After winning $1 million in the World Series of Poker at a Las Vegas casino, Michael "Lucky" Linkletter lived like a king... briefly. Now, one year later, he's penniless. Although Lucky's been clean from his gambling addiction for six months, his debts continue to mount—including money owed to his deceased wife's parents and a mobster. But when he finds a $100 chip, Lucky wonders how to parlay this unexpected windfall into a second chance. Lucky's pals Vinny and Mutha come up with a unique way for him to get the money to repay his former in-laws.

In order to settle his debt with Joey Leggs, Lucky is forced to continue to gamble. Lucky's efforts are complicated when he meets a doctor, Amy, and her "son" who are down on their luck, and out of the goodness of his heart Lucky gives her the money that he needs. He then comes to realize that the woman played him when he sees her again in the casino with a wig on and finds out that her son is actually her nephew and she isn't willing to just give Lucky back his money. Joey and Danny pose as doctors and meet two other doctors. They set up a golf date and go golfing and gamble. They then owe the other two $5,500 but after Joey fakes a heart attack they soon realize they are not real doctors.

A frazzled Theresa starts questioning her relationship with Lucky, feeling as if she is spending her nights with a compulsive gambler who has no clear goals. Lucky assures Theresa that if given some time to make a list, he could find some goals. After getting mugged at gunpoint by a masked figure and saved by a former gambler named Murray, Lucky has an epiphany: He'll no longer gamble. He'll work for Murray's company and sell meat. With Lucky's uncanny ability to decipher people, he's a natural salesman and quickly establishes Murray's meats as a staple around Las Vegas. The only problem is that the company's fiercest competitors, the Russo Brothers, aren't afraid to use intimidation to get sales. After a romantic dinner with Theresa is foiled by Russo's men, Lucky declares a "meat war" and vows that Murray's Meats will ultimately prevail.

As Theresa withdraws from her gambling addiction and has continued trouble with her husband, she relies on Lucky for support as her sponsor. In order to disguise the fact that he is a hypocrite, Lucky conceals from Theresa that he is gambling again.

As an important satellite tournament quickly approaches, Lucky develops a "tell" (a telltale sign to other players when Lucky is bluffing). Vinny and Mutha try to appear as a couple of card-counting geniuses to scam an unsuspecting target.