what qui gon should have done.

[Jedi Master Kyle]

watto was willing to part with either shmi or anakin in exchange for the pod. watto was also willing to lose shmi or anakin, should anakin win the race. so when anakin did win the race, and in effect, his freedom, instead of selling the pod to whoever, qui gon should have given the pod to watto, who had nothing left in exchange for shmi. if a slave and a pod have relatively the same value, then why bother keeping shmi? he said it himself "I lost everything". So what good is a slave that can't maintain anything for you. At least Watto could have sold the pod and maybe get something back. does this make any sense?

[Doc Milo]

I don't remember Watto saying he would part with Shmi or Anakin IN EXCHANGE for the pod. I do remember him being willing to only WAGER one slave against the pod.

Economics works differently when comparing EXCHANGE rates with WAGER rates. Someone is often willing to wager something that is worth more than the thing that they might win, especially if they believe there is no way thay can lose. (As a night job I work in an Off Track Betting as a Supervisor, and I see this all the time. People will put a hundred on a horse to come in third (show), when if they win, all they will get back is maybe twenty bucks (payout of 120 -- the hundred they bet, plus the twenty they win) But none of them would be willing to buy something for one hundred bucks that is only worth twenty...)

So, while Watto may have been willing to WAGER one slave for the pod -- thinking, of course, that he would win -- he most probably would not be willing to EXCHANGE one slave for the pod -- especially after losing one of his slaves. If I remember correctly, I read somewhere that slaves were a sign of stature, so Shmi, the one slave he has left, would automatically gain in value once he loses Anakin.

[Jedi Master Kyle]

how much stature can a slave provide you when the slave probably owns more than you do? If i were Watto, I think I would have wanted the money from the pod to help get back on my feet.

[Doc Milo]

If he wasn't concerned with the stature, I'd be willing to be that he could get more money from the sale of Shmi than he would freeing her in exchange for the pod and selling that.

Plus, wasn't the terms of his agreement with Qui-Gon that Watto would get all the winnings minus the cost of the parts he needed? So Watto was probably just exagerating when he said he "lost everything." He still had the winnings coming to him from Anakin winning the race...

[ReaperFett]

From the way Watto spoke, as well as what happened before he spoke to Qui-GOn for the final time, I would guess a lot of money was wagered on Anakin from other corners

[Jedi Master Kyle]

it depends on how heavily he bet on sebulba. maybe he'd need the winnings to help pay off his debts. i think he bet everything-literally. he was probably banking on the fact that even if neither sebulba nor anakin won the race, he'd be getting a starship.

[Bromine]

Here's something else to consider: If a man just managed to win a slave from you, and you also held him responsible for making you lose a large sum of money ("It's your fault; you knew he was going to win somehow!"), would you then be able to swallow your pride and sell your last slave to him? Watto was pretty mad at Qui-Gon for making him lose all that money he bet on Sebulba. It would have been totally embarrassing to him to sell Shmi to Qui-Gon because he neeeded the money. We don't really know how much money Qui-Gon sold the pod for, but it undoubtedly wasn't enough to make Watto give up Shmi.

[Doc Milo]

Yeah, there is some hint to suggest that very thing, too, Bromine:

"I tried to free your mother, Ani, but Watto wouldn't have it."