When the body of a former school chancellor is fished out of the Hudson River, Detectives Goren and Eames find out that he was a high roller on a casino boat off the New York coast. They soon zero in on Joey, a talented but arrogant young gambler who was owed $500,000 by the victim. But the police also cannot ignore the dead man's resentful brother-in-law Phil, when they discover that he not only raised Joey, but taught him poker and intentionally placed him on the ship on the fateful night.