turn the goddamn thing off, will ya.
i can talk, can't i?
glad to meet ya, kid. you're a real horse's ass.
i'm sorry about luther. he was the best street worker i ever saw.
aw, i conned a senator from florida on a stocks deal. a real lop-ear. he thought he was gonna take over general electric. some chantoozie woke him up, though, and he put the feds on me.
luther didn't tell me you had a big mouth.
no, i lammed it around for a while while things cooled off. philly, denver, baltimore, nuthin' towns.
but don't kid yourself, friend, i still know how.
you gonna stay for breakfast, or do you already know how to eat?
lonnegan after you, too?
you never do, kid.
fine, billie.
great little countess, that billie. runs a good house up there, too. one of the few left that luciano doesn't own.
you didn't act much like you wanted to learn it.
you know anything about him?
and a packing company, a chain of savings and loans and half the politicians in chicago and new york. there ain't a fix in the world gonna cool him out if he blows on ya.
why?
you can't do it alone, ya know. it takes a mob of guys like you and enough money to make 'em look good.
this isn't like playin' winos on the street. you gotta do more than outrun the guy.
you gotta keep lonnegan's con, even after you spent his money. and no matter how much you take from his, he'll get more.
right down to my socks, turkey. if i'da been half as scared a that lop-ear, i wouldn't a fallen asleep on 'em. lonnegan might kill me, but at least he won't bore me to death.
if i can find a mob that'll risk it. but no matter what happens, i don't want you comin' back to me halfway through and sayin' it's not enough.  cause it's all you got.
but most of all let us know. if they got a hit on you, we gotta fold up the con. you're too exposed. you got that?
everybody'll sit still for somethin'. what did ya find out about the train, eddie?
wonder why he doesn't fly both ways.
fancies himself a gambler, huh?
see j.j., he's slowly down already.
we'll use the wire. never known a gambler who wouldn't like to beat the ponies.
that's why he won't know it.
we'll give him the hook on the train, and play him here. you think i can get in that poker game, eddie?
i also gotta win.
by the way, any of you guys been passing off any green goods lately?
billie, if that dick comes in again, stall him till i can get a look at him. and let me pay ya for these beers.
naw, i want ya to have this.
don't look at it till ya go to bed though or it'll turn to paper.
guy in the blue pinstripe and grey fedora.
neither are we.
i hear there's a friendly poker game on this train tonight. you know anything about that?
you think you could get me in that game?
yeh, i think so. i gave the kay- ducer a c-note. you find out the deck?
nice work, j.j.
fifteen grand. looks like he's expecting a big night.
let him wait.
you just worry about your end, kid.
sorry i'm late boys. i was takin' a crap.
yeh, that'd be real nice of ya, mr. lonneman.
see ya and raise three.
five and call.
tough luck, lonnihan, but that's what you get for playin' with your head up your ass. couple more like that and we can all go to bed early, huh boys.
raise 300.
two and call.
don't worry about it, pal. lemongan here wouldn'ta let you in the game if you weren't a chump.
just take it easy there, larrabee.
raise 1,000.
raise 2,000.
raise 5,000.
call.
well that's all for me tonight, boys. i'm gonna leave ya some cab fare.
you owe me 15 grand, pal.
what! don't give me that crap you little weenie. how do i know you ain't gonna take a powder. you come to a game like this, you bring your money.
all right, buddy, i'm gonna send a boy by your room in five minutes, and you better have that jack, or it's gonna be all over chicago that your name ain't worth a dime.
well we got some workin' money anyway.
okay, kid, you're on. but i gotta tell ya, its a hard act to follow.
everything go all right?
no signs of trouble?
you know, somebody tailin' ya. a torpedo or somethin'.
how 'bout lonnegan?
and?
hell, they don't do that and you know you're not gettin' through to 'em.
did he hold you up on anything?
that's all right. once they start listening, they're in trouble. just don't give him more than he asks for. if you rattle his imagination a little, he'll come up with all the right answers himself. but all he's gotta do is catch you in one lie and you're dead.
did he say he wouldn't?
he'll show.
eddie, cut that out, will ya.
that's what i like about these guys, j.j.  they always got protection against things we'd never do to 'em.
never get enough, huh pal? i'd think you'd get tired of losin', honnigan.
make sure you see cash from this guy, eddie. he's got the name for bettin' money he don't have.
that's not where we want him to sit.
don't bother to come back with a piker's bet like that again, lonnegan. we got a $5,000 minimum here. show this bum out.
go on, ya goddamn ninny.
and tell him not to bring his garbage men in here no more. this is a class joint.
he's gaffed, kid. he should start coming to you now.
why didn't you tell me about snyder before?
well you found him again and we're gonna have to do somethin' about it. what else haven't ya been tellin' me?
then why'd ya move outa your room?
you can't play your friends like marks, hooker.
you know how easy it'd be for one of lonnegan's guys to nail you?
you just won't learn, will ya. hell, you come in here, i teach you stuff maybe five guys in this world know, stuff most grifters couldn't do even if they knew it, and all you wanna do is run down a bullet. you're just like all them new jerks. lotsa nerve and no brains. and ten years from now when me and the others are through and you dumb guys are all dead there won't be one gee left who knows the big con was anything more than a way to make a livin'.
christ, they'll probably miss you and hit me.
how ya doin'?
we don't need big odds on this one, j.j. take anything you get at 3-1 or better.
he's gonna hit ya with 20 grand, eddie. how much cash we got?
get a couple extra guys in the line, then. we'll give him the shut-out.
all right, furey, your horse is wingless. paltrow, the big alabama and phillips'll take grand theft. rodgers and eirie have wrecking crew. jackson -- his dandy, cowan -- change of heart, fiskin and chappie -- made to order. eirie, he gets a bang outa seein' you lose, so we oughta use that on 'em. if you play the birds of a feather routine we worked on, it should steam him up pretty good. you think you can handle that?
o.k., you guys in line take your time, and i wanta see lotsa joy on wrecking crew.
don't take it so hard, pal. you probably woulda lost it.
if we're lucky, this'll bring him back stronger than ever.
what's the matter, kid? you're not sayin' much.
luther always told me to bite my toenails when i get nervous. you see yourself doin' that and you realize it ain't worth it.
take it easy, you won't lose him now. we had him 10 years ago when he decided to be somebody. believe me, i've seen enough to know.
two or three hundred i guess. sometimes played two a day when i was in shea's mob. we had it down to a business. 'course chicago was a right town then. the fix was in. the dicks took their end without a beef. all the wall street boys wanted to make investments for us. even had marks looking us up, thinkin' they could beat the game. yeh, kid, it really stunk. no sense in bein' a grifter if it's the same as bein' a citizen.
i better do some packin'. i'm gonna be a hot number again after tomorrow.
seems worthwhile, doesn't it? maybe it's just for the cave-in on lonnegan's face when we put in the sting.
ain't nothin' gonna make up for luther, kid. revenge is for suckers. i been griftin' 30 years and never got any.
what's the problem?
i can't lay that off in time. we lose a bet that big, it could break us.
what are the odds on syphon?
a half mill on an eight to one shot. you're dumber than i thought, lonnegan.
take it.
nice con, hickey. i thought you were feds myself, when you first came in.
okay, let's take this place apart and get outa here. you can get your splits from eddie at boudreau's tonight.
you beat him, kid.
you wanta wait for your share?