Bobby Locke, played by Stéfano Gallo, is a down-on-his-luck poker player stuck in a dead-end job that can barely pay for his mother's medical care. His skills at the table are put to the test regularly at 'Scruples', a club run by an enigmatic father-figure affectionately known as Chips, played by Paul Sorvino.
The chips are down, but Bobby antes up and plays the cards that are dealt to him. He's all in, you bet. Yep, the limp and low-budget Cold Deck is a poker-based heist film that deals in clichés.
With a sick mother, a heart-of-gold cocktail-waitress girlfriend, a dead-end job, an inscrutable father figure and a flunky best friend, the brooding, gamble-happy aggrieved son (played straight as a flush by Stefano Gallo) rolls the dice and knocks over a high-stakes game. Things go sideways, as they so often do. Oh, did we mention that the boss guy here is played by Goodfellas actor Paul Sorvino? His nickname is "Chips." What are the odds, eh?
Brad Wheeler