Kaiji

Three years after moving to Tokyo, Itou Kaiji is a bum wasting his life away on cheap liquor and cheap gambles. His dull world is turned upside-down when he is paid a visit by a man named Endou, a loan shark coming to collect on a loan Kaiji once co-signed as a favor to a friend. He learns his friend defaulted on the 3 million yen loan and the responsibility now falls to Kaiji! Broke and desperate, Kaiji's one ray of hope is a unique proposition from the shady loan shark...

Boarding the ship of hope, the Espoir, Kaiji prepares to play a unique game called "Restricted Rock-Paper-Scissors." The MC, Tonegawa, explains that everyone is given twelve cards and three stars. If you can play all twelve cards and keep three stars, you may leave the ship with your debt forgiven, but fail and a fate worse than death awaits...

Kaiji, his old friend Furuhata and newcomer Andou band together to try and conquer the Espoir with the power of teamwork. Kaiji devises a strategy for victory, but when Andou makes a move on his own, will Kaiji cast him aside?

Pooling their resources, Kaiji's team begins buying up all the "Rock" cards on the floor. If things go according to plan, they could walk away with enough stars to win the game and have leftovers to sell! But have they tipped their hand too soon?

Kaiji is caught off guard when he realizes too late that another player, Kitami, has been buying "Paper" cards to counter Kaiji's "Rocks". With time running out, and Kitami about to retire from the game, can Kaiji find a way to escape defeat?

After soundly defeating Kitami, Kaiji weasels his way into getting their pool of "Paper" cards as well. Now with 30 Rocks, 34 Papers and 5 Scissors, Kaiji's team has a huge deck to draw on. But can they use it to get the stars they need to escape the ship?