Chicago boss Remo Gaggi sends Sam's childhood friend and mob enforcer Nicky Santoro to protect Sam, the cash skim, and the casino. Sam soon doubles the casino's profits, with the extra unaccounted for cash skimmed directly from the casino count room, and delivered to the Midwest Mafia bosses. In 1973, sports handicapper and Mafia associate Sam 'Ace' Rothstein is sent by the Chicago Outfit to Las Vegas to run the Tangiers Casino, with front man Philip Green. Stone's performance was singled out for acclaim, earning her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Nicky and Ginger are based on mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro and former dancer and socialite Geri McGee, respectively.Ĭasino was released on November 22, 1995, by Universal Pictures, to a mostly positive critical reception, and was a worldwide box office success.

The primary characters are based on real people: Sam is inspired by the life of Frank Rosenthal, also known as 'Lefty,' who ran the Stardust, Fremont, Marina, and Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for the Chicago Outfit from 1968 until 1981. The film details Sam's operation of the casino, the difficulties he confronts in his job, the Mafia's involvement with the casino, and the gradual breakdown of his relationships and standing, as Las Vegas changes over the years. Other major characters include Nicky Santoro (Pesci), a ' made man' and friend of Sam, and Ginger McKenna (Stone), a streetwise chip hustler whom Sam marries and has a daughter with. The film was the eighth collaboration between director Scorsese and De Niro.Ĭasino follows Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (De Niro), a Jewish American gambling expert handicapper who is asked by the Chicago Outfit to oversee the day-to-day casino and hotel operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. It stars Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, Don Rickles, Kevin Pollak, and James Woods. Casino is a 1995 epic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, adapted by Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi from the latter's nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas.

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