Danny Ocean, a master swindler, is serving time, but on this day he is approved to be released on parole. On the same day, his wife's lawyer pays him a visit, divorce papers in hand. His wife Tess has been selected to star in a show at a hotel to be built by the Las Vegas magnate Terry Benedict.
Danny is told that she feels it would be better to be separated from a man with a criminal history until she makes her debut. Worse for Danny, Tess is rumored to be Benedict's latest lover. Danny, who still loves Tess, has been enduring blow after blow, and so he concocts an ambitious scheme. After his release, he heads off to a certain destination, a town that will alter his destiny: Las Vegas.
Benedict, meanwhile, has been hiding his true self from Tess. He is rotten to the core, and he has taken control of Las Vegas through cruel and unjust means. Danny meets up with his old friend Rusty Ryan in a Las Vegas nightclub to reveal his plan with the idea of getting one over on Benedict. This involves blowing the safe at the Paradiso Hotel, which Benedict manages. The safe holds the proceeds of all of the casinos run by Benedict. In a single night, the amount can hit 150 million dollars. But the security will be a major problem, and so the cooperation of experts from a variety of fields will be essential. Danny and Rusty work quickly to bring together some of their old gang.
Reuben Tishkoff, who ran a casino that was ruined by Benedict; Frank Catton, a card dealer who was run out of Las Vegas after his grifting was exposed; Livingston Dell, an unrivaled hacker; brothers Virgil and Turk Malloy, who create virtual worlds by manipulating video images; the magician Basher Tarr; Yen the juggler; Saul Bloom, an ex-con artist of extraordinary talent. All these pros of the trade have been enticed by Danny's plan. There is also Linus Caldwell, who feels the heavy burden from the reputation of his father, a pickpocket of legendary proportions. Linus sets his mind on taking part in the plan with the aim of outdoing his father. And this is how this group of 11 people possessing such exceptional skills has come together.
So will Danny be able to outmaneuver Benedict, the ruler of Las Vegas who will stop at nothing to achieve his aims? Will Danny win back the heart of Tess, whom he still loves? This audacious challenge, the likes of which have never been seen before — to rob the proceeds of Las Vegas' biggest hotel — will finally go into action.