Carolyn Carver is a published author whose husband and daughter believe she is working on a new book, when in fact she is gambling away their life savings. She is befriended by Walter, a has-been magician with a gambling habit who entertains casino guests for tips. Clyde Snow, meanwhile, is deeply in debt to gamblers, to the extent that he must ask his younger brother Godfrey, a college basketball star, to shave points at games.