Edward Walsh

A nosy cab driver gets a hot tip on a race horse and wins big, but he can't seem to stop gambling. Will he go broke or walk home with a pretty penny? An average kind of guy who has a slight problem with gambling goes to the track, and mystically, it seems as though he can't lose, no matter how he bets; and he has an incredible day.

Chaney (Charles Bronson) rides into New Orleans with two dollars in his pocket. He meets Speed Weed (James Coburn), a fast-talking promotor of bareknuckle fights. Speed, against his own instincts, gets Chaney a bout with one of the local toughs, and a career (or two) is launched. Chaney quickly makes a name for himself, but Speed does his best to self-destruct, setting up a final fight that's a life or death matter for Speed.

When casual gambler Bill Denny befriends professional gambler Charlie Walters, Bill begins to mirror Charlie's life, sinking deeper and deeper into the sleazy world of gambling, where the stakes keep getting bigger. A down on his luck gambler (George Segal as Bill) links up with free spirit Elliot Gould (Elliott Gould as Charlie) at first to have some fun, but then gets into debt when Gould takes an unscheduled trip to Tijuana. As a final act of desperation, he pawns most of his possessions and goes to Reno for the poker game of a lifetime. A film set mainly in casinos and races, as the two win and lose (but mainly win), get robbed, and get blind drunk. —David B-2 Bill Denny (George Segal) and Charlie Waters (Elliot Gould) meet when they are both on the same end of a fellow gambler's wrath at a Southern California gambling club. Bill is a casual gambler who has a full-time job as a magazine writer; whereas Charlie is a small-time career gambler, with the moxie to match his need to portray himself as the winner, specifically to those at his poker table. As Bill and Charlie spend more time together, Bill begins to want to emulate Charlie's life, including hanging out with Charlie's prostitute friends, Barbara Miller (Ann Prentiss), but most specifically Susan Peters (Gwen Welles). Bill even goes into debt to his loan shark as he gambles more. Regardless, Bill and Charlie try to raise enough cash to take a trip to Reno with the goal for Bill to win some money at among others a high-stakes poker game, but more importantly to get the gambler's fix associated with winning big. —Huggo