It is 1932 and a money runner is carrying the week's take -- $11,000 -- from an illegal gambling outfit in Joliet, Illinois, to the main office. On the way, three men con him out of the take. Mob boss Doyle Lonnegan discovers who pulled the job, and exacts revenge by having one of the con men, Luther Coleman thrown from a window. Lonnegan also orders a hit on Luther's partner, Johnny Hooker. To escape Lonnegan's wrath, Hooker goes to Chicago, to meet an old friend of Luther's, Henry Gondorff. To avenge Luther's death, they set up an elaborate plan -- a "long con"--To swindle an enormous sum out of Lonnegan so neatly that he won't even realize he's been conned.