As youths in Azusa, Vinnie, Carter, and Rosie pull off a racing scam, substituting winners for plodders and winning big bucks on long odds. When an official uncovers the scam, they set him up for blackmail. Jump ahead twenty years, Carter and Rosie are married, successful racers in Kentucky about to sell their prize stallion, Simpatico. Vinnie is a drunk in Pomona. Vinnie decides to make a play for Rosie, lures Carter to California, steals his wallet and heads for Kentucky with the original blackmail material. Carter begs Vinnie's friend, a grocery clerk named Cecilia, to follow Vinnie and get the stuff back that he has in a box. Will she succeed? 卡特（杰夫·布里奇斯 Jeff Bridges）和威尼是一对相当要好的朋友，两人平时以赌马、赛马为乐，威尼的女友萝丝（莎朗·斯通 Sharon Stone ）和卡特也彼此熟识，甚至在私下暗通款曲，只是他们都没让威尼知道真相。 之后，卡特和威尼有意在大赌一场后收山，便于一场相当高额的比赛中下注，暗中操盘以获取暴利；但是威尼却不知好友与女伴竟卷款而逃、双宿双飞，自己则被警方以诈欺罪名逮捕入狱。 侥幸逃过一劫的卡特和萝丝，在内心中都有著挣扎：他背叛了威尼，她也对不起威尼，然而两人却继续过著因巨款所带来的优渥生活。二十年后，威尼出狱，想到自己二十年前因那件案子而被迫失去一切；于是，他决定复仇，要求卡特和萝丝付出代价..........
