Johnny Farrell has just arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is making a living cheating in gambling, primarily in informal street games. He begins a more stable life when, upon a chance meeting, he convinces Ballin Mundson, the violent and less-than-scrupulous owner of the local illegal casino, to hire him on the premise that it is better for Ballin to have the "enemy" on his side. Besides the casino, which the local authorities are aware of, Ballin is involved in an international illegal tungsten cartel. Johnny quickly rises to be Ballin's trusted right-hand man. Ballin surprisingly gets married to Gilda, a woman he only just met. The two have different reasons for marrying each other. Ballin can see that Johnny and Gilda mutually hate each other, but he states that hate is an exciting emotion. As Johnny tries to carry out his work for Ballin, Gilda--who continues to do what she wants, married or not--is a constant distraction for him, which gets to the point where that strong emotion of hate crosses the line.—Huggo