Kaiji (manga) - Gambles

Gambles

Series 1

Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors (限定ジャンケン, Gentei Janken?)

The game featured in the gambling tournament the first night Kaiji spends on Espoir, with an average survival rate of 50%. The rules were outlined after the issuing of war funds, which were done a minimum of 1,000,000¥ and 10,000,000¥. The money was in effect a loan, equaling the debt of the contestant and compounded at 1.5% every ten minutes for the four hour voyage; contestants who hold onto their funds for the length of the trip would have to pay 140% of what they invested, thus putting an incentive to finish games early. Money that exceeded the amount needed to repay the loan to the Espoir hosts would be pocketed by the contestant.

This gamble is similar to the original game but with a twist - the hand gestures are represented by cards, and contestants are given four cards each with the same gesture for a total of twelve. Contestants are also given three plastic stars as collateral to bet on each round of play - whenever one loses a round, the winner gets a star from the loser. To survive the night, contestants must maintain their three star pendants and lose all of their gesture cards. Cards cannot be destroyed or thrown away, to do so is subject to instant disqualification.

Due to the simple nature of the game, single matches can be completed within ten seconds, and players can win or lose in a matter of minutes. Winners are allowed to go upstairs, where any extra star pendants are exchanged for cash and they lounge in a small cafe. In the event of a loss, individuals are taken to away to a back room by men in black suits.

Steel Frame Crossing (鉄骨渡り, Tekkotsu Watari?)

The gamble seen during Kaiji's competition at the Starside Hotel, consisting of two parts – Human Derby (人間競馬, Ningen Keiba?) and Electric Current Steel Frame Crossing (電流鉄骨渡り, Denryū Tekkotsu Watari?). In contrast to Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors, contestants are not briefed on the rules of the Human Derby, and are unaware of the nature of the gamble until they accept participating in it. Contestants are loaded into numbered "coffins" and are elevated several floors up the Starside Hotel to a platform overlooking a concrete courtyard. Contestants are expected to walk across four long, steel beams - the first to arrive on the other side of the beam nets 20,000,000¥, the second place finisher 10,000,000¥. The steel beams become more narrow as the contestants begin to cross them, though touching the beam with hands at any time disqualifies the contestant. The pushing of contestants to get out of the way is not condoned but is in fact encouraged, since the contestants (the "horses") are being bet on by spectators below, who enjoy the struggle to the other side. Contestants who fall from the beams suffer severe injury - depending on how and where they land, their injuries can range from serious to fatal.

Once the winners of the first leg of the race have been identified, they are given coupons redeemable for their prize with a set time limit. To cash the coupons, the contestants must cross a similar but more dangerous bridge twenty two stories above the ground. Falling from this bridge is instant death. Since the hosts concluded that the crossing of the bridge would not be entertaining if the contestants could give up and use their hands to assist in their retreat off the bridge, a mild electric current is run through the steel beams - while not powerful enough to cause serious injury or be fatal, the current is enough to stun contestants, causing them to lose balance and fall from the bridge. Psychologically, this bridge is much more challenging because of the greater peril involved.

E-Card (Ｅカード, Ī Kādo?)

As the name suggests, it is a card game. Like Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors it also has psychological strategy to it and it also uses three card types. There are three cards, the Emperor (koutei), the Citizen (shimin), and the Slave (dorei). The game is meant to be a simplification of society that Hyōdō Kazutaka refers to right before the game begins. The Emperor has ultimate power to give money (ie. most powerful card). Citizens cannot disobey him because they want money (i.e. Citizen loses to Emperor). The Slave has nothing to lose and has no use of money, therefore the slave can defeat the Emperor (i.e. The Slave loses to the Citizen card but wins over the Emperor card). The game is played with one side having four Citizen cards and an Emperor card (Emperor side). The other side having four Citizen cards and a Slave card (Slave side). Since it is much harder for the slave side to win (as Slave cards can only defeat Emperor cards) the players of the Slave side get five times more winnings. Each game is played with 12 matches each match having each player set down one card. As Kaiji had no money, he was given the choice of losing an eye or an ear.

Tissue Box Raffle (ティッシュ箱くじ引き, Tisshubako Kujibiki?)

Unlike the other gambles, this gamble is made by Kaiji himself. After completing E-Card he prepares to leave the hotel but then steps on a tissue box and notices that its sides are open, which he finds fascinating. Upon further investigation of the box Kaiji decide to challenge the Chairman to a raffle gamble with the tissue box as the container for the lots.

Series 2

Underground Chinchiro (地下チンチロリン, Chika Chinchirorin?)

A variation on the dice game, Chinchirorin, this game was crafted by Ōtsuki, one of Kaiji's fellow inmates in the underground labor camp. The notable exception to Chinchirorin is that dealer rotation moves clockwise, but each player may opt to pass their turn as dealer. More importantly however, there are no automatic wins for the dealer. If they opt to play dealer they must play as dealer two times consecutively.

Pachinko “THE BOG” (パチンコ「沼」, Pachinko Numa?)

An elaborate pachinko game in a high stakes casino featuring a payout of 100% of the earnings from the machine. Taking this into consideration the house has set up state-of-the-art countermeasures to ensure victory; such as tightening the nails to ensure only 1 in 100 balls go in, using flippers to knock away balls, and tilting the three plates. Previously only two people have ever beaten the Bog; Hyōdō and Tonegawa. When Kaiji first comes across the Bog the jackpot is 550 million yen but when he plays it the jackpot has risen to over 700 million.

Series 3

Mine Field Game “17 Steps” (地雷ゲーム「17歩」, Jirai Gēmu “17-ho”?)

A variation on Mahjong where the game is played with two players who make their best hand from a random draw of 34 tiles. Players do not draw a tile as usual, but instead take turns discarding tiles. Since a win can only be declared with a hand in conjunction with a discard, 'ron' is the only way a player may win. If neither player achieves ron after 17 turns, the game is considered a draw, the tiles are reshuffled, the current wager is doubled.