Joe Slattermill's dreary home life has driven him to a tipping point. His mother and wife don't seem to be pleased with his presence anymore, and his own dog even ignores him. He leaves home in seek of pleasure in the form of another woman, a drink, and possibly some gambling. As he wanders though, he finds himself at The Boneyard, a new gambling spot, ready to put his dice-rolling gift to work. He soon realizes though, things are askew here.

Joe finds himself surrounded by a slew of mysterious characters. One character in particular, the Big Gambler, has a certain air of danger, mystery, and beautiful women around him. Dark eyed and draped in a large black silk coat, the Big Gambler clearly holds rank in The Boneyard. Joe, calculating his dice tosses ever so precisely wins a pleasing amount of money and pulls out of the game in an effort to watch the Big Gambler work. As the game progresses, Joe watches the Big Gambler take money from the entire table with the most mediocre of dice rolls. Fed up, Joe challenges the Big Gambler head to head.

As the two competitors face off, the surroundings increase in mystery. The women snarl, the Big Gambler's complexion darkens, and the crowd is silenced by his silver revolver. After Joe's first roll against his opponent, he realizes he is facing off with a skeleton, presumably the grim reaper. His soulless empty eye sockets gaze upon Joe's dice forcing him to crap out. Having lost all of his money, Joe is presented with one last chance to redeem himself. With all of the night's winnings on the line, he must gamble his own life. Rolling snake eyes, he must now choose his fate. Death by poison, knife, gun, and the "Big Dive" all arise as options. Choosing the latter, a leap into the center of the Earth, Joe instead leaps at the Big Gambler, shattering his bones, reaching for some of the winnings and fleeing the scene. The entire audience at The Boneyard riots and chases after him, but their ghostlike strength can't keep up, and Joe narrowly escapes with his life.