Casino Raiders is a 1989 Hong Kong action drama film written and directed by Jimmy Heung and Wong Jing and starring Andy Lau, Alan Tam, Idy Chan and Rosamund Kwan. It belonged to the early part of the 1989-1996 period, a period when gambling-themed films were dominating the Hong Kong movie scene. The film was followed by two sequels No Risk, No Gain and Casino Raiders II which have new storylines.
Plot
Crab Chan and Sam Law are a pair of renowned professional gamblers who are best friends. One day, a tycoon named Lung summons the two of them to his casino in Lake Tahoe to crack a scam led by a pair of Japanese gamblers, Kung and his son Taro. There, Crab and Sam also meet Koyan Tong, a rich heiress from Hong Kong who is on vacation in the United States. Koyan and Sam also develop a relationship. After the three of them return to Hong Kong, Sam is being hunted down by triads who were sent by Kung to seek revenge. Fortunately, Sam is rescued by Crab. However, this led to Crab severely injuring his left hand, which affected his gambling skills. Koyan introduces her father to Sam, who is arranged to work in his future father in-law's company. There, Sam also ruins the Kungs' plan to scheme money from his father in-law, and thus, Kung hires more killers to kill Sam, and this time, he becomes injured and hospitalized. Sam's father in-law demands him to give up gambling which Sam promised to do. At Sam and Koyan's engagement, Crab brings his girlfriend Bo Bo to congratulate the two while also finding out that Sam had decided to go straight. Sam wanted Crab to come help him in the company or lend money to start some decent business. Crab rejects these offers, citing that his English is not as good as Sam's, while in actuality, Crab did not want to give up gambling. One day, Crab goes to a casino and sees Taro, since the casino was owned by him. Taro wanted to gamble with Crab with a bet of HK$3 million, but the police unexpectedly break in. Although they were not prosecuted since Taro has thrown his stake outside, it was revealed that most of Crab's stakes were counterfeit bills and Taro felt offended. Taro retaliates by kidnapping Koyan and demands Crab to rescue her. At this time, Sam is doing business with his father in-law in Australia, so Crab temporarily abandons his plan to immigrate to Brazil with Bo Bo and goes to confront Taro. Not only did Taro insult and rape Koyan, he also shot and killed Bo Bo, who came to back up Crab before a fight between Crab and Taro's henchmen ensued. In order to rescue Koyan, Crab was forced to drink a glass of poisoned wine. While Koyan arrived home safely, Crab and Bo Bo had sacrificed their lives. After Sam returns to Hong Kong, he is determined to seek vengeance for Crab. Sam seeks help from Lung and other American casino owners. The Americans also use this as a chance to compete with the Japanese for the interests of casinos in Asia, which created heavy gang warfare. They eventually agree to hold a poker game with Taro representing Japan and Sam representing America. Koyan also brings over HK$1 billion of asset certificates to support Sam. During the intermission of the final round of the poker game, Sam is attacked by a hitman in the restroom. The injured Sam entrusts Koyan to take his place for the final bet. He tells her to bet his entire stake, and since Taro would not have a sufficient stake, he also bets his hand and foot to even it out. Koyan requests this at the gambling table and Taro agrees to it, but Koyan has to bet her hand as well to make the bet fair. During the game, Koyan's hand shows the ten of hearts, the jack of hearts, the king of hearts and the ace of hearts, while Taro's hand shows two queens and two jacks. In the end, Koyan wins with a straight flush. Taro had to keep his promise, but did not want to cut off his hand and foot, so he shot and killed his father and other audience members before being shot dead by both the Americans and Japanese. Koyan then goes to see Sam at the hospital where she overhears a conversation between Sam and the hitman that pretended to kill him. It was revealed that the attack in the bathroom was staged by Sam himself in order to have Taro agree to bet his hand and foot and expect to have the Kungs kill each other, achieving his ultimate goal of seeking vengeance for Crab. Sam also says he does not intend to let Koyan know about this secret and instead, he would conceal it forever. After hearing this, Koyan removes her engagement ring, leaves it on the floor outside Sam's room, and brokenheartedly leaves.
