Casino (1995)

Robert De Niro: Sam 'Ace' Rothstein

Photos 

117 more photos

Quotes 

• Ace Rothstein : [to Don]  Listen to me very carefully. There are three ways of doing things around here: the right way, the wrong way, and the way that *I* do it. You understand?

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I'm watching the casino manager. And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  No matter how big a guy might be, Nicky would take him on. You beat Nicky with fists, he comes back with a bat. You beat him with a knife, he comes back with a gun. And if you beat him with a gun, you better kill him, because he'll keep comin' back and back until one of you is dead.

• [Last lines] 

  Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  The town will never be the same. After the Tangiers, the big corporations took it all over. Today it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids play cardboard pirates, Mommy and Daddy drop the house payments and Junior's college money on the poker slots. In the old days, dealers knew your name, what you drank, what you played. Today, it's like checking into an airport. And if you order room service, you're lucky if you get it by Thursday. Today, it's all gone. You get a whale show up with $4 million in a suitcase, and some 25-year-old hotel school kid is gonna want his Social Security Number. After the Teamsters got knocked out of the box, the corporations tore down practically every one of the old casinos. And where did the money come from to rebuild the pyramids? Junk bonds. But in the end, I wound up right back where I started. I could still pick winners, and I could still make money for all kinds of people back home. And why mess up a good thing? And that's that.

• [first lines] 

  Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And for a while, I believed, that's the kind of love I had.

  [Ace's car blows up] 

• Flirting Executive : Hello Mrs. Rothstein, how are you?

  [kisses her hand] 

  Flirting Executive : You're one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen. You're a lucky man, Mr. Rothstein.

  Ace Rothstein : [hesitant]  Thank you. Thanks for that compliment.

  Ace Rothstein : [voice-over]  He was a young kid from the casino. Nice kid, bright boy. What balls on this fucking kid. The next day I fired him.

• Nicky Santoro : Where the fuck do you get off talking to people about me behind my back, going over my head?

  Ace Rothstein : What people?

  Nicky Santoro : What people? What'd you think? I wasn't gonna find out?

  Ace Rothstein : I don't even know what you're talking about Nick.

  Nicky Santoro : No? You said I'm bringing heat on you? I gotta listen to people because of your fucking shit? You're ordering me out? You better get your own fucking army pal!

  Ace Rothstein : I didn't do anything. I mean, I didn't order you or anybody. I only told Andy Stone that you had a lot of heat on you and that was a problem.

  Nicky Santoro : You want me to get out of my own fucking town?

  Ace Rothstein : Yeah I said let the bullshit blow over for a while, so I can run the casino. Anything goes wrong with the casino it's my ass, it's not yours, it's my ass!

  Nicky Santoro : Well, I don't know whether you know this or not, but you only have your fucking casino because I made that possible. I'm what counts out here, not your fucking country clubs or your fucking TV shows! And what the fuck are you doing on TV anyhow? You know I get calls from back home every fucking day, they think you went batshit!

  Ace Rothstein : I'm only on TV because I got to be able to hang around the casino. You understand that, you know that, come on.

  Nicky Santoro : You fucking ass! You could've had the food and beverage job without going on television. You wanted to go on TV.

  Ace Rothstein : Yeah, I did want to go on TV. That way I have a forum, I can fight back. I'm known. People see me. They know they can't fuck around with me like they could if I was an unknown, that's right, yeah!

  Nicky Santoro : You're making a big fucking spectacle of yourself!

  Ace Rothstein : Me? I wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for you. You brought down so much fucking heat on me, I mean, every time I meet somebody, the big question is "do I know you?"

  Nicky Santoro : Oh, sure. Now you wanna blame your fucking license on me. Is that it?

  Ace Rothstein : No, no. Nicky, when you asked me if you could come out here, what did I tell you? I mean you asked me and I knew you were gonna come out no matter what I said, but what did I tell you? Do you remember what I told you? Do you remember what I told you?

  Nicky Santoro : Back- Back up, back up one fucking minute here. One minute. I asked you? When the fuck did I ever ask you if I could come out here? Get this through your head, you...

  Ace Rothstein : You never...

  Nicky Santoro : Get this through your head, you Jew motherfucker, you. You only exist out here because of ME. That's the only reason. Without me, you, personally, every fucking wise guy still around will take a piece of your fucking Jew ass. Then where you gonna go? You're fucking warned. Don't ever go over my fucking head again. You motherfucker, you.

• Ace Rothstein : From now on, I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.

  Ace Rothstein : An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.

  Baker : Do you know how long that's going to take?

  Ace Rothstein : I don't care how long it takes. Put an equal amount in each muffin.

• Ace Rothstein : I'm just curious. I saw you shuffling your checks with your right hand. Can you do that with both hands?

  Signaller : No.

  Ace Rothstein : Can't do it with both hands?

  Signaller : No, sir.

  Ace Rothstein : Can you do it with your left hand?

  Signaller : Well, I... I never tried.

  Ace Rothstein : So you're a righty?

  Signaller : Yeah.

  [one of the guards repeatedly bangs the signaller's right hand with a hammer] 

  Ace Rothstein : Now you're gonna have to learn with your left hand.

• Ace Rothstein : Back home, they would have put me in jail for what I'm doing. Here, they're giving me awards.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Well, it wasn't long before what I was afraid what was going to happen happened. Nicky managed to get himself banned from every casino in Las Vegas, from then on I couldn't be seen talking to him anywhere in Vegas or anywhere near it.

  Nicky Santoro : [meeting at Idle Spurs bar after reading a letter from the government informing him of his banishment]  can you believe this shit?

  Ace Rothstein : you got banned

  Nicky Santoro : is there any way around this?

  Ace Rothstein : no, there's no way

  Nicky Santoro : let's say for instance, I wanna go in the restaurant which happens to be in the casino to get one of those sandwiches I like?

  Ace Rothstein : forget it. you can't even set foot in the parking lot. That's how serious it is.

  Nicky Santoro : in other words, I'm fucked

  Ace Rothstein : In so many words, yes

  Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  It just didn't sink into his head what the Black Book is and what it meant, not being banned from every casino is just one thing but being this book gets you into the brains of every cop and FBI agent in the state, I mean you're listed in there with Al Capone, but Nicky didn't care.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  He had a fool-proof scheme, all right. It wasn't very scientific but it worked. When he won, he collected. When he lost, he told the bookies to go fuck themselves. What were they gonna do? Muscle Nicky? Nicky was the muscle.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Whoever it was, they put the dynamite under the passenger's side. But what they didn't know, what nobody outside the factory knew, was that that model car was made with a metal plate under the driver's seat. It's the only thing that saved my life.

• Ace Rothstein : Four reels, sevens across on three $15,000 jackpots. Do you have any idea what the odds are?

  Don Ward : Shoot, it's gotta be in the millions, maybe more.

  Ace Rothstein : Three fucking jackpots in 20 minutes? Why didn't you pull the machines? Why didn't you call me?

  Don Ward : Well, it happened so quick, 3 guys won; I didn't have a chance...

  Ace Rothstein : [interrupts]  You didn't see the scam? You didn't see what was going on?

  Don Ward : Well, there's no way to determine that...

  Ace Rothstein : Yes, there is! An infallible way, they won!

  Don Ward : Well, it's a casino! People gotta win sometimes.

  Ace Rothstein : [grows more irritated]  Ward, you're pissing me off. Now you're insulting my intelligence. What do you think I am? A fucking idiot? You know goddamn well that someone had to get into those machines and set those fucking reels. The probability of one four-reel machine is a million and a half to one; the probability of three machines in a row; it's in the billions! It cannot happen, would not happen, you fucking momo! What's the matter with you? Didn't you see you were being set up on the second win?

  Don Ward : I really think...

  Ace Rothstein : [interrupts]  Wait! You didn't see that you were being set up on the second win?

  Don Ward : I really think you're overreacting...

  Ace Rothstein : Listen, you fucking yokel. I've had it with you. I've been carrying your ass in this place ever since I got here. Get your ass and get your things and get out of here.

  Don Ward : You're firing me?

  Ace Rothstein : I'm firing you. No, I'm not firing, I'm firing you. Yeah.

  Don Ward : You might regret this, Mr. Rothstein.

  Ace Rothstein : I'll regret it even more if I keep you on.

  Don Ward : This is not the way to treat people.

  Ace Rothstein : Listen, if you didn't know you were being scammed you're too fucking dumb to keep this job, if you did know, you were in on it. Either way, YOU'RE OUT! Get out. Go on, let's go.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  The bombing was never authorized, but I suspect I know who lit the fuse. And so did the powers that be.

• Nicky Santoro : Ace, don't... listen, don't... don't make a scene, all right?

  Ace Rothstein : I want to just talk. I want to talk to that Irish bitch.

  Nicky Santoro : She didn't know who to turn to. She... she didn't know where to turn. She was trying to save your marriage.

  Ace Rothstein : Yeah? Nicky, I want to talk to that fucking bitch.

  Nicky Santoro : Hey, be fucking nice. Calm. Be nice. Don't fuck up in here.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Normally, my prospects of coming back alive from a meeting with Nicky were 99 out of 100. But this time, when I heard him say "a couple of hundred yards down the road", I gave myself 50-50.

• [Closeup of the Cowboy's white-socked feet with no shoes on a poker table] 

  Ace Rothstein : [to Billy Sherbert, referring to Cowboy]  I don't give a shit who he's connected to. Tell him to take his fucking feet off the table. What's he think this is, a goddamn sawdust joint?

  Billy Sherbert : [approaches Cowboy]  Sir, would you mind taking your feet off the table and putting your shoes on, please?

  Cowboy : [sighs]  Yeah, I would mind. I'm having a bad night.

  Billy Sherbert : [returning to Ace]  Fucking asshole won't budge.

  Ace Rothstein : [smoking a cigarette]  Call security.

  [approaching Cowboy and says firmly] 

  Ace Rothstein : How are you?

  Cowboy : Good. How are you?

  Ace Rothstein : Good. You want to do me a favor? You want to take your feet off the table and put your shoes back on?

  Cowboy : Fuck you.

  [Ace walks nearby to Security Guards] 

  Ace Rothstein : I want you vacate this guy off the premises, and I want you to exit him off his feet and use his head to open the fucking door.

  [Three security guards approach Cowboy] 

  Security Guard : Sir, you're gonna have to leave. You mind accompanying us outside?

  Cowboy : Bullshit, I ain't going anywhere.

  Security Guard : Bullshit, you're out of here, cowboy!

  [Security Guard knocks his feet off the table, as the others lift him off his seat] 

  Cowboy : Fuck you! FUCK YOU!

  Security Guard : Yeah?

  Cowboy : You know who you're fucking with? Huh? Do you? You fucking faggot! Do you know who you're fucking with? Huh? Do you?

  Security Guard : Now, move along.

  Cowboy : [screaming at Ace, who follows him]  You fucking faggot! Do you know who you're fucking with?

  [the Security Guards carry him out and forcefully shove him towards a side exit] 

  Cowboy : Leave me alone!

  Security Guard : Here we go.

  Cowboy : [grunting]  You gotta be kidding me!

  [Security Guards lift him off his feet and, holding him like a battering ram, smash his head into the door] 

  Ace Rothstein : [voiceover, after having cowboy thrown out]  Sure enough, an hour later, I get the call.

  Nicky Santoro : [into telephone]  Ace, what happened over there? I mean, did you know that guy you threw out was with me?

  [in background the cowboy stands there with some other guys] 

  Ace Rothstein : [into telephone]  No, I didn't know that. But you know what he did?

  Nicky Santoro : No.

  [He gives Cowboy a look] 

  Ace Rothstein : He insulted Billy. And then I walked over to him politely and he tells me to go fuck myself.

  Nicky Santoro : What?

  Ace Rothstein : Then he called me a faggot. So what do you think I do? I threw that cocksucker out.

  Nicky Santoro : What? Hold on a second.

  [He puts down the phone, to Cowboy] 

  Nicky Santoro : Hey, come here.

  [Cowboy walks up to him] 

  Nicky Santoro : You called my friend a faggot? You tell him to go fuck himself?

  Cowboy : [stuttering]  Nicky, I didn't - I did - I didn't...

  Nicky Santoro : [angry]  Is that what you did? Tell him to go fuck himself? You fucking hick! Fucking.

  [Nicky hits Cowboy on the head with phone. He falls back, groaning. Ace listens to the noise of Nicky roughing up Cowboy] 

  Nicky Santoro : You big fucking hick, you. Come here. Come here.

  [to Frank Marino] 

  Nicky Santoro : Get him up. Come here.

  Frank Marino : Get up, get up.

  Nicky Santoro : [to Cowboy]  You go over there right now and you apologize. You better hope he lets you back in. If you ever get out of line over there again, I'll smash your fucking head so hard you won't be able to get that cowboy hat on. You hear me? Fucking hick.

  [backs on the phone] 

  Nicky Santoro : Sammy, listen. This guy obviously doesn't know who he was talking to, you understand? He doesn't know that, uh, we're dear friends. I mean, he's already very sorry. But, uh, if you could do me a favor to let him back in, I swear to you he'll never get out of line again. I promise you that.

  Ace Rothstein : If he does it again, he's out for good. I don't care what it is, Nick, I'm gonna ha- I'll - I'll never let him in the place again.

  Nicky Santoro : I'm sorry about this. Really. All right, Ace?

  Ace Rothstein : Okay.

  Nicky Santoro : Thanks, pal.

  [hangs up and turns to cowboy for round two of his scolding] 

  Nicky Santoro : You took your boots off? You put your feet on the table... you shit-kicking, stinky, horse-manure-smelling motherfucker you! You fuck me up over there, I'll stick you in a hole in the fucking desert! You understand?

  [slapping Cowboy in the face] 

  Nicky Santoro : Go over there and apologize.

  [kicking the chastined Cowboy away] 

  Nicky Santoro : Go! Get the fuck out of here!

  Cowboy : Nicky, I'm sorry!

• Ace Rothstein : Now you need approval from him to go home?

  Ginger : So what? So who fucking blew you in the parking lot before you came in, huh?

  Ace Rothstein : You make me sick, you fuck. Once a fucking hooker, always a fucking hooker.

  Ginger : Oh, fuck you! Fuck you, Sam Rothstein! Fuck you!

• [From trailer] 

  Ace Rothstein : I tried to do everything I could for you, even though I knew, deep down inside, you would bury me.

  Nicky Santoro : I bury you? You buried yourself.

• Ace Rothstein : You know, I don't know if I could do this even if I wanted to. The Gaming Commission would never give me a license. I have at least two dozen gambling and bookmaking pinches on me.

  Andy Stone : You don't have to have a license to work in a casino. All you gotta do is apply for one. The state law says you can work in a casino while they're processing your application. They got a 10-year backlog.

  Ace Rothstein : But what happens when they do find out?

  Andy Stone : Why would they want to find out? We're putting $100 million into this desert here. Why would they want to lock us out? And besides, they'll never find out. All you got to do is keep changing your job title. Like, uh, from Casino Executive to Food and Beverage Chairman. And what happens is they take your application and they put it at the bottom of the pile. I know guys working there for 30 years who don't have a license.

  Ace Rothstein : It's a tough proposition, Andy. You know, if I did it, I'd have to run it my way.

  Andy Stone : You got it.

  Ace Rothstein : I'm serious. No interference.

  Andy Stone : Nobody's going to interfere with you running the casino. I guarantee it.

• Ace Rothstein : Are you out of your fucking mind? You tie up our kid and lock the fucking door? Are you out of your mind? That's our child. Are you out of your fucking mind?

  Ginger : It was just for a little while, Sam. The babysitter wasn't there.

  Ace Rothstein : I ought to fucking have you committed. You fucking do that again, I'll...

  Ginger : I was just gonna be out for a little while. She was asleep. I was gonna be right back before she even woke up.

  Ace Rothstein : Listen. Listen, you fucking cunt. Listen to me.

  Ginger : Fuck you. I was gonna be back before she woke up.

  Ace Rothstein : Listen to me. Listen carefully. You ever touch her again, you ever do anything like that again, I'll fucking kill you, pure and simple. You hear me? Pure and fucking simple.

  Ginger : Why don't you just let me go, Sam?

  Ace Rothstein : I'll fucking kill you. You fucking whore.

  Ginger : I'll sign anything you want me to sign. I just want the key to my jewelry, and I want you to let me go.

  Ace Rothstein : You want your jewelry?

  Ginger : I want you to let me go.

  Ace Rothstein : And let you disgrace me, you fucking pig? Let you disgrace me? Get up and be a mother. Get in the car and go to the house right now. Get up and get in the... get... get up. Get up!

  Ginger : [Being forced toward the door]  I wouldn't do that if I were you. I wouldn't do that...

  Ace Rothstein : Get the fuck... are you threatening me? I'll fucking kill you in this place. Get up and go home.

  Ginger : I'm going! I'm going!

• [repeated line] 

  Ace Rothstein : I can't do that.

• [a plane just landed on the golf course] 

  Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  The Feds were watching Nicky play golf for so long that they ran out of gas. Just what I needed, right in front of the control board.

  Nicky Santoro : $100 to whoever hits the plane.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  The word was out. The bosses had enough of Nicky. They had enough. What more were they gonna take? So they made an example of him and his brother. They buried them while they were still breathing.

• Female Newscaster : Good evening, everyone. I'm Paige Novodor. What should've been a routine licensing hearing turned into bedlam yesterday when the flamboyant Tangiers Casino executive, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, accused the state's top gaming officials of corruption and hypocrisy.

  Ace Rothstein : What are you running for, Bob? What are you running for? Don't you remember? You promised me a fair hearing when you were getting comped at my hotel, and you were asking me for copies of your bills so you could put 'em on your expense account!

  Female Newscaster : In a wild and unprecedented outburst that followed his gaming license denial, Rothstein followed several stunned commissioners into the hallway, where he continued his harangue until his own lawyers and friends urged him to leave.

  Ace Rothstein : Politics! Politicians! We all have a past. You have a past. I have a past. And my past is no worse than yours. But you guys think you have the right to pass judgement on me!

  Female Newscaster : Long suspected of running the Tangiers without a gaming license, yesterday's hearing was to determine whether someone with Rothstein's checkered past history was qualified to officially hold a top gaming post.

  Ace Rothstein : Lousy hypocrites!

• Ace Rothstein : You fucking mo-mo, what's the matter with you?

• Ace Rothstein : Back home, they would have put me in jail for what I'm doing. But out here, they're givin' me awards.

• Nicky Santoro : Think he got the point?

  Ace Rothstein : What are you doing? He's a square guy, for Christ's sakes. You can't treat him like that. He's gonna run to the FBI.

  Nicky Santoro : Fuck the FBI! That prick's been dodging me for three weeks. And what is it with you? All of a sudden, you're trying to tell me what to do all the time.

  Ace Rothstein : I'm not trying to tell you what to do. But you were way out of line, Nick. What are you doing? Where's your head?

  Nicky Santoro : Where's my head? Where's your fucking balls? Huh? You know I'm trying to put something really big together out here. You know what I'm talking about, huh? You know. If you're acting like this now, how can I depend on you? There's a lot of things going to change out here. And if you wanna be there with me, Sammy, you're going to have to go my fucking way.

  Ace Rothstein : Listen, Nick, you got to understand my situation. I'm responsible for thousands of people. I got a hundred million a year going through the place. It's all over, I'm going to tell you, it's all over, if I don't get that license. And believe me, if it goes bad for me, it's gonna go bad for a lot of people, you understand?

  Nicky Santoro : Yeah, forget about your fucking license. I plant my own flag out here, you ain't gonna need a fucking license.

  [pause] 

  Nicky Santoro : You know, I don't know what it is, Sammy, but the more I talk to you, the more I feel like you just don't want to go along with me, is that it? You should say so.

  Ace Rothstein : No, I don't want to go along with you. I'll be honest with you.

  Nicky Santoro : Just say so- All right, fine.

  Ace Rothstein : I don't want to be involved in anything you're talking about, okay? I just want to run a square joint. That's it. I just want my license. I want everything nice and quiet. That's it.

  Nicky Santoro : You mean, quiet like this?

  [holds up a magazine] 

  Nicky Santoro : "I'm the boss." That's quiet?

  Ace Rothstein : That's all taken out of context. I have no control over that. Ronnie and Billy were right there. They'll tell you exactly what happened.

  Nicky Santoro : Well, back home they don't know about fucking control. That looks bad.

  Ace Rothstein : Looks bad? I'm going to tell you what looks bad. Every time you're on television, I get mentioned. That looks bad. That looks bad!

  Nicky Santoro : What the fuck happened to you? Will you tell me?

  Ace Rothstein : What happened to me? What happened to you? You lost your control.

  Nicky Santoro : I lost control? Look at you! You're fucking walking around like John Barrymore! A fucking pink robe and a fucking cigarette holder? I lost control? You know, I didn't want to bring this up, but you have treated a lot of people with a lot of disrespect. Even your own wife.

  Ace Rothstein : My wife?

  Nicky Santoro : Yeah.

  Ace Rothstein : Now, what does she have to do with all this?

  Nicky Santoro : Well, she came to see me. She was upset about a lot of things, especially that whole fucking Diamond - that Lester Diamond incident.

  Ace Rothstein : All of a sudden, you're the shoulder to cry on? Did you at least tell her about your little role in that whole situation?

  Nicky Santoro : No, I didn't. What good would that do? That's not the fucking point. The point is that she's upset. She's - and you got a fucking problem.

  Ace Rothstein : Listen, I would appreciate it if you'd stay out of my personal life, okay? You wouldn't like it if I did it to you.

• Ace Rothstein : [talking about Don]  The guy is history as far as I'm concerned. History.

  Phillip Green : You can't just fire him. Webb's his brother-in-law. He's County Commissioner.

  Ace Rothstein : So what? Everybody out here with cowboy boots is a fucking county commissioner or related to a county commissioner. I'm fucking sick of it.

• [Talking in code on a tapped phone] 

  Nicky Santoro : Listen, I gotta meet Clean Face right away, what about the Chez Paris?

  Nicky Santoro : [subtitles]  I gotta meet Charlie the Banker right away at your house, OK?

  Ace Rothstein : No, you can't, you gotta make a reservation, it's all booked up.

  Nicky Santoro : No, no, it's okay.

  Ace Rothstein : It's impossible, it's booked up, you gotta make a reservation, it's very difficult to get in.

  Ace Rothstein : [subtitles]  I don't want a meeting at my house.

  Nicky Santoro : It's okay, I'll use the service entrance. I'll see you at 9:00.

  Nicky Santoro : [subtitles]  I'll come in from the golf course side. See you at 6:00.

• [Ace questions Ginger on how much money she and Lester spent when they tried to kidnap Amy] 

  Ginger : Would you knock it off, Sam?

  Ace Rothstein : I'm just trying to figure it out.

  Ginger : Nothing to figure out. I'm home, we're working it out.

  Ace Rothstein : Yeah, but I've been told before we're working it out. To think that you're home...

  [his eyes narrow] 

  Ace Rothstein : - after what you just put me through with Amy... is a favor to me?

  [pause] 

  Ace Rothstein : So counting the watch, maybe four thousand for expenses over the weekends, of which you must have had a good time. I know he did. That's for sure. I know that fucking peice of shit had a good fucking time. On my money. You might as well have fucked him, which you probably did anyway. You looking me a certain way. You're teary-eyed. I get it. You're good actress, you know that? Good fucking actress. Can't fucking get that pity out of people. I'm no john. You understand? You always thought I was but I'm not. I'm no sucker. Fucking pimp cocksucker. He's lucky I didn't kill him last time. Lucky he's fucking living. And if you had stayed with him, and you would have run away, you would have been dead, both of you. Dead! Dead!

• Ace Rothstein : In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  And what happens next? I can't believe it. Who the hell would believe that the FBI had a wire in the place looking for some information about some old homicide about some guy who was whacked out God knows when over God knows what. Would you believe such a thing could happen? Every FBI man across the country had their ears open, this guy basically sunk the whole world.

• Ace Rothstein : Adjourned? What do you mean adjourned? Mr. Chairman, Senator. You promised me a hearing, you won't allow me a hearing? You didn't even look at the FBI reports. When you were my guest, Mr. Chairman, Senator, at the Tangiers hotel, did you not promise me that I would have a fair hearing?

  Senator : I was never... I was never your guest at the Tangiers...

  Ace Rothstein : You were never my guest?

  Senator : ...that's right.

  Ace Rothstein : I never comped you? I don't comp you at least 2 or 3 times a month? At the Tangiers?

  Senator : I... I'd like to answer that at this time. Mr. Rothstein is being very typical to this point. He's lying. The only time I was at the Tangiers was when I had dinner with Barney Greenstein.

  Ace Rothstein : Was I at that dinner? Tell me, was I at that dinner?

  Senator : You were wandering.

  Ace Rothstein : Was I at that dinner? Was I?

  Senator : You were wandering around. You were in the... you were in the building.

  Ace Rothstein : I was in the building? You know damn well I was at that dinner, and you swore to me I would have a fair hearing. Did you not? Did you not? Well, tell me I was at least at the dinner. Allow me that much. Give me that much at least!

  Senator : Yes, you were.

  Ace Rothstein : Yeah. Thanks for not calling me a liar, you piece of garbage. You stupid...

• Ace Rothstein : This is the end result of all the bright lights, and the comp trips, and all the champagne, and free hotel suites, and all the broads and all the booze. It's all been arranged just for us to get *your money*.

• Ginger : [rear-ending Ace's car repeatedly]  You come down here right now! Get down here and talk to me, goddamn it! Don't fucking ignore me, you motherfucker! I mean it! You come down here right now! Get down here and talk to me, goddamn it! Fuck you! Goddamn you, come out here! I'm gonna drive your fucking car through the living room! You fucking coward! You motherfucker, you! Come out here and talk to me, you fucker!

  Ace Rothstein : Will you stop it? You're drunk, you're on drugs.

  Ginger : I am not!

  Ace Rothstein : You're gonna be sorry if you don't stop it! The whole neighborhood...

  Ginger : Don't you threaten me! Don't you threaten me! You are not threatening me anymore! You fuck! You fuck! I'm sick of you! I AM fucking Nicky Santoro! I am! He's my new sponsor! How about that, you fuckhead?

  [the police pull up] 

  Ginger : What are you looking at? Fuck off!

• Pat Webb : Are we certain that you want the gamin' control board eyeballing your record and your gangster pals like Nicky Santoro?

  Ace Rothstein : I think you're way out of line talking to me like that. What your saying is libelous, and you're in no position to challenge my expertise.

• Ace Rothstein : For Nicky, Las Vegas was the fucking Wild West.

• Ginger : We had a deal, remember? He said if things didn't work out, I could take my stuff and my daughter and leave.

  Ace Rothstein : Look in my eyes. Look - look in my eyes. You know me. Do you see anything in these eyes that would let someone in your condition take my child away from me? You know that'll never happen.

• Ace Rothstein : [holding a crumbled blueberry muffin]  From now on, I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.

  [places muffin halves in baker's hands] 

  Ace Rothstein : An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.

  [wipes crumbs from hands] 

  Baker : [with deadpan stare]  Do you know how long that's going to take?

  Ace Rothstein : I don't care how long it takes, put an equal amount in each muffin.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating over Nicky and Ginger in bed]  And this... this is how she backed him off.

• Ace Rothstein : I want you to exit this guy off the premises, I want you to exit him off his feet and I want you to use his head to open the fucking door.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Before I ever ran a casino or got myself blown up, Ace Rothstein was a hell of a handicapper, I can tell you that. I was so good that when I bet, I can change the odds for every bookmaker in the country. I'm serious. I had it down so cold that I was given paradise on earth. I was given one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas to run: The Tangiers, by the only kind of guys that can get you that kind of money. $62,000,000,700. I don't know all the details.

  Nicky Santoro : [Narrating]  Matter of fact, nobody knew all the details. But it should've been perfect. I mean, he had me, Nicky Santoro, his best friend watching his ass. And he had Ginger, the woman he loved on his arm. But in the end, we fucked it all up. It should have been so sweet, too. But it turned out to be the last time that street guys like us were ever given anything that fucking valuable again.

• Ginger : Okay, I didn't have lunch with Jennifer.

  Ace Rothstein : Who were you with?

  Ginger : I was with someone.

  Ace Rothstein : I know you were with someone, who were you with?

  [pause] 

  Ace Rothstein : I just hope it's not someone who I think it might be. I just hope it's not them.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Who could resist? Anywhere else in the country, I was a bookie, a gambler, always looking over my shoulder, hassled by cops, day and night. But here, I'm "Mr. Sam Rothstein". I'm not only legitimate, but running a casino. And that's like selling dreams for cash.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's a morality car wash. It does for us what Lourdes does for humpbacks and cripples.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  And, along with making us legit, comes cash. Tons of it. I mean, what do you think we're doing out here in the middle of the desert?

• Ace Rothstein : You're asking me for $25,000. I'm not out to make you feel bad. I want to just be able to trust you. You know, it's about trust. I have to be able to trust you with my life. Do you understand? Can I trust you? Can I trust you? Can I trust you? Answer me. Can I trust you?

  Ginger : [quietly]  You can trust me.

• [the winner is sent into the casino office, and sees his friend, the signaler, displaying a broken hand] 

  Signaller : Look what they did to my hand man!

  Ace Rothstein : [to the winner]  All right, I'm gonna give you a choice. You can either have the money and the hammer or you can walk out of here. But you can't have both. What do you want?

  Winner : I just wanna get out of here.

  Ace Rothstein : And don't forget to tell your friends what happens if they fuck up around here. You understand?

  Winner : I'm sorry. I made a bad mistake.

  Ace Rothstein : You're fucking right you made a bad mistake. 'Cause if you come back here, if we catch either one of you, we're gonna break your fucking hands and you won't walk out of here. You see that fucking saw? We're gonna use it. We don't fuck around in this place. You got it? Get out of here.

  Winner : [relieved]  Thank you.

  [Security guards escort the winner off the premises for good, then tells the other security guards what to do with the man with the broken right hand] 

  Ace Rothstein : Throw him out into the alley and just tell the cops he got hit by a car.

• Ace Rothstein : [to Ginger]  Greedy bitch!

• Frankie Avalon : I have a large family.

  Ace Rothstein : How many kids do you have?

  Frankie Avalon : I'm very proud to say that we have eight children.

  Ace Rothstein : That's amazing.

  Frankie Avalon : [audience applauding]  No, no, please. Please. There's nothing to it, heh. It was my pleasure.

• Ace Rothstein : You tied up our little daughter to a bed? What the fuck is the matter with you? Is there something mentally wrong with you?

  Ginger : [Drunk]  It was only for a couple hours Sam... the babysitter wasn't around, so I did what I could.

• Ace Rothstein : If you ever come back again, ever, to take her money, next time bring a pistol. That way you've got a chance.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating; notices a couple of card counters]  Now here's this guy reading the dealer's hole card and signalling his buddy at this table.

  [the signaler, using a small telegraph, types a morse code to his friend at the other table] 

  Ace Rothstein : And that's just what these hustlers look for. They cruise from casino to casino, looking for weak dealers the way lions look for weak antelope.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  They never know what hit them. And if, and when, they do find out that they just got zapped by a cattle prod, they wish they really did have a heart attack.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  But one thing I could just never understand was how she could have everything under control but her old pimp Lester Diamond.

  Lester Diamond : [Ginger comes in, taps Lester on the leg with $25,000 - offering him the money]  Look, Gin, you know I got other people in this. I got partners. But I want you to understand that I am looking out for you in this thing. Okay? You're going to get yours back... and you're gonna get it back first. Okay?

  Ginger : All right.

  Lester Diamond : Okay?

  Ginger : Yeah.

  Lester Diamond : Where are you going? Where are you? You're in that place. Where are you?

  Ginger : I'm here.

  Lester Diamond : No, you're not. Where are you? Where are you?

  Ginger : I'm always here for you.

  Lester Diamond : You are.

  Ginger : I am.

  Ginger : [he kisses her, she gives him the money. he takes off in his convertible. she watches him from the window.]  Be careful.

  Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  The Ginger I knew wouldn't even look at this creep.

• Ace Rothstein : [as he frees his daughter]  When did this happen, honey?

  Amy Rothstein : [very upset]  I don't know...

  Ace Rothstein : You don't know? What time did your mother do this? When did she leave?

  Amy Rothstein : I don't know...

  [moans softly] 

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  We're the only winners. The players don't stand a chance.

• Remo Gaggi : Son of a bitch. How the hell did you get Oklahoma-Michigan? Nobody ever had Oklahoma-Michigan How the hell did you do it?

  Ace Rothstein : Well, that's why they paid so well.

  Remo Gaggi : You see? He never tells me nothing.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Ginger had the hustler's code... She knew how to take care of people. And that's what Vegas was all about... It's Kickback City... She took care of the dealers... pit bosses, floor managers... But mostly... she took care of the valet parkers, the guys who could get you anything and take care of anything... Ginger took care of the parkers because they took care of the security guards, who took care of the metro cops, who let her operate.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Nicky being Nicky, he made his presence known. Especially at the casino, where he definitely did not work, people got the message.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  You can spot these assholes by watching the way they bet. Like this guy. He's betting lavender chips at 500 each with only one little problem. He's always guessed right. If he wasn't so fucking greedy, he'd have been tougher to spot. But in the end, they're all greedy.

• Ace Rothstein : Now look, pay attention to me. What I'm gonna tell you is very important.

  Ginger : Okay.

  Ace Rothstein : All this stuff doesn't mean anything. Money, this, doesn't mean anything without trust. I have to be able to trust you with my life.

• Ace Rothstein : [Narrating]  Meeting in the middle of the desert always made me nervous. It's a scary place. I knew about the holes in the desert, of course, and everywhere I looked, there could have been a hole.

• Ace Rothstein : [to Ginger]  I'm no john. You understand? You always thought I was but I'm not. I'm no sucker.

• Ace Rothstein : How are you doing, Les? It's Lester, right? Sam. From my recollection, aren't you the card shark, the golf hustler, the pimp from Beverly Hills? If I'm wrong, please correct me.