Roy and Claudia visit Ishmael's family home. Roy responds that he is going to make $500,000 in an endorsement deal for Trojan Condoms based on his prosthetic rubber hand. She made Stanley believe she was running away with McCracken to give McCracken payback off-screen, and confesses her love for Roy, offering him money Stanley earned from gambling on McCracken in the finals. He is visited by Claudia, who explains she had disappeared with Stanley in Reno to keep him from hurting Roy and Ishmael. When Roy realizes he is alone, he struggles and McCracken wins the tournament by one pin.Īfterwards, Roy returns to his Pennsylvania apartment and pours his liquor down the drain. During the final match, Ishmael's brother, who had been sent by the Boorg family, arrives and takes Ishmael back to Pennsylvania. He rediscovers his touch, progresses through several rounds, and eventually ends up in the televised finals against McCracken. Roy enters the tournament, rolling the ball with his prosthetic rubber hand. Feeling distraught, Ishmael convinces Roy that they still have a chance to win $1 million if Roy bowls. Later on, Claudia disappears with all of their money after being discovered by Stanley. McCracken insults and makes fun of Roy and infuriates Ishmael, who attempts to punch McCracken but instead hits a wall and breaks his hand, leaving him unable to bowl. In Reno, the group runs into McCracken, who is now a national bowling superstar. They eventually call a truce, find Ishmael and continue on to Reno.
Roy then confesses to Claudia he never returned out of shame for his failure as a pro bowler, not even for his father's funeral. During his absence, Roy and Claudia drive on and end up back in Roy's hometown and at his childhood home, which has been abandoned ever since his father died ten years earlier. After Roy gets in a fistfight with her, Ishmael flees. Roy suspects Claudia has ulterior motives and is distracting Ishmael. As the group flee Osmanski's mansion, his girlfriend Claudia, who had also been a victim of Osmanski's violence, joins them. Ishmael defeats a wealthy bowling enthusiast named Stanley Osmanski, but Stanley attacks the duo after discovering that the roll of cash Roy put up was fake. The duo earn money in various local tournaments and by hustling bowlers. (His 270 average was because he was taught to bowl fifteen frames and not the standard ten.) However, after some coaching, Ishmael improves. Roy discovers that the childlike Ishmael is not aware of some of bowling's basic rules and skills. Learning that Ishmael's family is about to lose their farm to the bank, Roy eventually convinces Ishmael's family to let him join Roy, under the guise of going on a mission trip. Roy then sees a poster in a bowling magazine advertising a $1 million winner-take-all tournament in Reno, Nevada. Ishmael declines, explaining that he is from the local Amish community and that his bowling hobby is a secret and must hide it from his family. Roy tries to convince Ishmael to turn pro, with Roy acting as manager. On a sales visit to a nearby bowling alley, Roy meets Ishmael Boorg. Dumars, eventually being reduced to trade sexual favors with her for a break on his back rent. He is always behind on his rent and is constantly harassed by his landlady, Mrs. Seventeen years later, Roy uses a prosthetic hand to display his championship ring and is living in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as an alcoholic, unsuccessful traveling salesman of bowling supplies. When the amateurs become furious after realizing they are being conned, McCracken flees while Roy is brutally beaten and loses his hand when it is forced into the ball return, ending his career. McCracken convinces Roy to join him in hustling a group of local amateur bowlers.
In his professional bowling tour debut, he defeats established pro Ernie McCracken, who takes the loss poorly and seeks revenge. Flashy young bowler Roy Munson wins the 1979 Iowa state bowling championship and leaves home to turn professional.