History Film / Casino

* DeadlyEuphemism: A former business partner of front man Phil Green's, Anna Scott decides to sue him in court, the judge ruling that Green will have to open up his books and risk exposing the Mafia. So the bosses in Chicago and Kansas decide to "settle the case out of court" instead. And by that, we mean "they send Nicky to break into her house and shoot her three times in the head".

** Nicky:
*** According to Ace: "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."
*** According to Nicky himself:

** Ace himself. It becomes his FatalFlaw when it comes to dealing with Ward.

* DirtyCop: Sam warns Nick that the ''Sheriff'' in Las Vegas isn't above burying people in holes in the desert.
** The police and the mob have a fairly amicable relationship, provided those fat bribes keep coming and the mob doesn't raise too much hell.
* DisasterDominoes:
** "The Feds had all the pieces they needed. Everybody began to tumble, one after the other, like dominoes: Between Piscano complaining on the wire, between Nicky, Ginger, me and my license... We managed to really fuck it all up."
** The Midwest Mafia bosses, displeased that a [[ForWantOfANail few thousand dollars]] was going missing in the counting room, install Kansas City underboss Artie Piscano to oversee all transactions. Artie, as Nicky put it best, could find a way [[TooDumbToLive to fuck up a cup of coffee]]. Too scatterbrained to memorize anything, he writes ''everything'' down in a notebook, which, of course, the FBI uncover.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Nicky repeatedly stabs a guy in the neck with his own pen after the guy tells Ace to 'shove it up his ass' when Ace politely tries to return it to him. Horrific enough by itself, but keep in mind that Nicky is not even responding to an insult directed at him.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Sam orders a bunch of sexy waitresses to sing Happy Birthday to someone so one of his men can zap a cheater with a cattle prod.

* TheDreaded: Nicky to other wiseguys. His very ''presence'' is enough to frighten two members of another crew from Sam's casino.
* DrugsAreBad: Ginger suffers hard from her drug abuse and Nicky becomes more sloppy as a result of his.

--> ''"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 fuckin' valuable again."''

** Ace is disgusted with the modern Las Vegas of "theme park" casinos that attract families to invest in their kids' college fund when before it was the province of serious gamblers who knew what they were doing and what the stakes were, and is pretty disappointed with the lousy service and poor standards of hospitality.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Nicky was hardly stoic, but notice that most of his rage and sorrow during his death scene comes from watching what is happening to his little brother. He knows the same fate awaits him but doesn't seem to care about that.]]
** [[spoiler: Dominic chooses to scream "Fucking Rat" at all his assailants rather than show any fear.]]

--> ''"...it turned out to be the last time that street guys like us were ever given anything that fuckin' valuable again."''
--> ''"But in the end, we fucked it all up."''

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Geri [=McGee=] Rosenthal, the real life inspiration for Ginger [=McKenna=], was a chip hustler and was no saint, but in real life she used her money from hustling to support her sick mother, her sister's family and her first daughter with Lenny Mamor, the basis behind Lester Diamond (who wasn't her pimp, but her high school sweetheart). She was known for her generosity and her intelligence: her ex-husband Lefty stated that she could walk into a room full of Harvard [=MBA=] types and discuss business theories on their level. She even served as an informant for the FBI alongside Lefty (though neither of them knew the other was an informant and that the same agents were functioning as their handlers). People in Vegas rave about what a great person she was, and she was considered a loving mom, so her breakdown was due to the abuse from Lefty. However, whether she was a loving mom is debatable as people in the book claimed that she favored her son over her daughter. The story about her tying her child to the bed frame is based solely on [[UnreliableNarrator Lefty]]'s word for it.

** Tony Doggs is willing to suffer a week of torture to protect his boss despite knowing there's no way he's getting out of it alive. It's not until he gets his eye popped out with his head in a vice that he finally snaps.

** Sam prides himself on being a ControlFreak, "that there is not one single thing I will not catch", and yet [[spoiler: he's only saved from the car bomb by the unknowing luck of the passenger seat having a metal plate installed under it, suppressing the explosion just long enough for Sam to scramble to safety.]]

* LoopholeAbuse: Ace's criminal record makes it impossible for him to get a license from the Nevada Gaming Commission. But Andy Stone points out that he doesn't need to have a gaming license to work in a casino, he just needs to ''apply for one''. There's a loophole in Nevada law in that an applicant can start working in a casino while the application is being processed. So after a while he can change his nominal job title, putting his application to the back of the line (which has a multi-year backlog), and then rinse and repeat. Since his corporation is pouring a lot of money into Las Vegas, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney the authorities have no reason to be inquisitive or do things by the book]]... [[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught that is]], until the Outfit orders a hit on a silent partner trying to sue their front man, Ace accidentally mentions to a reporter that [[TheManBehindTheMan he's effectively the head of the Tangiers Corporation,]] and outrage from the press leads to the Gaming Commission putting Ace under investigation at the behest of a Clark Country Comissioner Ace had already antagonized .

* MuggingTheMonster: Of a sort; the guy who tells Ace to 'shove that pen up your ass' would probably not have been so keen to throw his weight around had he known that [[AxCrazy Nicky]] was standing right next to him. And he soon learns his mistake. ''[[DisproportionateRetribution Boy]]'', [[DisproportionateRetribution does he learn his mistake]].
** Ace grossly underestimates how much power County Commissioner Pat Webb has.
** Ace's banker does correctly point out to Nicky that risk was involved in the investments he made and that he doesn't just get the money back if there's a loss. But then begins to scoff and asks Nicky if he's going to strong arm him. Nicky makes it very clear that yes, he will. It's unknown how the situation got resolved, but Ace seems to think he'll likely go to the authorities.

* NiceToTheWaiter: Averted: Nicky abuses the croupiers, who have to take it stoically.

* ThePeterPrinciple: Nicky is highly competent at any task involving violence or intimidation, which gets him promoted to a job that requires tact and subtlety. Disaster ensues.

-->'''Nicky:''' I had a couple of sand niggers out there. You know, Arabs.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure[=/=]OnlySaneMan: Andy Stone. [[spoiler:He still gets killed because ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure.]]
** Commissioner Pat Webb. As powerful and influential as he is, he still approaches Sam in a friendly and respectful manner, and sincerely tries to work out an equally amicable solution to the problem with his nephew Don.

* {{Understatement}}: Remo has a tendency to use euphemisms, mild words and conditional forms when he wants to be imperative or inquires about major problems.
** Lampshaded by Andy Stone
--> '''Stone:''' The old man said maybe your friend should give in. And when the old man says "maybe", that's like a papal bull. Not only should you quit, you should run.
** Several characters reiterate that an infidelity could end with everyone involved in it dead, including the ones who cover it up, as this is a big no-no for the old timers. Boss Remo downplays all that in the actual question.
-->'''Remo:''' Frankie, be straight with me; is the little guy fucking the Jew's wife? Because if he is, that could be a problem.

* {{Unwinnable}}: [[UnwinnableByDesign By design.]]
--> '''Sam:''' It's all been arranged just for us to get your money. That's the truth about Las Vegas. We're the only winners. The players don't stand a chance. [...] In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing. The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all.

-->'''Ward:''' [[DumbassHasAPoint It's a casino. People gotta win sometimes]].
-->'''Sam:''' Ward, you're pissing me off. Now you're insulting my intelligence. [...] The probability on one machine is a million and a half to one, on three machines in a row it's in the billions. It ''cannot happen.'' [...] Get your ass outta here"

** [[ForegoneConclusion "But in the end, we fucked it all up."]]

* StealingFromTheTill: The mafia allows the Teamsters to bankroll the casino in order to fleece it. A BriefcaseFullOfMoney is sent monthly back to Chicago. In turn, the skimmers are being skimmed and take offence from it, so they put an inutile supervisor to keep an eye on it.

* TheSociopath: Nicky in a vicious and violent way and Ginger in a sneakier and yet darker style, since she is portrayed without [[PetTheDog redeeming qualities]], her short-lived attempt to behave comes out of fear.