Casino Page #4

ACE:

(Exhales)

It's a tough proposition, Andy. You,

you know, if I did it, I'd have to

run it my way.

STONE:

You got it.

ACE:

I'm serious. No interference.

STONE:

Nobody's gonna interfere with your

running the casino. I guarantee it.

Stone lights a cigarette.

INT. TANGIERS CRAPS PIT - NIGHT

ACE blows on a die.

NICKY (V.O.)

And that's how that got Ace to take

over.

ACES's hands place the die into a micrometer.

NICKY (V.O.)

They wanted him because Ace ate,

slept and breathed gambling.

Camera swish tilts up to ACE, then swish pans to boxman,

dealers and players watching him, trying to act calm.

NICKY (V.O.)

They worked out a real cute job title

too.

We see the die in the micrometer.

NICKY (V.O.)

Tangiers Public Relations Director.

Satisfied the die is not loaded ACE sets it on the craps

table, the camera cranes up to reveal the Tangiers Casino

floor.

NICKY (V.O.)

But the only thing he ever directed

was the casino. He made his first

bet when he was fifteen years old,

and he always made money. But he

didn't bet like you or me.

A DEALER is sliding chips, tossing them on to a craps table.

NICKY (V.O.)

You know, havin' some fun with it,

sh*t like that.

ACE:

(Approaching the DEALER)

Where the hell did you learn how to

deal?

(He reaches down,

stacking and arranging

the chips.)

NICKY (V.O.)

He bet like a f***in' brain surgeon.

ACE:

(To the chastised

DEALER)

Place the checks properly. That's

the way you do it.

DEALER:

Yes, sir.

NICKY (V.O.)

He had to know everything, this guy.

Direct overhead tracking shot as ACE walks between two rows

of gaming tables.

NICKY (V.O.)

He'd find out the kind of inside

stuff nobody else knew, and that's

what he'd put his money on.

INT. GYM/BOOKIE JOINT, BACK HOME, PRE-SEVENTIES - DAY

ACE walks past two boxers sparring in a ring, through a

doorway into a room where several gamblers are seated around

a table.

NICKY (V.O.)

Even back home, years ago, when we

were first hangin' out together...

TITLE IN:
'BACK HOME, YEARS AGO'

NICKY (V.O.)

...he'd know if the quarterback was

on coke.

ACE is looking at the odds board for college football games.

The bookie, LUCKY LARRY, is waiting for ACE to hand in his

picks.

ACE:

I'll take Columbia for twenty.

NICKY (V.O.)

If his girlfriend was knocked up.

LUCKY LARRY:

Twenty dimes on Columbia . . .

As soon as ACE bets, a man erases a number from the chalkboard

and replaces it was a '6', changing the odds. Two GAMBLERS

saunter from the room.

NICKY (V.O.)

He'd get the wind velocity so he

could judge the field goals. He even

figured out the different bounce you

got off the different kinds of wood

they used on college basketball

courts, you know?

EXT. GYM/BOOKIE JOINT PUBLIC PHONES - DAY

The two GAMBLERS we saw sauntering out of the bookie joint

are racing to the nearest public phones. Another GAMBLER has

already beaten them to it.

NICKY (V.O.)

He'd be workin' on this sh*t day and

night. There was nothin' about a

game he was gonna bet that he didn't

know.

GAMBLER #1

(Into phone)

Ace got down at six.

GAMBLER #2

(Into phone)

Charlie, hey. Rothstein got six.

INT. GYM/BOOKIE JOINT, SEVERAL DAYS LATER - DAY

A bookie hands a stack of money to another bookie, who hands

the money to ACE.

ACE removes several bills from the top of the stack of

winnings and holds them out to the BOOKIES.

NICKY (V.O.)

Season after season, the prick was

the only guaranteed winner I ever

knew. But he was so serious about it

all that I don't think he ever enjoyed

himself. But...

ACE exits.

NICKY (V.O.)

...that's just the way he was.

INT. MOB SOCIAL CLUB BACK ROOM - NIGHT

The room has an espresso machine and a saint's day calendar.

Assorted hoods are listening to NICKY at the bar. Camera

dollies to REMO GAGGI, at the rear table playing gin rummy

with OLD MAN CAPO and losing. Every time the CAPO picks up a

card, he's able to knock or get gin, sending GAGGI into a

fit bemoaning his bad luck.

NICKY (V.O.)

But back then the bosses didn't give

a f*** about whether he enjoyed

himself of not. To them, he was a

cash register. All they had to do

was ring the bell and take the money.

Especially Remo, who was a f***in'

degenerate gambler who always lost.

GAGGI:

(Slams down his cards

and curses at his

losing hands)

Ma che cazzo!

[Italian-American slang for 'What a prick.'] All those f***in'

sweeps.

NICKY (V.O.)

I mean, unless Ace made his bet.

GAGGI:

That's enough now!

OLD MAN CAPO:

I can't contest the cards.

GAGGI:

Va fa 'n culo! [Italian-American

slang for 'F*** off']

(Summoning a young

man.)

Johnny!

NICKY (V.O.)

Ace made more money for them on a

weekend than I could do heisting

joints for a month.

ACE enters and walks to GAGGI's table.

NICKY (V.O.)

Whatever Ace picked up on the street

he told Remo.

NICKY:

(Walks over to ACE

and whispers)

Hey, did you bring that thing?

NICKY (V.O.)

You know, I mean fixed fights, doped

horses, crooked f***in' zebras...

locked-in point spreads. He told

f***in' Remo everything. And to tell

you the truth. I don't blame him.

GAGGI stands up and shakes ACE's hand.

GAGGI:

Ace.

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