Lance Hargrove, dead broke with no prospects in 1957, knows he's taking a chance when he steals $12,000 from an Omaha bookie. When he gets away with it, as far as he's concerned, he's caught lightning in a jug. Little does he know that the one act will take him on a decades-long odyssey that includes an unlikely association with a Mafia boss, heading a Las Vegas casino, and ultimately the White House.