|
Behind the glitch and glamour of online pokers is a bloody war that the online sites won't speak about and that they don't want you to know about. Organized crime syndicates have learned that they can fleece billions of dollars from online gamblers by using sophisticated computer bots. These bots play up to 5 players per table, are able to see the hole cards before they are dealt and work in collusion to make it impossible for the average player to win. The bots hide their identities by using complicated programming that varies among the thousands of IP addresses. The law can't stop them, but the online sites have hired the best to eliminate them at all costs.
This is the first poker movie to explore the war of greed and deception between two of the most powerful financial entities in the world.
In a high tech lab three computer geeks are playing thousands of online poker hands at one time. They are using computer bots from thousands of locations to team up against online gamblers. The geeks are transferring money from their accounts into hidden bank accounts elsewhere as a continuous flow of cash builds in their accounts.
An alarm system sounds and alerts the geeks to an intruder. The geeks break out automatic weapons and position themselves in strategic locations in the room. There is a gun battle blazing outside as their security guards are fighting to protect them. On the screen the geeks can see the intruders coming. They set off a series of explosions to kill them, but more of them are rapidly breaking through the defense.
The intruders attempt to break through the massive steel door into the control room, When they fail, they uses powerful explosives to blast their way in. A gun battles ensues between the geeks and the intruders, but the geeks are no match. They surrender to the intruders.
The team leader demands the last geek to give him all the bank accounts access codes and passwords. When the geek refuses, the leader opens a lap top with a live video of both of the geek’s parents being held hostage. The leader begins to torture them and the geek gives in. He gives them all the codes.
The leader then demands a disk of the smart bot software. The geek downloads the program on a removable drive and then pleas for his parent’s lives. The leader then mercilessly kills the geeks and orders the other team to kill the parents.
Elsewhere, Ashley Madison is watching the private screening of her new movie. Rockets, mortars and bombs are exploding everywhere as her character attacks the terrorists that threaten the world. Ashley risks her life to save the hostages and eventually fights hand to hand combat against the villains. The executives are thrilled with the new movie and claim the movie will be a big success.
As Ashley is escorted to a private jet to compete in her next poker tournament, she marvels at the difference six months made? It wasn't long ago that she was a starving actress waiting on tables. Now she is about to be the lead character in a big budget action packed spy movie.
It all started when her wealthy boyfriend entered her into a high stakes poker tournament. She had dabbled in the past, but had never taken poker seriously. Then it happened. She had an unbelievable lucky streak that put her at a televised final table with some of the biggest names in poker. Ashley bluffed her way to a large stack and then won on a fluke hand. Even though she was just an average player, her charm and beauty made her an instant poker celebrity.
Thanks to Ashley's boyfriend and agent, Brent Larson, she was able to enter other high dollar poker tournaments where the results were highly publicized. Once she reached the table at another televised event, nothing could stop her popularity. Advertisers were scrambling to sign her and so were movie studios looking to explode her popularity.
One of the first to sign Ashley was billionaire computer genius, Rim Smith. He had recently launched a new online poker site and negotiated with Brent for Ashley's exclusive rights. The lucrative agreement was for $15,000 a week for three years. Ashley was put on the board of directors and given a stock share in the online site. She began endorsing the site and participating in some exotic photo shoots.
Everything appeared to be going great, but Ashley's personal life was struggling. Brent was a control freak and was using Ashley by exploiting her for fame and money. Ashley's closest friends got caught up in the celebrity status were over indulging in drugs and alcohol. She was tired and needing time away, but Brent had already entered her in more tournaments.
When Ashley needed time to herself, she would always retreat and call her grandmother. There was nobody closer to her. Ashley's grandmother didn't understand the game and always gave Ashley a hard time about playing poker.
When Ashley, Brent and her friends arrive at the Vegas airport several limousines await them. The limousines detour from their destination and are cornered by four vehicles. The leader of the intruder team and several other men climb into the limo with Ashley and Brent. They threatened, "Shut it down or your friends are going to die." Ashley and Brent assume that someone in the tournament doesn't want her playing but they are confused. Ashley tries to get more information, but they kick her and Brent out of the car. There luggage drags behind the limo and is scattered throughout the street.
Ashley refuses to bow out of the tournament. After a few days of play, she finds herself at one of the featured tables. Behind the scenes, Brent had bribed officials to make sure she was on a camera. It was easy for him as the tournament director wanted all of Ashley they could get. But this televised table was dangerous. Seasoned pros were eager to prey upon her. James Williams, a powerful poker player with a reputation for vicious revenge was at the table. Nobody wanted to mess with him. Rumor had it that the last couple of guys that beat him had disappeared.
Ashley appeared to be in over her head. On one hand she pushes a large stack into the pot. Jack Powell a seasoned pro remarks, "I saw your last televised event. I know your bluffing. You're easy to read." Jack pushes "all in." Ashley is committed to the pot and calls. Jack is ahead, but Ashley manages to suck out and hit an inside straight to beat Jack. He stomps away from the table. Someone in the crowd yells out, "It's rigged just like her poker site. It rigged." Security escorts the person out but he keeps yelling. "Her site is rigged. She stole all my money." It is an embarrassing moment for Ashley.
On the dinner break, Ashley asks her friends, "Do you think he could be right? Could I be endorsing a rigged online site?" One of her friends answers, "I think they're all rigged..." He is interrupted by several thugs sitting down at her table. The thugs make Ashley's friends leave and then threaten her. They instruct her to go "all in" when Mr. Williams bets six times the blind and then rubs his chin. The implied failure to comply will jeopardize the life of Ashley and her friends. The thugs slide Ashley a briefcase and say, "This should make it worthwhile. Mr. Williams is a fair man. He just wants your stack and the world title."
When Ashley and Brent get in their suite, Brent opened the case and cheerfully celebrated. The case had $750,000.00. Brent demands, "Take the dive. Our lives are not worth the risk." Brent fans a stack of hundreds as someone knocks on the door. It's Jack Powell and his wife. Jack barges with his wife.
Jack is the poker addict that Ashley just knocked out of the tournament. He is desperate for money and asked Ashley to give him some money. Brent interferes and demeans Jack's poker play and tells him to get out. Ashley feels sorry for Jack and grabs about $1000 from the briefcase and hands it over to Jack. Jack laughs, "That's not enough to get us close to paying off the sharks. Come on I know you can afford a lot more. We'll pay you back when I get my next win." Ashley is stunned that he laughs at her gift and Brent then threatens him to leave.
Jack sees the briefcase full of money and pulls out a gun. He starts to rob them, but Brent tells him, "You can't pull this off. There's a camera in every hallway and every elevator." Jack's wife tries to stop the robbery and talk sense into her husband. The suite door between rooms opens and a couple of Ashley's friends suddenly walk in on the robbery. Jack starts shaking, panics and then turns the gun on himself. He takes his own life while everyone looks on. Jack's wife, Sarah, slumps down at her husband's side. She then berates Ashley and tells her how she has ruined their lives. Ashley tries to apologize, but it is useless.
Ashley doesn't return to the tournament that night, but she reluctantly returns to the table in the morning. Her stack is slightly less as they have blinded her off. She still has plenty, but James Williams is sitting across from her. After a few hours of play, Ashley has been able to build a large stack of chips, but then James Williams bets six times the blinds and begins rubbing his chin while staring at Ashley. The thugs in the background also glare as Ashley. It is the signal for her to go "all in."
After contemplating for a while she goes "all in." The player sitting behind her probably received the same threats because he calls too. James Williams pushes "all in" and turns up pocket Aces. Ashley refuses to show her cards and tries to muck them, but the televised tournament rules require that she shows. Ashley has the 2 6 of spades. The board hits 2 J 9 6 K. Ashley wins the pot with two pair and eliminates both players. James William’s thugs give her the "slit across the throat" signal. James gets up from the table and politely shakes her hand but it is apparent that he is threatening. "I hope you use some of those chips to help your grandmother. Enjoy it them while you can." Ashley apologizes for beating him.
|
The next day Ashley reaches the final table. She is clearly distracted by the situations from the previous days and Brent is on her case for day dreaming. She is eliminated. Hoping to escape the wrath of James Williams, Ashley accepts a previous invitation by Rim Smith to relax at this exotic resort on a private tropical island. She wants to meet with Rim and find out if the site she is endorsing is legit.
Ashley and her friends are boarding a private jet owned by Rim Smith. As they are about to walk up the ramp, two cars pull up with gunmen. The gunmen jump from the cars and surround the group. The lead gunman approaches Ashley. "We told you to shut it down.” The thugs grap one of Ashley’s friends by the hair and throw him on the ground in front of her." From out of nowhere a rifle shot is heard. The bullet strikes one of the thugs and he falls to the ground. Then another shot follows and another thug is hit. The thugs grab Ashley’s friend and hold a gun to his head, but another bullet strikes the thug in the head. The thugs run for the limos and Ashley and her friends run for the plane. Both the limo and the plane pull away.
When Ashley and her friends arrive on the island, Rim has a two limos waiting to take them to his house. It is a massive estate on a tall cliff that overlooks the ocean. The house is protected by fortified gate and a army of heavily armed men.
Ashley and her friends are escorted to a large dining table. Rim arrives late. As they are eating Brent comments, "There sure are a lot of armed guys hanging around." Rim smiles and replies, "It helps me sleep better." Ashley can't wait to ask Rim, "Is our poker site legit?" Rim stands up from the table and says, "Why don’t you come see for yourself. ?"
Rim instructs the group to come with him. A security team escorts them as they enter a giant computer media room. Rim pushes a few buttons and screens fill up with poker sites. There appears to be hundreds of pokers games being played on different online sites. As Ashley looks at the screens she realizes something is wrong. "I can see the hole cards and the hands of 6 players!"
Rim is proud. "Quite impressive isn't it? I borrowed the program from a few deceased geeks I'm making millions of dollars each day and I never play a hand. It's all done by a sophisticated bot." Rim goes on to explain that he has 1,000's of user names. At anytime he will have up to 5 or 6 players at one table. "Seeing the hole cards in advance and having 5 other players at the same table, working in collusion makes it easy. Rim laughs, “We can do this on 9 out of 10 poker sites. It’s pretty easy to win when you can see all the cards. It's all controlled from here." Rim takes a portable hard drive out of the main computer and instantly all the screens shut down. He puts the drive in a sealed case.
Ashley is a bit confused and asks why Rim needed her and the endorsement. He states, "I needed a place to transfer all the money undetected. I had to legitimize our online site. I've transferred over a billion dollars into my bank accounts. I thought I had found the perfect crime."
Rim goes on. "The is no law to stop us. The poker sites can’t stop our software. I thought I had the ultimate money making machine."
Ashley interrupts and disagrees with the entire concept and tells Rim she won't endorse the site anymore. Brent asks, "What about the poker sites, won't all their players eventually go broke? Won't they try to stop you?" Rim replies, "Very observant. There are a lot of poker sites that want to see you two dead. Ashley rebuffs, "Us. You're the one that is doing all this." Rim and his security team pull their guns, "Maybe you should reevaluate who you do business with. You’re on the board of directors. You’re a stock holder. And you're respondsible. At least that’s the deal I made with them. "
The mansion alarm system goes off. Gun shots and explosions can be heard from a distance. The estate is under attack. Rim grins, "I made a deal. I shut it down. You take the fall. It will all be quite secret. Quite frankly darling I sold you out."
Rim and his men push a button that open a secret door to exit the house. One of Ashley's friends surprises everyone and pulls a gun and begins shooting. Ashley wrestles with Rim and the hard drive falls to the ground. With the explosions and gunfire getting closer Rim and his men know they must exit. They rush to the exit as they hear gunfire in the hallway.
Ashley grabs the hard drive and her friends take off running. But the intruders eventually catch up with them and begin firing on them. All of Ashley's friends are killed. Ashley has been hit by gunfire. With the forces closing in on her, Ashley has only one way to escape. She must dive off the balcony overhanging the ocean and take her chances with the rocks below. She jumps and the intruders shoot wildly into the darkness of the water below.
Ashley survives the fall but she is hurt. She is bleeding badly as the current drags her out to sea. The case holding the hard drive acts as a floatation device and she clings to it. The scent of her blood attracts several sharks and she can feel fish bumping up against her. She is panicking in the water when fisherman Ben Adams rescues her from the water.
Ashley must rely on the help of Ben Adams to conceal her from the pursing hit men. Ben is an ex covert agent, but his struggles with gambling and alcohol addictions have left him living as a recluse. Ben nurses Ashley back to health and they both begin an emotional healing process.
While Ashley is healing, she looks to Ben Adam for advice. Ashley is angry at God for taking her friends and letting her get caught up in the fraudulent poker scam. She questions whether or not God is punishing her for playing poker. Her grandmother was always against her playing, but she didn’t see anything wrong. Ben helps Ashley work through forgiving God as she helps him fight through his addiction to alcohol. As Ben sobers up, he begins teaching Ashley how to shoot and fight. He puts her through some grueling training.
Ashley asks Ben to help her devise a plan to clear her name, defeat her enemies and protect her grandmother. Ashley knows she has to lure them in. Ben pulls out the computer bot chip that he retrieved from the water the night he rescued Ashley. He tells Ashley she will be opening pandora’s box if she uses it to lure them in. Together Ashley and Ben formulate a plan.
Ashley's celebrity status makes it impossible for her to hide. She knows it will only be a matter of time before she is found. Ashley knows she can't turn herself in. She will instantly be killed. She must devise a plan to defeat her enemies. It won't be easy as she is wanted by Rim Smith, ruthless hit men from the online poker sites and poker pro James Williams. She must pull of the Perfect Bluff, but in order to do that she must form an unlikely alliance with her enemies and then pit them against each other in the deadliest game her life. In the process she must protect her grandmother and friends from the ruthless powers.
When Ashley executes her plan, nothing is as it seems. The online poker sites want to keep everything covered up and destroy the hard drive. They fear that millions of players will want refunds and that their reputations will be damaged forwever. Rim Smith needs for Ashley to die and wants the hard drive back so that he can make billions more from online gamblers. Pro James Williams has other motives that may make him the most dangerous of all.
Unfortunately, the enemies have discovered that Ashley was trying to play them against each other. Her bluff has been called an all appears to be lost, but is it?
Nobody can be trusted in this double double-crossed thriller where lying, bluffing and manipulating is considered poker table virtues. Can Ashley pull off the Perfect Bluff, expose the fraud and protect her friends?
|
