly wasn't worth the risk.  Unless someone is living in abject poverty (which she was not - she seemed to have a steady job and a decent lifestyle), $10k per year likely isn't going to make much of a difference in their lifestyle. 

Probably not what she was thinking when she heard she had an opportunity to "win $1 million"... even when she found out she was getting half... $500k sounds pretty awesome and life changing... until you realize you're really just getting around $10k per year, which basically just equates to getting a big promotion at work.

 

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Gene Parmesan

Gene Parmesan 4007

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1 hour ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Yeah, IIRC the $1,000,000 prize was $50k/year for 20 years right?  And she had to give Jerry $25k off the top, so after taxes she was netting around $10k per year or so?

When it comes down to it, that amount of money, even for someone like her, certainly wasn't worth the risk.  Unless someone is living in abject poverty (which she was not - she seemed to have a steady job and a decent lifestyle), $10k per year likely isn't going to make much of a difference in their lifestyle. 

Probably not what she was thinking when she heard she had an opportunity to "win $1 million"... even when she found out she was getting half... $500k sounds pretty awesome and life changing... until you realize you're really just getting around $10k per year, which basically just equates to getting a big promotion at work.

 

Was there a lump sum option?  After they broke it down 25k a year even to Jerry seemed kind of small potatoes.  How many million dollar winner did they have.  I guess that's why he was asking for money up front from each winner.  That fat fuck knew he wasn't going to be around for many installments.

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oSuJeff97

oSuJeff97 3435

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1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Was there a lump sum option?  After they broke it down 25k a year even to Jerry seemed kind of small potatoes.  How many million dollar winner did they have.  I guess that's why he was asking for money up front from each winner.  That fat fuck knew he wasn't going to be around for many installments.

Well from Jerry's perspective, he had multiple winners giving him a cut of various winning levels. 

Maybe part of the deal was the "winner" had to take the annuity because it was easier for him to hide the money or launder it though his various businesses (or church, lol) if it was relatively smaller amounts spread out over years instead of one big payout.

Hell it was all found money for him.... so even if his annual cut of the various winnings was "just" a few hundred thousand bucks, that's all gravy to him.  He's not paying any taxes on that shit, lol.

 

 

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Gene Parmesan

Gene Parmesan 4007

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5 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Well from Jerry's perspective, he had multiple winners giving him a cut of various winning levels. 

Maybe part of the deal was the "winner" had to take the annuity because it was easier for him to hide the money or launder it though his various businesses (or church, lol) if it was relatively smaller amounts spread out over years instead of one big payout.

Hell it was all found money for him.... so even if his annual cut of the various winnings was "just" a few hundred thousand bucks, that's all gravy to him.  He's not paying any taxes on that shit, lol.

 

 

I believe he also controlled a lot of the lessor big prizes as well, but he was paying Uncle Jerry 50k for a million dollar ticket, so that's 2 years to break even depending on what the winner gave up front.

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Gene Parmesan

Gene Parmesan 4007

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2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I don't get why Jerry Colombo put himself out there so much.  He "won" the Dodge Viper for chrissakes.  And then his friends and family members just happen to be winners too?  Just seems a little obvious.

He was an idiot mafia goon.  None of this was masterminded.  The whole thing only worked because McDonalds didn't do any fact checking on the winners.  With just a little effort McDs could have easily spotted fraud, but they didn't care because the promotion skyrocketed their sales.

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Jerry Callo

Jerry Callo 8703

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3 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Yeah, IIRC the $1,000,000 prize was $50k/year for 20 years right?  And she had to give Jerry $25k off the top, so after taxes she was netting around $10k per year or so?

When it comes down to it, that amount of money, even for someone like her, certainly wasn't worth the risk.  Unless someone is living in abject poverty (which she was not - she seemed to have a steady job and a decent lifestyle), $10k per year likely isn't going to make much of a difference in their lifestyle. 

Probably not what she was thinking when she heard she had an opportunity to "win $1 million"... even when she found out she was getting half... $500k sounds pretty awesome and life changing... until you realize you're really just getting around $10k per year, which basically just equates to getting a big promotion at work.

 

To add insult to injury, she had to mortgage her house to get a prepayment to Uncle Jerry of I believe $50k.  So take an another $50k (plus interest) off of her 20 year $200k net and she's really getting hosed.  

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Kyle

Kyle 207

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8 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Everyone involved with this story is a caricature in one way or another. 

Right? It seems like fiction because everyone is a stereotype.

I'm kind of getting bored and fatigued ... need to move along little doggie. I mean the guys from South Carolina were just not that interesting, and I really don't care about the wops' relationship woes ... but, I mean you could not have scripted the idiot sister-in-law taking the money and running or the idiot wife not hanging up her phone.

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oSuJeff97

oSuJeff97 3435

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Yeah....last night's episode was the first one that kind of dragged for me.

I'm not really interested in the personal lives of the various scumbags who were middle men on this deal... I'm interested in the FBI investigation, and (obviously) how the fuck Jerry actually boosted the game pieces, which they are obviously saving for the last episode.

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