When Frank Dixon, a frustrated novelist, decides to dabble in online poker, he discovers a lucrative stream of income and the esteem, wealth, excitement and even love that his normal life lacks. Frank takes the name of "Chip Zero" and makes a new set of friends, all of whom are caught up in the freedom of their cyber existence. But something bad and very surprising will happen when Frank finds these friends are flesh and blood and when he mixes the fantasies of his brave new world with the reality of his own day-to-day existence.