Castle Frazer is a 27-year-old gambler and "steering man". Rich Stillman is an 11-year-old poolshark. The two meet in Kentucky in the early 1940s and, under Castle's tutelage, little Rich quickly graduates from pool to poker (and later, money gin games), for which he has an exceptional aptitude. Castle guides Rich, and his team of kid card players, into games with police, priests, moonshiners, high rollers, even the mob. As Rich evolves from a small-time take-off artist to a wizard-like games master, the stakes get bigger and bigger. But there is a price to be paid in the end. This is the story of the turning-out of a genius card player, a rare look into the dangerous world of a high-stakes hustler. And amazingly, it's all true.