Five friends. One year. All bets are off. Reading, 2009. It may not be Vegas, but for Nick, Doug, Vijay, Alan & Simon, it`s as good as they`re going to get. Each in their forties, & beset by anxieties, flaws & frustrations, they meet monthly in each other`s houses for a `friendly` game of poker, enabling Doug to show off his newly-minted wealth, Simon to insist on serving only red wine & goats` cheese & Nick
- swimming in a cocktail of envy, fear, bravado & disappointment
- to make increasingly desperate attempts to bring an end to his interminable losing streak. While Vijay meticulously records every win & loss on his spreadsheet, & Alan frets about his propensity to break into sweat & his inability to get his wife pregnant, Nick becomes obsessed with the idea of engineering Doug`s downfall: Doug, who with his big house, his successful business & his appalling taste is both everything that Nick aspires to & resents. Convinced of the heroic nature of his task, he aims to triumph over Doug in poker, as well as in life, & in doing so he comes into troubling proximity to Sophia, Doug`s clever & beautiful wife.. .