Tilt (2005) s01e07 Episode Script

Previously on "Tilt" You know, you and your pals figured that you'd end up on my radar sooner or later, so I want you to pay the price for trying.
You know, you take a beating for your pals.
You'd think maybe they'd come when you call.
OK, let me lay it out for you.
I worked with Don Everest for a long time and I always knew eventually he'd screw me over.
So that day is here.
The problem for him is I'm not the guy to just let him crap all over me and just move on.
- You can't run my life.
- Come here.
Listen, you keep an eye on that punk.
Keep him in line.
- I can't even walk into his casino.
- What's keeping you out? Something tells me you know exactly what's keeping me out.
Help me break him.
I need 30 fresh horses.
We need new faces.
Guys that have no connections to us whatsoever.
You must be Eddie.
Dad, what the hell are you doing back in town? Remember when we laid out those ground rules? No threesomes, except on your birthday? Well, happy birthday.
The top cardplayers manage to forget that their chips represent cash.
Instead, they see them as bullets in a gun.
That's why chips are referred to as ammo.
But still - Yeah? - at bottom, it is money.
- That's what you play for.
- Jimmy? - Yeah.
- Hi, come on in.
Thanks.
- It's an honor.
- I've heard a lot of great things about you.
I heard you're a pretty sharp guy.
- Can I get you anything? - You got bourbon? - Yeah.
Ice? - No, thanks.
So, uh I hear they call you Gentleman Jim.
Now, why is that? I never tell.
That's good, that's very good.
'Cause obviously, if we do this thing, that's a secret I'd like you to take with you to your grave, and if you don't, chances are you're gonna get there a little bit sooner than you expected.
- I understand.
- And the thing about money is, it makes people do things they wouldn't ordinarily do.
Here's how it'll go.
You make as much money as you possibly can, and if we end up at the same table together, you tell me what you're holding, pass 'em off to me, hand to hand.
If we're not together, keep your chips in a mess and give 'em to me when you can during a break, off-camera, of course.
- Is that clear? - Yeah.
I'll pay for your tournament fee, with ten grand on top of that.
If I end up at the final table, that's another 10,000 for you.
And if I win, that's a $ 20,000 bonus for you, and a bright future sitting next to me.
Is that fair? Fair as the Florida vote.
Cards and politics don't mix.
You got a son, plays cards around here, right? Yeah.
You think you got the stomach to knock him off the table if you had to? Well, they say blood is blood, but you know, at the tables, money is all that counts.
I'll show you out.
Before long, you can end up doing unspeakable things and finding ways to tell yourself it's all right.
I guess in the end, no matter what we do or why, we're all the hero in our own story.
- We got to restructure our relationship.
- In what way? Gotta legitimize things.
Lowball was right about that.
And we're coming under scrutiny from the regulators and I can't hide this thing any longer.
Where does that leave me? George Babiak is stepping down from the board, selling out his interests.
So I'm offering you the inside track on buying in.
- At what price? - Ten million.
OK.
- What do I get for that? - Seven percent.
It's legitimate, it's taxable.
You get voting rights, you get preferred stock options.
It's respectful of your worth.
What happens if I can't come up with that much money? Then you'd have to, you know, just be a regular player here.
I can't do any more.
A regular player.
All right.
I don't know what that is, but - You know you always got a home here? - Mm-hm.
OK, Don.
I've got an opportunity to buy into the Colorado.
What, uh what kind of money are we talking about? - Ten million.
- Hm.
I mean, there's got to be a way, right? You, uh you live on your poker winnings.
And you live big.
Now, your other income stream comes in a fat envelope, weekly.
This is hard to explain on a loan application.
- Your house is mortgaged.
- To the hilt.
If I pull everything together, and I mean everything, I could get you six, maybe seven, clean money.
I need to win myself another bracelet.
- What's the prize money? - Five million.
That would solve all your problems.
The ones that can be solved.
Good morning.
Yeah.
What? Last night doesn't change things, you know.
No? You still walked out on me when I was down.
Look, it was a mistake, OK? I'm sorry.
All the same.
So, what the hell was last night, then? Hey.
You set the rules for this thing.
The way I remember 'em, deep, emotional commitment was no requirement for us sleeping together.
We did what we did.
Now it's over.
I'm a guy, what can I tell you? Son of a bitch.
- You're sure there's only one of these? - Yeah.
- I don't want to see it and then - This is the only one.
- It's about damn time.
- Sorry.
We got you some coffee.
It's cold.
- I can run get you a fresh one, if you want.
- It's fine.
OK.
Everest needs a big win, so he'll be working with horses - couple dozen, maybe more.
They'll help him out at the tournament in all sorts of ways.
You need to go after them at the tables and pick 'em off.
- Aren't we a little outnumbered? - Yeah, they got numbers.
- You're supposed to have talent.
- How do we know who they are? He's got a regular stable.
I'll get you a list of names.
We don't even have our buy-ins.
We'll have to win some satellites.
I'll stake you.
How about you? - Yeah.
- Seymour says you can play.
The pressure, Everest - You know, I'm sorry.
- Jesus.
All right, so what happens when Everest sees us in the casino? Stay in the public areas and watch your backs.
- Hi.
- How you doing? - May I help you? - I'm here to see Dean Widmark.
- Do you have an appointment? - Uh, no.
- But I'm pretty sure he wants to see me.
- Can I tell him who's here? - Clark.
- OK.
- He'll be with you in a second.
- Thanks.
Do you want something to drink? Soda, water, coffee? - No, no, I'm cool.
- OK.
- Hm.
It's a new place, huh? - Yeah.
Moved in a few days ago.
- You just started with him? - Yeah.
Are you in securities? - No, no, no.
Just, you know, old friend.
- So what do you do? - Poker.
- Oh.
Sounds like a nice, clean living.
- Keeps the heart pumping.
- Like an aerobics class? Yeah.
Little bit, little bit.
Except in poker, you don't wanna sweat.
The World Championship's this week? - Yeah.
Yeah, I'll be there.
- You gonna win? - I ain't playing to lose.
- Hm.
So then, can people watch? Yeah.
Yeah, people do.
Maybe I'll come by and check you out.
Maybe I'll like that.
Clarkie! Come on in.
- Thanks.
- Bye.
I gotta hand it to you, man.
You got a lot of balls coming in here.
Yeah? Just watched Shurgin and King Kong leaving from the parking lot.
So? Did you reconsider? No.
Look, the only reason that I'm here is to figure out what it's gonna take to get you guys off my back.
We got somebody on our back and you're just the next in line.
- OK.
So how the hell did I get there? - Doesn't matter, you're in it.
- I don't wanna be in it.
- You know what, Clark? Neither do I.
Unfortunately, we're dealing with somebody we can't say no to.
Look, I'm not washing the money for you.
We've already established that.
You won't get a cut into anything I got going on because if you haven't figured it out by now, there's nothing going.
Well, then I guess you better leave town, man.
- It's easier said than done.
- Buy a bus ticket.
Because if you don't give me something I can throw to these guys, then you're going to jail or you're gonna get hurt.
Either way, you lose.
- Lowball.
- Mindy, how you doing, sweetheart? - We miss you.
- It's good to be loved.
So, what are you in the mood for today? Uh, listen, Skip comes around here on Tuesdays, doesn't he? Yeah.
Tuesdays, Fridays, like clockwork.
This is his, uh, cousin from back east.
He'd kind of like to surprise him.
He gets in around six.
An hour and ten minutes.
- Hi, Lowball.
- Hey, Amber.
Well, you know, long as we're here how about a little half and half on me? Hm? You know, a little engine and caboose.
Go ahead.
No, thanks.
I'll just wait.
You can sit at the bar if you want.
You want a drink? Maybe a club soda.
- Wild man.
- Um Listen.
How about, uh Sandy Mm-hm.
and Genevieve in the, uh Jungle POW room? - Done.
- And see if you can get Amber to change his mind, OK? Sure thing.
Tell her there's a couple hundred more in it if she can convert him, all right? You got it.
- Lime? - Please.
Thanks.
Is there anything else you want while I'm here? I'm fine.
It won't cost you anything.
I just, uh - You make me hot.
- Oh, yeah.
Oh, I'm sure I do.
Can't keep your hands off me, right? I know this game, honey.
Don't you like me? Ah! Baby, it's OK.
I won't tell if you won't.
Um And it feels to me like your soldier's standing at attention.
So what do you think? I'd like you to get paid whatever he said he'd pay you, but not today.
OK? Well, if you change your mind, I'm just down the hall.
Here's the meat.
- You're the boss, big boy.
- Yes, I am.
Oh, yes! Let me help you with that.
Huh? - What's going on? - Sorry to interrupt.
Honey, get lost, OK? What the hell is this? - Sit down! - Take it easy! What do you want? I'm sorry to interrupt your leisure time, but believe it or not, this is a friendship call.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
Skip, you and I are in the same boat.
The same boat that Tropical Henry was in right before he got returned to sender.
- We're in different boats.
- We know you killed Seymour.
Even if I did, which I didn't, who's gonna prosecute that? We'll find someone, and he won't be wearing a Rolex.
You and I both know things.
Same boat.
Hypothetically speaking, let's say I may have done some things that my papa wouldn't be proud of.
Say I wanted to cooperate.
What kind of deal would I get? If you gave us Everest? - Ten years, out in six and a half.
- Ten years? Not for me.
I'll take my chances.
You know everything.
You know about Seymour, about his brother.
- Why aren't you singing the song? - I just read the box score.
- I didn't see the game.
- Yeah? Well, neither did I.
I don't know a damn thing.
Downtown Las Vegas, the Colorado Casino, where, for the past 35 years, the World Championship of Poker has been decided.
The buy-in is 10,000 bucks.
2,000 players vying for the top prize - you're looking at it, five million dollars.
Hello, everybody, and welcome to our exclusive coverage of the 36th World Poker Championship.
I'm Lon McEachern.
I'm here with Norman Chad.
Norman, we've got quite a feature table today, don't we? That's an understatement, Lon.
We've got two world champions, Erik Seidel and Ralph "Bucky" Buckram, and they'll be going up against Charles Heidman, a controversial 22-year-old Internet champion who is the youngest player ever to reach the top ten on the poker money list.
I've been playing poker on the Internet five, six hours a day since high school.
I figure I play two or three thousand hands a week.
I may be younger, but I played more poker than a lot of guys out there.
This whiz kid now does daily workouts, usually playing in three games simultaneously.
I guess you just know how to play Texas Fold 'Em.
I just bluffed you out of half your stack.
I was at MIT for theoretical mathematics, but I dropped it because I can make a hell of a lot more money doing this.
Andy Um Baby.
We'll be right back with the main event - the World Championship of Poker, after this.
What is it? - We gotta talk.
- Go ahead.
Had a visit from Lowball and the cornfield cop.
The both of them together, huh? Yeah.
They tried to get me to give you up on Wayne Nickel, Seymour, a whole mess of stuff.
Lowball.
What did you say? Told 'em I'd think about it.
I mean, I'm not thinking about it.
I'm obviously here talking to you about it, so I'm not thinking about it.
So you're just stringing them along, is that it? That's what I was doing.
'Cause you know I would never Of course you wouldn't.
And that would be the right thing to do, Skip.
But I gotta admit, they got me a little nervous.
But, um - Well, do we have a problem? - We're here to solve problems.
And believe me, if those cops did know something, they'd be doing a lot more than talking.
Talking is all they ever do when they don't know anything.
Yeah, 'cause they were saying that I was a liability to you.
'Cause of what I know, that I should be watching my back.
- Of course they did, yeah.
- But that's why I'm here.
So that I'm telling you everything so you know where I stood.
You're safe around here, Skip.
I wouldn't give it a second thought.
Yeah.
Eddie Towne's downstairs with his two friends.
They have tournament cards.
I thought they were blackballed.
You want me to run 'em out? Nah.
Too many cameras around.
- Just rattle 'em a little bit.
- Done.
- What do you got? - We're screwed.
I checked Lowball's list of usual horses against the tournament entries.
None of them match.
- Oh, great.
- He must have recruited a new stable.
- So what are we supposed to do? - Just try to spot 'em.
- Maybe they're all wearing carnations.
- Just watch Everest on the breaks.
That's when they'll pass chips off to him.
Anybody he touches is on the payroll.
Oh, here we go.
- Don't you know you're not welcome here? - Things have changed.
You can't touch us.
Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.
- Yeah, I'd just be careful if I were you.
- Thanks.
I think this is going really well so far.
If they were gonna do something, they would have done it.
That was a positive.
Man, you and I got different ideas of positive.
Heidman holds king, queen, unsuited.
Bucky's gotta like those jacks.
You know I'll play any two, but I like these.
And he's not going to be shy about it, betting 2,000.
That's the aggressive style of play that Bucky is known for.
And it's served him well over the years.
And he's a 56% favorite to win this hand.
And now we go to the flop.
I'm putting you all in.
Talk about aggressive! This kid is taking no prisoners.
And that king out there has to have Bucky concerned, Lon.
Buckram pushes all his chips in.
Charles flips over his hand.
That's what I didn't want to see.
Bucky knows he needs to catch another jack, or fill a flush with two diamonds to pull this one out of the fire.
There's one diamond which gives Buckram some hope, but Heidman's still a 75% favorite.
And here comes the river card.
It's a nine of spades, and young Charles Heidman has just knocked off two-time World Champion Ralph "Bucky" Buckram in the first day of play.
- One less to worry about? - You're next, Seidel.
OK.
Hey, Matador.
- You could sign your book for me, no? - Yeah.
Good.
- How's everything going? - Everything's going really well.
- Glad to hear it.
- Good.
- Thank you so much.
- You're very welcome.
Good luck.
Thank you.
I'm sorry to bother you during the tournament, but you seem to know your way around, and, um - I have to talk to someone.
- Nah, it's cool.
What's up? Ah um My employers.
I don't know.
They've got me delivering packages to these kind of scary guys, but the whole thing seems illegal.
Now, quit.
Quit and find another job.
I gave notice, but now they're suggesting I shouldn't go.
Feels like a threat.
I'm sorry you're jammed up in all that, but I can't hear this right now.
Hey, I'm sorry.
I just I just felt like I could trust you.
Look, if your instincts are telling you that these guys are into some heavy stuff, then you should get away.
And I'll tell you this.
Listen.
- What are they doing to you? - I don't want to get into it.
Clark, let's get into it.
Yeah? Look, just let me know if it dips below five and a quarter.
Hold on a second.
Hey.
- Nice rack.
- Some guys find it intimidating.
- Good to see you doing so well.
- Thanks.
- Hi, fellas.
- Hey.
Each of the hundreds of players left in the tournament know the Matador and know what a force he is to be reckoned with.
And now back to our feature table, where poker unknown Eddie Towne is in his fifth championship tournament.
He's got a slight chip lead over Charles Heidman, Erik Seidel, and the rest of the players.
Eddie Towne is a fine journeyman player, finally looking to make his name here at the World Championship.
And there are Charles Heidman's cards.
He's got a queen, nine, suited.
Heidman likes his cards and comes out strong with a 2,000-chip bet.
And Erik Seidel's got a pair of sixes and a slight edge before the flop.
Speaking of the Towne name as we look at Eddie's king, queen, Eddie's dad, Jimmy Towne, known as Gentleman Jim, also has a seat at this tournament.
He's an east-coaster who grinds it out at the small games in the Connecticut casinos.
It must be a great thing for a father to see his son competing at this level.
Towne and Seidel call as the flop is turned over.
Oh, and that's gonna help Eddie Towne.
And Towne will check his top two and spin a web.
And it works perfectly, Lon, as Heidman seems to believe in his queens.
Seidel has no such belief in his pocket sixes as he folds.
But the way he's been playing, I think he's gonna go far in this event.
Eddie Towne calls.
The turn card is a nine of diamonds, giving Heidman two pair.
Unfortunately for him, Eddie Towne is sitting in the driver's seat.
And again, he checks.
And Heidman goes in for 3,000.
Oh, he's playing right into Towne's hands.
And Eddie Towne reluctantly calls.
He's doing a pretty good acting job out there.
Even I believe him and I know what his cards are.
There's the river.
Heidman needed to catch a nine and now he's left with an inferior two pair.
All in.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
Eddie Towne goes all in, which will eliminate Charles Heidman here in the early going, should he call.
- Call.
- Charles Heidman calls.
That's the problem with this tournament! Full of amateurs! Minefield out here! This Eddie Towne is something.
He plays as good as he looks.
Interesting that you noticed that.
You looking for a date? No, I'm between marriages.
I don't date between marriages.
I'm saying, if he keeps this up, there'll be plenty of endorsement opportunities for this young man.
- Good play.
You made a nice read on him.
- Thanks.
He's got Internet finger.
Starts clicking a phantom mouse when he's strong.
- That time, he wasn't clicking.
- Hm.
Pretty pot.
Thanks.
That bell signals the last elimination of the day and the end of play.
The trick is for you to get him to say what he's doing.
That's what works in court.
So you guys are listening from a truck or something? - No, this is a digital recording device.
- Digital, OK.
You can button up now.
Sure.
- I just need you to sign this.
- What's that? One-party-consensual monitoring agreement.
Standard.
Wow.
- Great.
Thank you.
- Mm-hm.
- I'm done? - Yep.
OK.
What the hell did you drag me all the way down here for? You know I was just hoping that, uh maybe we could work something out.
What's your idea? Just thought that maybe we can go over it all again.
Well, what's there to go over? Well, exactly what is it that your guy wants me to do? You know what.
OK, well, can you at least tell me who he is or what he's into? - You don't need to know that.
- OK.
You know the drill.
We're done talking.
Oops, oops, oh.
How you doing there, boy-o? Fortune must be smiling on you.
Second day, you're still here.
Go ahead, you take that doughnut.
No, no, you take it.
Fortune must be smiling on you, too.
- I insist.
Have the doughnut.
- Considering your new job and all.
Job? I know who you're working for.
Remember my face, what it looked like? He did that.
Enjoy.
I hope it's worth it, Dad.
Check.
All in.
Call.
Flush.
King high.
Nice.
Flush.
Ace high, baby.
- So, table one, huh? - You got it.
I'm in.
It's where they sent me.
How do you like that? How do you like this one? Gentleman Jim Towne is joining the featured table, and he's been seated across from his son.
What's amazing about that is that these pairings are completely random.
Well, this oughta be fun to watch.
Eddie Towne has fives.
He'll stay in with the small pair.
Jimmy Towne is showing queen of diamonds, jack of diamonds.
I raise.
And Dan Padgett pulls a ten, king, suited.
Decent starting hand.
Call.
And Padgett has a slight edge going to the flop.
And here it comes.
Oh, a five and a pair of twos! Eddie Towne has flopped the full house.
The only way for him to lose is if he folds, or one of these other players goes runner-runner and hits a high or full boat, and I don't think that's gonna happen.
It'll be interesting to see how he plays this one, especially with his dad in there.
Nice downshift by the younger Towne.
Checking the made hand.
This kid's play is really impressive.
Son I know that face like I know my own.
I made it, after all.
What that face is telling me is to bet.
I'm all in.
Dan Padgett does not want to pay to find out.
- And now, it's a father-son showdown.
- I call, Pop.
You never know what'll happen at the World Championship, but I've never seen anything like this.
Caught me in a bluff, son.
What do you got? Ooh, and youth is served.
And Dad'll need to pair up here and then catch trips on the river to survive.
- And that's it, folks! - Thank you, gents.
Eddie Towne has just knocked his own father out of the tournament.
Hang onto those chips, you hear? - Yeah, I'll try.
- I got a plane to catch.
You'd better.
Caught you on a bluff, huh? Despite my actions, son, in my heart, I always want to give you the doughnut.
- You have a safe trip.
- See you around.
- Hiya, Mindy.
- Hey, Lowball.
Skip called.
He says he's running an hour behind and you should help yourself to services on him.
Portia's in tonight, if you're up for it.
Well, I'll take that as a yes.
You know, I just hate to let people down.
Lowball's a yes.
How about you, big fella? Any interior buildup since the last time you were here? - I took care of it.
- Oh.
We could get a couple of girls to watch and give you pointers, if that's what you're into.
- Thanks.
I'll just wait.
- Suit yourself.
- You know where Portia's room is, right? - Oh, yeah, I know.
Hi, Portia.
Lowball.
So, uh How you been? Who told you you could take your clothes off? I'll tell you when you can do that.
Yes, ma'am.
Sorry, honey.
- You need to start talking now! - I don't know anything! - I'll take you all the way through the joint.
- All right, all right! - I only know what I heard.
- What did you hear? Your brother was on the outs with the Matador, but he wouldn't let it go.
Started going on the Internet, talking to whoever'd listen about how Everest was winning seven nights out of six.
He got out of town, but not fast enough.
They caught up with him outside of Yuma.
Don and Testa took him back to the desert.
They shot him in the kneecaps.
Testa pulled the trigger.
Left him to bleed to death in the desert sun.
Yeah, that's how I heard it, Get your ass out of here.
Tell the Matador to come get me.
You all right? I think so.
Get me out of these.
- How? - You're the cop! - It's not like there's a master key.
- Call a locksmith.
- At midnight? - They get calls like this all the time.
We're in Vegas.
On the next "Tilt" You're out of here, now.
Do you mind telling me what this is about? Why don't you ask the FBl? If you promise to leave me alone, I'll get you some guys that make Dean and Shurgin look like Boy Scouts.
I'm listening.
Listen, I just want to let you know I'm out.
- No.
We need to plan our next move.
- No, we don't have a next move.
If I don't want you in the casino, what makes you think you're welcome here? I need to come back.
Now you wanna go sleep with the enemy, then come back here and smoke my cigar? - What's Nickel doing? - He's spinning his wheels.
Eddie, I'm a good thing.
Yeah, you are.
Are you stuck on him? Yeah.
I played it wrong.
I'm sorry you got snake-bit by Eddie, and if you'd like No, no, no, no, no.
He played by the rules.
Let him be.
People who play by the rules are limited.
But when you make up the rules, the rewards are Well, you know what they are.
You know why I've been around for so long? Because I'm a man of my word.
I tell people exactly what I'm gonna do, and then I do it.