Kaiji Itou is a good-for-nothing drifter who spends his days drinking beer and stealing hubcaps—until he gets tricked by his former co-worker. Unable to suddenly repay his friend's massive debt on his own, Kaiji is offered a shady deal to take part in an illegal underground gamble on a cruise ship. This turns out to be just the beginning of his new life of torment—plunged headfirst into a life-threatening roller coaster of mind games, cheating, and deceit.
