Double Down

Todd Schwarz, a married, middle-class, suburban C.P.A. with two teen-aged kids, has been leading a self-described mundane existence for 42 years. All that is about to change as Todd climbs aboard the roller coaster ride of high stakes gambling. After Todd's wife receives a free trip to a gambling casino, he finds a book called How To Play Winning Blackjack by a renowned Las Vegas legend. Following the book's instructions to the letter, Todd has phenomenal success and the thrills begin. Mixed blessings, in terms of a new job and a new location, find Todd frequenting the Atlantic City casinos on a regular basis. He pursues high stakes gambling and an adulterous affair, all the while experiencing new "highs" or "lows" following the axioms of his new found hero and his gambling bible. Sporting a new name, new persona and new found confidence, Todd moves on to Las Vegas, the gaming capital of the world. Todd's fortunes change as his seemingly infallible blackjack strategy bangs up against the inevitable reality that, "you can't beat the house." He is in grave danger of losing his own house, job, wife and family. As Todd is reeling from loss after loss, going from casino to casino trying to recapture the magic, he has an unplanned encounter with The Legend. That startling face-time meeting sends Todd back to suburbia a drastically changed man.