[3] Fools Die starts in Las Vegas, where a group of close friends, including John Merlyn, Cully Cross, and Jordan Hawley, spend several weeks gambling at the Hotel Xanadu.

Jordan's suicide was in spite of tying a dramatic winner take all $500,000 hand of baccarat, betting against the casino's owner, Alfred Gronevelt.

Cully Cross decides to stay in Las Vegas permanently, and through his prowess as a gambler and a hustler, he has caught the eye of Alfred Gronevelt, the Xanadu Hotel owner.

Merlyn narrowly escapes any Federal charges by calling his old friend, the now mob connected casino manager Cully Cross in Las Vegas.

In the meantime, Merlyn becomes estranged from film production as he becomes aware of the subordination of writers to profit and studio drama that dominates in Hollywood.

His dear friend, Cully Cross had been involved in an elaborate money exchange scheme with a Japanese millionaire customer at the Hotel Xanadu he worked at.