"Most of the real-life people who pulled off the scheme were Asian-American, while almost everyone in the movie is white.
The character played by Jim Sturgess in the movie was named Jeff Ma in
real life, and he and most of his teammates were Asian. In the movie,
only two minor characters are still Asian, played by Aaron Yoo and Liza
Lapira.
So the question is: Is the ethnicity-swapping the result of racism? Is it something else? Does it matter?
At the blog Angry Asian Man,
the author (whose name doesn't seem to be anywhere on the site) says
that the characters' ethnicity played a part in their success: "[Being
Asian-American] was actually advantageous to their strategy, as it
happens, because Asian dudes winning big money at the casinos
apparently aren't quite as conspicuous as white dudes who win big at
the casinos." At Ultrabrown, Manish Vij writes, "Are you kidding me? A movie about math, MIT and gambling, and the lead was made white? Have you ever seen the pai gow tables in Vegas?"

Best Internet Variety Show (and Good Luck Getting Anything Done, Ever) in 2005! 


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