想要金钱玩乐，所以向地下钱庄借钱的青年?梶，在被追债的时候，遇见了一个神秘的男子?斑目貘自称赌徒的貘，夸下海口说要帮助梶还清欠债，於是他便带著梶闯进了地下赌场……

提起“赌博”二字，你首先想到什么？ 是麻将与扑克合奏发出的哗啦声响？是叼著雪茄戴著钻戒的富豪和一文不名的穷人？是拉斯维加斯富丽堂皇的赌场？是街边小巷一张破桌四张破椅的简陋？是上流社会一掷千金的娱乐，还是小市民输红了眼的堕落？ 赌，始终是个复杂而又邪恶的字眼。也许能换取一个光芒万丈的未来，也许要付出一生沦陷地狱的代价。 赌，自有它腐朽的一面，却也可能是小人物力争上游的救命稻草。其间所折射出的人性与残酷，俨然就是社会的缩影。 福本伸行的名作《赌博默示录》正是这样的一部作品。

After one of his coworkers fails to repay a debt, apathetic bum Kaiji Itou is pressured by loan sharks to settle the large sum of cash. Since Kaiji has little money and no future prospects of his own, he is unable to return what his colleague borrowed. Faced with massive financial burdens, Kaiji is given an offer to board the illustrious Espoir—it is said that "one night aboard the ship, and all of your debts will be paid."

What seems like a simple night of gambling quickly turns into a game of strategy and betrayal. With the losers of the tournament being subjected to a backbreaking life of indebted servitude, Kaiji must choose his actions—and allies—carefully. However, this is only the beginning of a series of gambles that will wager Kaiji's life, testing the full extent of his wits and will to survive.

Several months after the events of the first season, Kaiji, with his appendages reattached and his debt now run up to 9.5 million yen, is still desperately seeking the elusive big score that will cancel all of his markers. Unbeknownst to him, Hyodo’s company, the Teiai Corporation, is actively searching for Kaiji, and have sent Kaiji’s old “friend” Endoh, who entered him in the high stakes games in the past, to find him.

The two meet when Kaiji chances to walk in front of Endoh’s car at a stop light, and thinking that he has found the answer to his prayers, Kaiji gets in the car with him. While Kaiji and Endoh are “happy” to see one another, and both want to see Kaiji’s debt repaid, their means to that goal couldn’t be more different.

Instead of leading Kaiji to the big score, Endoh delivers him drugged and docile to the Teiai Corporation’s secret underground labor camp where Kaiji will have an opportunity to repay his debt… with 15 years of hard labor.