 Kaiji is always thinking about money and his perpetual poverty frequently brings him to tears.Kaiji's unrelenting misery continues until he is paid an unexpected visit from a loan shark named Yūji Endō who wants to collect an outstanding debt that Kaiji has carelessly co-signed for his former co-worker.Endō gives Kaiji two options – either spend ten years repaying this outstanding debt, or board the gambling ship Espoir ("hope" in French) for one night to clear the debt.