A group of con artists rip off their latest mark and celebrate, while de facto leader of the group Jake Vig (Edward Burns) explains the art of the con. When one of the four, Big Al (Louis Lombardi) is found shot to death, the other three learn that the latest money they stole actually belonged to a local L.A. crime lord called The King (Dustin Hoffman). Jake proposes that the grifters work for the King and steal money from Morgan Price (Robert Forster), a rival who owns a bank.