Ballad of a Small Player ending explained: This is why gambling addict Doyle burnt all the cash he won

More than a gambling addiction, Netflix's Ballad of a Small Player is more about the connection between two individuals, a gambling addict, Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) and a loan shark, Dao Ming (Fala Chen). The very instance they meet in the film, it seems like they are just a couple of people, but they soon click with each other to some level as the story progresses.

Doyle is already under a debt in the film and one investigator, Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton), is already on his tail because of the debt he owes to an old woman whose money he stole. That is why Ming also offers him a line of credit, as she is a woman who "can spot a man in need, as part of her job is to loan money to gamblers with a high interest," as Fala Chen explained to Netflix.

After their meeting in Macau, they spend a night together and later Doyle finds himself in Dao Ming's home, from where he steals a stash of her money and runs away. He uses that cash and wins big, and tries to return that money. However, he learns that Dao Ming has died, so he burn his winnings, which is an act of offering to the deceased as we learn during the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts in the film.

How did Doyle get hold of Ming's money in Ballad of a Small Player?

After Lord Doyle spent the night during the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts with Dao Ming in Ballad of a Small Player, the former wakes up in the morning with Dao gone. But there's a number in his hand, which is probably hers. It is, but that's not the contact number we are talking about.

Doyle leaves Macau to avoid some unresolved issues and fortunately crosses paths with Dao Ming again. However, this time he suffers a heart attack, and this time when he opens his eyes, Dao Ming is still there and they are on her houseboat.

Like Doyle, Dao Ming is also in debt in Ballad of a Small Player. Though it's the money she stole from her parents, which they never took back. After this night, Ming is again gone, and the number in Doyle's hands, it turns out, is of a lock, behind which is a hidden stash of cash.

Lord Doyle proves Dao Ming wrong

When they both are on the houseboat, Dao Ming compares Lord Doyle with the hungry ghosts of the festival. His hunger will never be satiated, no matter how much he consumes. In this case, we are talking about his hunger for money and gambling.

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However, the fact that he burns the money at the end of the film also signifies that he no longer has this addiction. Otherwise, he could easily have begun gambling from his winnings again rather than burning it as an offering to the deceased Dao Ming.

Keep reading Soap Central for more explainers like this.

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