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Casino
In 1973, sports handicapper and Mafia associate Sam "Ace" Rothstein is sent by the Chicago Outfit to Las Vegas to run the Tangiers Casino, with frontman Philip Green. He soon doubles the casino's profits, with a portion of the earned cash profits skimmed directly from the casino count room and delivered to the Midwest Mafia bosses.
Chicago boss Remo Gaggi sends mob enforcer, and Ace's childhood friend, Nicky Santoro to help him protect their cash skim and the casino's workings as well as Ace himself. Nicky recruits his younger brother Dominick and right-hand man Frankie Marino after he is listed in the Black Book to gather an experienced crew, not just to safeguard the casino but also to engage in shakedowns and jewelry burglaries for their own gain. Nicky's criminal activities in Las Vegas start drawing too much media and police attention
Ace meets and falls in love with beautiful con artist, showgirl, and former prostitute Ginger McKenna. They have a daughter, Amy, and marry. He entrusts Ginger with $2 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry. Still, their marriage is soon thrown into turmoil due to Ginger's relationship with Lester Diamond, a hustler and pimp who is also her longtime ex-lover. Eventually, Ace arranges for Nicky and his crew to beat up Lester when they catch him accepting $25,000 from her in a cafe.
In 1976, Ace fires slot manager Don Ward for incompetence. Ward is brother-in-law to Clark County Commission chairman Pat Webb, who cannot convince Ace to re-hire him. Webb gets Ace's gaming license denied, jeopardizing the latter's position. Ace insults the board and local politicians in the license hearing, creating a spectacle for the news cameras, which brings unwanted media attention onto the casino.
Since Ace is disallowed from legally running the casino, he begins hosting a local television talk show inside the casino, irritating the bosses back home for bringing more unneeded attention to their business. Ace blames Nicky's reckless lawbreaking for the ongoing pressure from police and state government, which leads to an argument between Ace and Nicky in the desert, concluding with threats by Nicky. Ace's renewed attempts to get Nicky to leave Las Vegas only strain their friendship more.
In 1980, Ace contemplates divorcing Ginger as their marriage appears to collapse. She later kidnaps Amy and plans on fleeing to Europe with her and Lester. When Ace finds out about her plan, he convinces Ginger to return with Amy. Later on that night, he catches Ginger phoning a hit on him and responds by kicking her out of their home; she then returns home and Ace reluctantly decides to forgive her and give their marriage another chance. Ginger confides in Nicky about the situation, and they start an affair. Ace soon finds out, as do private investigators. Nicky ends things with Ginger once she asks him to kill Ace, while also threatening to go to the FBI about their criminal activities. She then leaves Ace, with all of her money and jewelry, only to later get arrested by the FBI not long afterwards.
In 1982, the FBI discovers Artie's records which he had kept after being put in charge by the Midwest Bosses to oversee the skimming operation after it was discovered that people on the inside were skimming their skim. The FBI closes the Tangiers, and convinces Green to cooperate. They approach Ace for help, showing him photos of Nicky and Ginger together, but he turns them down. The Chicago bosses are arrested and prepare for their arraignment. Following Gaggi's directive, they arrange hits on everyone involved in the casino operation who could possibly testify against them.
In 1983, Ginger, whose personal fortune has been squandered by lowlife associates, is killed with a "hot dose" in Los Angeles. That same year, Ace narrowly survives a car bomb, and suspects Nicky to be the man responsible for it as the attempt was not professional enough for the bosses to have ordered it. Ace plans to confront Nicky, but never gets the chance to do so when the bosses - finally fed up with the extent of Nicky's reckless criminality - arrange to have Nicky and Dominick killed in 1986; the two brothers are ambushed by Frank and their own crew, brutally beaten with baseball bats, and buried alive in a shallow grave in a remote Illinois cornfield.
A coda depicts the Mafia pushed out of the casino industry by big corporations, which purchase and demolish nearly all the old casinos. New, even more glamorous casinos are built, which are impersonal and cold, a development lamented by the narrator. Because he remains a reliable, high-stakes earner for the outfit, Ace Rothstein is allowed to live; he moves to San Diego and resumes sports handicapping.