Casino is a 1995 film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi and Larry Shandling. Robert De Niro stars as Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a top gambling handicapper who is called by the Mob to oversee the day-to-day operations at the fictional Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. The story is based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont and the Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for The Mob from the 1970s until the early 1980s.
Joe Pesci plays Nicky Santoro, based on the real-life Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, an intimidating enforcer with psychotic tendencies. Santoro is sent by the Chicago Outfit to Vegas to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and that the casinos and mobsters in Vegas are kept in line. Sharon Stone plays Rothstein's wife, the self-obsessed, spoiled, devious and sly Ginger, a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.