Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace

The gambler Jeff Clayton wins a deed to half the ranch in a high-stakes poker pot of $5,000. The loser draws his gun and is shot, instantly ending the wager and sealing Jeff’s risky new stake.

Jeff frees Carrancho who is bound by his companions. Carrancho saves Jeff from a fatal snake strike with an expert knife throw. He helps Jeff up on his horse, but Carrancho rides off with all his money, leaving Jeff with only the deed.

Jeff discovers two dead men bound to the ground, presumably Carrancho’s former associates. He borrows a horse and continues toward a town.

In the town, the judge and sheriff leave on business. Jeff recognizes Rossen, an outlaw, who harasses a farmer family whose land he has bought.

With the deed his only stake, Jeff travels to the nearby ranch to claim his part. Helen and her brother David oppose him, and Helen drives him off with a rifle.

Back in town, Jeff tries to sell or offer the deed to Rossen, but Rossen rejects the price. Jeff then sees Helen speaking with Dundee, the lawyer.

In the saloon, Rossen's men win with a mirror trick, so Jeff stakes the deed and plays again, winning with a different hand and shattering the mirror. A fistfight erupts; one opponent is killed by a knife thrown by Carrancho and Jeff then reduces another foe by throwing him out a window while demanding his money. Carrancho, having lost all at poker, had earlier stolen money from Jeff's pot.

Rossen and his men try to coerce Helen and David to sell the ranch; Jeff and Carrancho appear, and Jeff rejects an offer to buy his deed. Rossen is acting as a front for Dundee; he sets fire to the ranch and Dundee turns Helen against Jeff by blaming him.

Carrancho breaks into the bank and witnesses Rossen murder the banker, then blame David. Jeff saves David from a lynch mob and then pretends to shoot Rossen.

Jeff recognizes Carrancho’s knife left at the bank and tracks him to a stage hold-up led by the Mexican. The gang robs passengers, but Jeff intervenes with a shot. There is a muddy fight as Jeff overtakes Carrancho; Carrancho is captured and reluctantly explains what he saw; Jeff insists they must save David.

Rossen’s ambush in the mountains uses coyote signals to mislead Jeff and Carrancho. The pair sneaks around and defeats the attackers, with the other ambushers found dead or scattered further down the pass.

The pair reach the ranch to confront Dundee’s men who were sent to look for David. In a showdown, Jeff kills Rossen; Carrancho and David shoot two ambushers. Dundee arrives with Helen at gunpoint and demands the weapons be lowered, then Carrancho throws his knife into Dundee’s chest, killing him.

The judge and sheriff arrive after the dust settles; Carrancho helps the judge down from the carriage and bids farewell to Jeff and Helen. Carrancho presents Jeff with 'his father’s watch' as a gift, signaling an uneasy peace as he rides off.