Absurdly High Stakes Game: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* The entire premise of ''[[Kaiji]]'' revolves around this. Over the course of the show the main character bets his freedom, his life, and various body parts, in order to win money. [[Media:Kaiji-25.jpg|These fingers]] are being bet on a game of {{spoiler|drawing lots from a tissue box!}}
* In the final story arc for the anime ''[[Akagi]]'', the hero plays an unusual version of [[Mahjong]] that uses clear tiles and where he bets his own blood instead of money.
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** During the Duelist Kingdom tournament, Yugi made up for a deficit in Star Chips by betting his life. He did this ''twice''. Panik even alluded to the idea that [[Serious Business|he considered Yugi's life to be worth only 1 Star Chip.]]
** In the Battle City arc, every duel initiated by the [[Big Bad]] was on pain of death or maiming.
** The [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids!]] dub of the anime ends almost every card game with the loser going to [[Never Say "Die"|The Shadow Realm]] instead, which... [[What Do You Mean It's for Kids?|isn't much better thinking on it]]. Even one-time characters like Panik threatened things such as a flamer-thrower blast to the face.
* In one episode of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', Jin sees a man playing shogi against himself, and comments on the best strategy for the next move. The man then offers to play Jin - if Jin wins, he gets a large pouch of gold; if he loses, the man wins his life. (The phrasing is ambiguous as to whether that means slavery or immediate death.) [[Perpetual Poverty|Since he needs the money]], Jin accepts.
* ''[[The Legend of Koizumi]]'' stakes natural resources, a fleet of F-15s, lives, and the fate of nations on [[Mahjong]].
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* [[Badass|Kenshiro]] enters into an arm-wrestling contest in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' that cuts the loser's arm off with a table saw. Though Kenshiro wins, he [[Take a Third Option|takes a third option]] by not cutting off the [[Mook]]'s arm... just snapping it in half.
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', the Davy Back Fights is a game consisting of various athletic events where pirates actually wager members of their crews. Foxy (the antagonist of the arc where this is introduced) has won these games 920 times, gaining an enormous crew of just under 500 as a result, but they tend to cheat at them a ''lot'' - even more so in the anime's [[Adaptation Expansion]].
* In episode 7 of ''[[Bakuon!!]]'', when the principal sees that Raimu's odds in the motorcycle race are 11-to-1, she immediately slams down a 3,000,000-yen bet (roughly $30,000).
{{quote|"Oh, look, I had some loose change in my pocket."}}
* ''[[Debby the Corsifa is Emulous]]''; the protagonist is your standard demon queen succubus who wants to enslave mortal souls and drag them to Hell, and claims to be unmatched among demons. Thus, she comes to the mortal world, encounters a youth named [[Guile Hero| Sugo Rokurou]], and demands a game (he picks the venue), saying she will kill him if he loses. Unfortunately for Debbie, she is unkilled or unlucky (or both) at any game that does not involve actual combat. The first time, Rokuro chose [[Old Maid]], and Debbie forgot that her second pair of eyes gave away her game face. After losing three times, she was [[Dragged Off to Hell]], but being a [[Sore Loser]] she comes back every chapter, only to lose at ''[[The Game of Life]]'', volleyball, ''[[Go]]''... pretty much anything Rokuro chooses, and is humiliated each time.
== Comic Books ==
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* Batman in the Silver age once played Russian Roulette to catch a criminal. The criminal had been playing with millionaires in the area, and the two participants each had to write out a will that left everything to the winner of the game. The gun had an extra safety catch so the criminal never lost. Batman discovered this with the aid of a mirror and won.
== Fan Works ==
* The government in ''[[Decks Fall,
▲* The government in ''[[Decks Fall, Everyone Dies|Decks Fall Everyone Dies]]'' is based around dice games. The characters plan a coup d'état to bring back the old card-based government.
== Film ==
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* In ''[[In Time]]'', people can literally gamble away portions of their lifespan. Also, people who lose arm wrestling matches will automatically drop dead.
* In the 2008 movie ''The Controller'', a businessman's wife is kidnapped, and her captors order him to play and win at a video game with her life forfeit if he loses. The problem is that he's never played a video game in his life.
== Literature ==
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Retief shook his head. "Flith lost," he said.}}
▲== Live Action TV ==
* In season 5 of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', the boys come across a traveling gambler that plays for years of peoples lives instead of money.
** It should be noted that the witch doesn't cheat. He has simply gotten that good over the centuries. In fact, he will sometimes feel pity for his opponent and intentionally fold a good hand, as was in the case of an old man just wanting a few more years to see his grandkids grow up.
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** When our heroine joins the game, she is dealt a deck of cards... and a white rabbit.
** The game ends when a player builds a five-foot-tall house of cards with his hand, but is caught with a glue stick.
== Music ==
* "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
== Tabletop Games ==
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* The first set in the Star Trek CCG had a card called Raise the Stakes. The opponent of the player either had to forfeit or agree that the eventual winner would permanently get a card from the loser's deck. It was the first card banned from tournament play.
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' had an Ante rule, whereby after shuffling but before drawing hands, the first card in each player's deck would become an Ante card. The winner of the game gets both cards. Adding to this, [http://magiccards.info/query?q=o%3Anot+o%3Aplaying+o%3Afor+o%3Aante&v=card&s=cname a few cards] manipulated the ante. This was eventually dropped, since 1) nobody wanted to risk losing their cards and 2) Wizards didn't want ''Magic'' to be classified as a form of gambling in markets where such things would be frowned upon.
== Theatre ==
* ''[[Guys and Dolls]]''{{'}}s Sky Masterson got his name from his love for this trope. He's infamous for his "crazy" bets, and in the climax of the show ([[Crowning Music of Awesome|"Luck Be]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|A Lady"]]), bets every man at the craps game $1,000 against their souls - if he wins, they have to show up at the Save-a-Soul Mission.
== Video Games ==
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* The slots-o-death machine in [[Space Quest]]. You can win a relatively paltry sum, but roll three skulls and you are toast. The only way for Roger to earn enough cash for a ticket out of Ulence Flats is by [[Save Scumming]] or (in the remake) a magnet on the bottom of the machine.
* ''Return to Zork'' has a board game called "Survivor" with really simple rules: One player controls the Wizard and the other a common peasant. The peasant can move wherever he wants, the Wizard can only move in L-formations and leaves pits when he vacates a space. The goal of the game is for the other player to be forced to move into a pit (and thus lose). You play this game twice, and the second time is ''the final boss of the game,'' with the fate of all Zork riding on the outcome.
* The very first appearance of Rottytops in ''[[Shantae]]'' has the heroine challenged to what seems to be this type of wager. Rotty challenges Shantae to a race; if Shantae wins, she'll unlock the dungeon where the Shimmerstone is located. If Rotty wins, she gets to eat Shantae's brain. However, if you lose the race [[That One Level|(and you likely will, at least once)]] Rottytops is willing to give Shantae a second chance, or even as many as she needs. And as fans of the series knows, this will be [[Running Gag|far from the last time]] Rotty makes jokes about wanting to eat Shantae but never going through with it.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Last Res0rt]]'' pits several contestants against each other, and heavily encouraged to kill each other off in other to ensure their own survival until the end... most of the players are hardened criminals eager to use the show as a way to get out, but not all.
** [[Word of God]] has stated that the contestants are NOT required to kill anyone during the show. But, the stakes up for grabs are either death, going back to jail or freedom with a full pardon. The producers are waiting for the contestants to take advantage of the payoff of a full pardon of all their crimes.
* ''[[Collar 6]]'' -- Sixx makes a bet to {{spoiler|become a slave if she doesn't win a spanking contest}}.
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', whenever you play Sburb, your planet and entire species are ''the initial wage'', the quarter in the arcade cabinet, to be lost forever whether you win or lose. The prize is {{spoiler|creating a whole new universe}}.
== Western Animation ==
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** In "Slam Dunk", Mordecai eventually bets his computer privileges for life on a basketball game just so he can help Margaret make a website in hopes of impressing her.
* In the ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' episode "The Duelist and the Drifter," [[Professional Gambler]] and [[Master Swordsman]] the Duelist makes a habit of [[The Bet|betting]] swordsmen they can't defeat him and offering up his own best blade as incentive, taking theirs as trophies when they inevitably lose. When young hero Lion-O [[Throwing Down the Gauntlet|challenges]] him and tries to raise the stakes so he can win the Duelist's entire sword collection, the Duelist insists that since Lion-O has only ''one'' to offer in return, the boy should agree to give up his ''life'' if he loses. Lion-O agrees to the terms.
== Real Life ==
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