Best Bet

The Ho’s family in Foshan is exhilarated as a boy is born into their family. This little boy is attracted to mahjong when he is still a baby! Time flies and the baby has grown into a man called Ho Yee. He is very good at gambling, and is considered unbeatable as he has the best of luck. The Tsang’s of the Hung Fook Casino hate Yee as he wins a lot of money from them. The eldest son of the Tsang’s family, Tsang Tak Sing, tries with all his wit to stop Yee from winning, but he never succeeds once. Yee parties all night with his friends and finally passes out due to exhaustion. Luckily, he is saved by To Lai Ying, who lives in the Salesian Society. Yee falls for Ying at first sight and when he comes round, he searches everywhere for her. He finally discovers that Ying is the assistant to Doctor Campbell at the Salesian Society. Yee invites Ying to go out with him and tries to please her.… ...

Ying cannot figure out why the Tsangs are interested to become the directors of the Salesian Society. The truth is that the Tsangs secretly plan to turn the Salesian Society into a casino. During the directors’ meeting, the Tsangs use false identities win the others’ trust and try to buy their votes with money. Then the current director, Madame Chow, decides that whoever raises the largest amount of money for the Salesian Society, will be the new director. The Tsangs try to bribe the Hos, but in vain. Yee proposes that whoever wins from a gambling game will be the director. At first, Yee and Sing each wins a game. During the final match, Yee anticipates that Sing will win and thus set him up and exposes Sing’s evil side in front of the others. The others lose faith in Sing and let Yee become the new director.

Yee gets into a fight with a mysterious man who tries to take advantage of Hei. Yee discovers that the man is in fact Ying’s father, To Chai Sam, who loses contact with Ying for more than 10 years. Yee tries to please Sam and lies to him, saying that he can let him reunite with his daughter. However, Ying refuses to meet with her father. Yee, therefore, thinks of a plan to help Sam get back on good terms with his daughter. Yee’s cousin, Mary, comes from Shanghai to stay with the Hos. She meets Sing on her way to the Hos and Sing makes fun of her. She is subsequently being molested by a rascal due to Sing. When Mary arrives at the Ho’s family with her maid, Tung Koo, she pretends to be very rich. In fact, she has no money. She only wants to take advantage from the Hos. The police are investigating into the sexual molest cases and is conducting a palm match on all the men in Foshan.… ...

Sing is arrested and Yee, surprisingly, helps Sing clear his name. Judge Sheung decides to use Mary as bait to lure the villain, however, the villain has set his eyes on Ying. Luckily, with the help of Kin, who returns to Foshan from Hong Kong, they all manage to capture the villain. In order to help Ying forgive her father, Yee deliberately tells Ying that her father has indeed rehabilitated and is now working in his pawn shop. Ying looks for Kin and asks him about studying in Hong Kong. She wants to become a doctor. But when she learns that she won’t be able to pay for the very expensive tuition, she is miserable. The Tsangs introduce a new gambling game to Foshan. This gambling game is very popular in Guangzhou and the Foshan citizens are all crazy for this new game. Ying is upset to see that a mother forgets about her kids and family due to the new gambling game.… ...

Ying is furious when she discovers that the staff is also attracted to the new gambling game. She scolds them and initiates a demonstration against gambling. Yee, who wants to please Ying, joins the demonstration reluctantly. The demonstration team ends up in a dispute with the people from the Hung Fook Casino and they are all arrested. The Tsangs is not happy with Judge Sheung takes bribes from them and deals the case unfair. Judge Sheung, therefore, takes this opportunity to close down their Casino. Ying is delighted. Gambling is prohibited in Foshan and all the gamblers are upset. Mary then secretly invites the gamblers to Yee’s house to gamble. Unfortunately, Ying later discovers it and scolds Yee. However, Yee is not convinced. Ying, therefore, reports the case to the police and have all the gamblers arrested. Humiliated, Yee takes his revenge and helps Sing bring the Hung Fook Casino back to business. Ying is furious.… ...

Yee is in a very bad mood and he gambles nonstop for three days and three nights. He then falls down from the second floor of the Casino and goes into a coma. On the other hand, Ying is informed by Kin that there is an English couple in Hong Kong, who is willing to give her boarding, so she can further her medical study there. Mary tries all possible ways to make Yee come round, but without much success. Sam fails to get another job. He is then tempted by Sing to gamble again. Sam keeps losing and owes Sing a lot of money. The Hos invite the famous Monk Ching Wan to help cure Yee. Monk Ching Wan tells them that Yee has to get married in three days in order to be saved. The Hos propose marriage to Mary for Yee, but she refuses and fears that Yee will become a vegetable. The Hos, therefore, wish to enlist all the females in Foshan to find one to marry Yee.… ...

Ying promises to be Yee’s wife in return for 500 taels of gold. She uses the money to clear her father’s debt. Sing buys Yee’s wedding invitation card and attends the ceremony with Mary. By mistake, Sing thinks that Mary is interested in him. At the wedding ceremony, Yee suddenly comes round, but then he goes into a seizure and passes out again. Sing decides to woo Mary and sends her many presents. He asks her out for a date and when they are having dinner in a western restaurant, he makes a fool of himself. The Hos refuse to let Ying follow the tradition to return home after three days. Sam argues with the Hos, but in vain. Sam secretly goes to meet his daughter at night. Ying takes the opportunity to ask Sam to help her take Yee outside to see a doctor. The Hos discover the plot and try to stop them. Amidst the chase, Yee is suddenly hit by lightning and comes round. Everyone is delighted.… ...

Ying promises to be Yee’s wife in return for 500 taels of gold. She uses the money to clear her father’s debt. Sing buys Yee’s wedding invitation card and attends the ceremony with Mary. By mistake, Sing thinks that Mary is interested in him. At the wedding ceremony, Yee suddenly comes round, but then he goes into a seizure and passes out again. Sing decides to woo Mary and sends her many presents. He asks her out for a date and when they are having dinner in a western restaurant, he makes a fool of himself. The Hos refuse to let Ying follow the tradition to return home after three days. Sam argues with the Hos, but in vain. Sam secretly goes to meet his daughter at night. Ying takes the opportunity to ask Sam to help her take Yee outside to see a doctor. The Hos discover the plot and try to stop them. Amidst the chase, Yee is suddenly hit by lightning and comes round. Everyone is delighted.… ...

In order to convince Ying to stay with him as his wife, Yee promises to quit gambling. This news spreads quickly in Foshan and Sing uses this as a gimmick and asks people to bet on Yee. With Yee quitting gambling, the people in Foshan also stop gambling. This affects the casino business of the Tsangs and they are very worried. Then Mary proposes the Tsangs to introduce a new gambling game from the West and it instantly becomes a hit. Yee is tempted when the people talk about this new card game in front of him. He even loses his mind in the casino. Yee regains his consciousness with the help of his servant, Tin Sau. Ying hides herself to keep an eye on Yee. She feels touching by Yee for keeping promise. Mary tries to teach Sing about the table manner of the West and accidentally discovers that Sing is a foot fetish. Yee goes to collect rent from the countryside and is tempted by a gambling game on the road.… ...

Yee announces that Ying has promised to stay with him and the Hos are unhappy about the news. Madame Ho deliberately picks on Ying and makes unreasonable requests on her. Yee, in fact, has not quitted gambling; he only gambles secretly with his friends. Mary, who knows about Sing’s weakness, succeeds to make him falls desperately in love with her. He lets Mary transform him into a “gentleman”. Yee pretends to be interested in learning martial arts and sets up an underground casino in the martial arts school. Sing does not believe that Yee will quit gambling and tries to investigate into his daily activities. But he finds no evidence that Yee is still gambling. One day, he sees that a monk gives Yee a little package, but Yee throws it away. Sing picks it up and even manages to learn from its hidden meaning. Ying is worried about Yee as he keeps shouting out some gambling words in his dreams.… ...

Sing helps Yee get away with his lies and at the same time, initiates a truce with Yee. Sing helps Yee because he wants Yee to continue to gamble as he believes that one day Yee will lose. Mary takes a step further and introduces the card game, “Black Jack”, for the people to gamble. She even proposes to have a share in Sing’s business. In order to raise money, Mary invites Madame Ho to invest into Sing’s casino business too. Ying breaks Mary’s diamond by accident. She is puzzled as Mary’s diamond breaks so easily and she starts to have hesitation on Mary’s identity. Kin discovers that Ying has not gone to Hong Kong and he hurries back to Foshan from Shanghai. He is shocked and heart-broken to find that Ying has married Yee! Then, Kin finds out that Mary looks like a wanted person in Shanghai and is worried that she is a swindler. Sing tries to help Mary and even proposes marriage to her…

At the wedding ceremony, Mary’s swindler identity is being exposed. Sing is humiliated and Mary feigns faint in hope to get away with it. She manages to escape from imprisonment, but Madame Ho chases her for the money she has invested in Sing’s casino. Mary tries to run away with her maid, but on their way, her maid, Tung Ku, betrays her and steals all her money! Mary is then forced to seduce Sing with her “beautiful legs”. On the other hand, Yee continues to gamble in the martial arts school and he is losing more and more money. Lik asks Yee to repay his debts and Yee tries to run away. Yee decides to steal and sell some of the antiques from home to pay for his debts. He asks Sam to help him, but in the middle of their theft, they are being caught red-handed. Sam, in order to protect Yee, takes the blame on himself, lying that he has gambled again and needs the money to repay his debts.… ...

Yee repays money to the Tsangs exposing in arrogant attitude. He even makes a bet with Sing. Unfortunately, he loses 30 thousand taels of gold to Sing in just 10 days! Yee’s father, Nin, is recovering from his sickness. He is prepared to resume work and plans to check on the business at the pawn shop. Yee is afraid that Nin will discover the truth, so he invites his parents to visit Hong Kong in order to delaying the time. Yee begins to gamble heavily and in the end he loses more. He now loses 40 thousand taels of gold, a shop in the west of the city and 10 acres of land. He is now left with his house and the pawn shop. Sing is delighted. He is now at the upper hand and even fights with Yee’s friends in a brothel over a Persian beauty. He later discovered that the “beauty” is Mary. Sing is determined to make Yee lose everything.… ...

When Nin returns to Foshan with his wife, he discovers that his home has been turned into a casino. They have to take shelter at the Salesian Society. Ying, on the other hand, decides to leave Foshan and never return. Bak Fung hurries to bring this news to Yee, who is about to become a monk. Yee goes to stop her. Ying brings him to the Salesian Society to see his family. Everyone in his family blame Yee for his selfishness and Yee promises to change. Mary has no way to go and decides to become a prostitute. However, her first client is a man with leprosy and this news spreads around Foshan. Of course, Sing is behind this as he wants to avenge against her. Yee’s close friend hardly lends him money, but luckily, he discovers in time that Yee just wants to gamble again. Nin comes across an old friend, Officer Wong, who has a mentally handicapped son.… ...

The Ho’s family begins a new life and Ying helps making money by selling homemade cookies. Yee, however, is doing nothing and is mocked by Sing. Yee thinks his good luck has returned and is planning for a comeback. In a restaurant, Yee eats a bun with a piece of gold hidden inside. Yee, therefore, is sure that his good luck has returned. In fact, it is again a setup by Sing. Yee bets with Sing that General Fok Yuen Kap will win the war over the Japanese. He uses his wife, Ying, as the bet. In the end, General Fok loses the war and Yee has to run away with Ying. This case is later being put to court and Ying is shocked to discover that Yee is using her as a bet. She volunteers to be the maid in Sing’s house to repay Sing. The Tsangs make Ying work all day and order her to wash their feet to insult her. Yee, on the other hand, is despised by the people in Foshan while everyone knows her husband takes her as a bet in gambling.… ...

Yee is fortunate to have Mary letting him to stay with her. He now works in the brothel where Mary stays and he works very hard in order to repay his debt to Sing and get Ying back. Ying is disappointed in Yee as he is still addicted to gambling. When Ying is chatting with Tin Shou, a former servant of the Ho’s family, she comes across Hei. Ying discovers that Hei is being mistreated by the Wong’s family and has run away. With the help of Tin Shau, Ying hides Hei in his house. Wong goes to Nin’s house to find Hei and Nin is very worried when he learns that Hei is missing. Yee overhears Hei’s hiding place from Ying and sells the news to Wong. Tin Shau helps Hei overcome her fear and she successfully recovers from her mental illness. Wong then arrives with his son to grab Hei. Fortunately, the Ho’s family comes to her rescue in time.… ...

When Sing is going out with his new maid, Ying, he comes across Mary and Yee. Sing is very jealous and tells Ying that Mary and Yee are having an affair. By chance, Kin passes by and tells Ying that he loves her. The people around him support him and they encourage Ying to marry Kin. Yee, in order to raise more money, asks Mary to cheat with him in other casinos. However, they are being caught red-handed. The casino-owner wants to take advantage of Mary, luckily, she is saved by Choi, Sing’s assistant. Choi wants Mary to be his mistress. When Mary discovers that Yee is still in love with Ying, she is disappointed and goes out with Choi and agrees to be his mistress. Yee, by accident, catches a wanted thief and should be rewarded a huge sum of money. However, a police officer comes along and claims that he has caught the thief. Yee, after ups and downs, thinks he is fortunate to alive and the luck will soon be upon him.… ...

Yee loses when he bets with Ying and Ying ends her relationship with him. Yee is devastated. When he learns that Kin is to marry Ying, he goes crazy and runs into the woods. Ying’s marriage to Kin is a setup as Ying wants to teach Yee a lesson. In the evening, Yee fails to appear in Ying and Kin’s wedding ceremony. He has hurt his ankle when he runs into the woods. By the time he finally reaches the house of the Tsangs, where the ceremony is held, it is too late as the ceremony has ended. However, Sing has his people waiting for Yee in his house and they kidnap Yee and bring him up the hill. When Yee is struggling free from their capture, he falls down a cliff. Sing makes it look like Yee has jumped off into a river and killed himself. When the Hos learn about it, they are in great distraught. Ying is very depressed about the news as she is pregnant with Yee’s baby. Three months later, Mary gets a job at the casino.… ...

Yee knows that Sing and some government officials are involved in manipulating the results for the public examinations as they allow the people of Foshan to place bets on the examination participants. He pretends to be Sing’s friends to protect himself. Ying goes to find Yee and tells him that she is pregnant with his baby, but Yee is indifferent to the news. He pretends to be still addicted to gambling so as to trick Sing. When Yee has fallen of the cliff, he is saved by a monk who helps Yee review his wrongdoings. Yee has, since then, rehabilitated. He is just pretending now so that he can gather more evidence from Sing about his illegal gambling business. Giu, the wanted thief who is being caught by Yee, escapes from prison. He takes his revenge on the prison guards, but unfortunately, his plan fails. Luckily, he comes across Yee again and Yee helps him run away.… ...

Sing catches Yee and Ying. He wants to send them to Po Luo Island as slaves. Then Kin finds out that his very own brother has caused him fail the examination. Kin wants to report this to the government. Then, suddenly a high-ranking official arrives to catch Sing. Sing accuses Yee to be one of his gang and Yee is in deep trouble since all the evidences are against him. Ying discovered that it is Giu who reports the case to the high-ranking official. Mary goes to visit Sing and Sing is touched. He tells her where he hides his money. Mary knows that Sing and Yee will be sent to execution, so she uses the money to bribe the prison guards so that she and Ying can visit Sing and Yee in the prison that evening. Mary wants to take the opportunity to get pregnant so that Sing will have a descendent, but the guards take her to the wrong prison.… ...