In Cocktail, what game/wager is being proposed during the Basketball scene?

In the first half of the movie, Brian (Tom Cruise) and Doug (Bryan Brown) are at the basketball court. Brian is shooting, and Doug is mostly just watching as the two talk about Brian's relationship with Coral. During the conversation, Brian says:

10 bucks behind the line?

Which sounds like he's proposing a bet - i.e. if Brian makes the shot, Doug will give him $10, whereas if he misses, he will give Doug $10. That's all perfectly normal, and consistent with betting-themes later in the movie.

Here's where it gets confusing: Doug then responds with:

Sure - shoot 'till you miss

I gather it's meant to sound as thought Doug is "upping the ante", but I don't understand why or what Doug is proposing here. If it means "Brian can keep shooting, and Doug will give him $10 for every shot he makes until he misses one" then it would now seem to have no risk involved for Brian, and no chance of a financial upside for Doug. Is there another explanation? Is it possible this is a script writing oversight?

dialogue cocktail

Best Answer

Doug is trying to prove a point to Brian that the girl (Coral) Brian is currently dating is no good for him.

Throughout the movie, Doug and Brian are constantly trying to out-do and out-wit one another. This friendly hoop shooting game was just one example of Doug out-witting Brian.

Doug was very confident that he was annoying Brian enough that when Brian shot for the fifty bucks, he would miss. When Doug says "missed" at the end of the dialogue, he says it in an obvious disparaging tone.

From the movie script:

Doug: - Fifty bucks?

Brian: - Fifty bucks.

Doug: Fifty bucks says Coral's in the sack... with some other guy before the week's out.

Brian: That's a bet. (Brian misses shot)

Doug: Missed.