Question

why were Sam and bill to desperate men

Answer 1

Bill and Sam are a pair of bumbling criminals.  Home Alone had a pair of criminals just like Bill and Sam.  Thought they were smart, but lost badly to a little kid.  

The text tells the reader that Bill and Sam have $600 to their name and they need $200 more.  

Bill and me had a joint capital of about six hundred dollars, and we needed just two thousand dollars more to...