Kaiji Itou is a bum who's been living in Tokyo for 3 years and gambling his life away, then one day a shady man named Endou Yuuji comes to his home asking for Takeshi Furuhata. It turns out that his friend Furuhata disappeared and left Kaiji with the debt of ¥3,850,000, which will take him 11 years to pay off. But Endou has a proposition for him; he wants Kaiji to participate in the gambling event on the Harumi Wharf.

The event that will decide the fate of Kaiji and the rest of the debtors, onboard the Espoir, is a game called "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors". Following the explanation, Kaiji is then approached by Funai (the other person who borrowed 10 million) and it turns out that he's a repeater. He wants to team up with Kaiji and Kaiji accepts, not knowing what he just gotten himself into.

Kaiji managed to win the match, 2 stars better of however the group still needs 4 more stars and only has 14 million in total and no cards. So Kaiji comes up with the plan to monopolize the bored by getting 30 Rock cards, however they are not the only ones who've thought of the strategy.

There are only 5 minutes left and only Funai is left, so Kaiji challenges him to a final match wagering 5 stars. Kaiji has the edge because he knows that either way he will be sent to the "other room" but Funai is reluctant to except this unfair wager. In the other room Kaiji pins all his hopes on being resurrected.

The event is Human Derby, a sick game which plays on ones mind and body and Kaiji must decide to push or be pushed. What will Kaiji choose to do? By the end of the Human Derby, only 21 people out of the total 60 contestants survived. Yet this is not the end of it, as there is a new deadly challenge that waits for them.

10 people including Kaiji have volunteered for the Human Derby on the final bridge, 22 stories high, which spells instant death if they fall. After deciding which order they will go in, the pathway to salvation opens but it may not take much for the monster they've all kept hidden away within themselves to awaken.

At the Starside Hotel 8 people now remain on the 74m bridge-crossing of death. Faced with imminent death, they all want to give up but Yukio Tonegawa ignores their pleas of mercy and in a mere 3 minutes only Kaiji, Sahara and Ishida remain.

With only 2 people remaining, Sahara is the first to survive the bridge-crossing of death however there is something sinister behind the window, before him. With all options out of the question, Kaiji is at a loss of what to do but he eventually finds a loophole that is potentially a path to salvation.

Now that the ticket he had from the bridge-crossing is void, Kaiji cannot leave empty handed, so the mastermind of this offers him a chance to gain up to ¥100million. The game is "E-Card" and there are 3 types of cards (Citizen, Emperor & Slave). The rules may be simple but there's a lot more to this psychological battle, especially since Kaiji will be facing Yukio Tonegawa.

The game of E-Card has just begun and Kaiji is feeling pretty confident after winning his first 2 matches. However the true psychological battle has just begun, where Kaiji struggles to figure out his opponent's mindset.

The game of E-Card that Kaiji put his hearing on the line continues into the 2nd Round and even though Kaiji has come up with a plan, it still doesn't stop him from losing the next match. Confident now that he has found a way to win, Kaiji bets 10mm for the next match but it may end up causing an upset for the rest of the game.

Onto the 9th match, this is the most crucial point for Kaiji who only has 4 more matches and 4mm till destruction. His mind is full of so many conflicting thoughts and even without the confidence in his choice he somehow managed to win to ensure his safety. Yet something feels off about the whole turn of events and through his deductive skills Kaiji realizes that they are cheating.

Kaiji has figured out Tonegawa's method of cheating and decides to use this to his advantage by recklessly wagering the maximum remaining length available (18mm). But this isn't completely reckless, since he's thought of an idea to win the 2 remaining Slave rounds.

Onto the final match of E-Card and Kaiji decides to go for another life or death gamble, as he has come up with a way to take advantage of this disadvantaged situation.

The final judgement has been met by Tonegawa, as he believes he has discerned Kaiji's plan of purposely splattering the cards with his blood but he was only being lead by Kaiji's true plan. Now all that's left is for certain formalities to be taken care of; for Kaiji to receive is money and for Tonegawa to sincerely apologize.