Shade

An underground mob poker game is interrupted when a player is exposed for cheating with a hole card. A massive gunfight breaks out, leaving players dead and forcing a tense standoff between the surviving man and a lone gangster. The scene sets a brutal, lawless tone for the story.

Tiffany and Charlie watch Larry Jennings win at a table and propose a partnership to run a game with potential profits. Larry agrees after meeting Vernon, a crooked card mechanic who works as a blackjack dealer. The team begins to assemble the pieces for their con.

In a flashback, Vernon switches the contents of a six-deck shoe to rig the game. His accomplices pull off the casino heist for about $40,000. The sequence establishes Vernon's expertise and the crew's willingness to cheat to get ahead.

That night, corrupt cop Scarne shakes them down while Vernon and Charlie wait for Larry. Impressed by Vernon's skill, Larry agrees to join the team and bet big on their crooked deals in the upcoming game.

During the game, Larry grows impatient and makes a bold high-stakes bet. The pot climbs over $100,000, and Larry loses, drawing Malini's enforcers into the frame. The threat prompts a reckoning that leads them to the house where the con is confirmed.

From the house, Malini's enforcers escort Larry toward the airport to enforce the payoff. The mission ends with Larry being killed at the airport, a brutal culmination of the con.

Two figures from the opening scene become the basis of an urban legend about Dean Stevens, a legendary card shark. The story hinges on a fatal cut and a blood-stained Ace of Spades, foreshadowing the Dean's role in the present plot.

The Dean arrives and meets his old flame Eve, expressing a wish to retire from playing. The encounter hints at the personal stakes behind the high-stakes game to come.

The trio arrives at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for the big game, discovering Malini is hosting. Vernon and the Dean quickly bust the other players and agree to play five-card stud, while Eve arrives and the group takes a break.

During the break, Vernon and Tiffany suspect the cards are marked. Vernon discovers the Dean is using a juice deck, a marked deck readable only when one's eyes are unfocused.

In the final hand at the Roosevelt, Vernon deals a hand that appears to win: the Dean holds Kings and Queens, while Vernon has a Jack and a visible 7. The Dean goes all-in and Charlie and Tiffany pool funds to cover him; Marlo and Scarne interrupt with guns, insisting the hand be completed. Vernon swaps in a third Jack, and the Dean reveals a third Queen to win the hand, stunning the room.

Charlie and Vernon part ways; Marlo reveals Tiffany tipped them about Larry, and the Dean, Eve, and Scarne reveal the entire setup was a plan to con Charlie and Tiffany. They split the take, and the Dean flips the blood-stained Ace of Spades to Vernon as a final sign. Vernon leaves a generous tip and heads toward the Magic Castle.