 Cosmo Vitelli owns the Crazy Horse West, a strip joint in California. He s laconic, a Korean War vet, and a gambler. When we meet him, he s making his last payment on a gambling debt. Then, he promptly loses $23,000 playing poker at an illegal local casino. The guys he owes this time aren t so friendly, pressuring him for immediate payment. Then they suggest that he kill a Chinese bookie to wipe off the debt. Vitelli and the film move back and forth between the double-crossing, murderous insincerity of the gamblers and the friendships, sweetness, and even love among Vitelli, the dancers, a dancer s mother, and the club s singer, Mr. Sophistication.