Gambling anime characters are universally admired for their ability to bluff and make their way to win, often by taking risks that others would seem unwise. It’s like a rush of adrenaline when our favorite characters pull off an unexpected victory or when playing Love casino review.
But other gambling anime series are really off the rails, with lots of illegal gambling, people’s lives on the line, massive amounts of debt, bizarre personalities, and horrific scenes.
Also, some beginning-level anime series have a more comedic tone, with a contest where money or pride is at stake, and the objective is to emerge victorious. Thus, in this blog, we will explore 20 excellent gambling-themed anime series with poker and casino context!
20 Best Gambling Anime Series Of All Time
20. Hikaru no Go
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 75
- Watch: Netflix, Crunchyroll
Hikaru no Go is a gambling-themed anime series with a compelling plot supported by a spirit-based character. The protagonist, Hikaru Shindo discovers a “Go board” possessed by the ghost of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a Go player who lived during the Heian period.
After meeting with the renowned Go player, Honinbo Shusaku, Sai’s interest in Go has been revived for the first time and now he wants to learn The divine move, “The Kami no Itte“.
However, as Hikaru is the only one to see him, Sai has to live inside Hikaru as a kind of parallel personality, which is very difficult and sometimes seems impossible to keep living in his body.
19. Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
- Season: 02
- Episodes: 26
- Watch: Netflix, Crunchyroll
Kaiji is perhaps the best gambling anime series that has ever been produced anywhere in the world as the twist in the anime plot is mind-blowing and cannot be found in any other series!
The story follows a man named Kaiji and his struggles to survive in a terrible world. What makes the story more intriguing is when Kaiji boards a mysterious ship, and his high-stakes gaming lifestyle changes like never before.
Because here, every game will force Kaiji to stake his own life, revealing the true nature of gambling to him. One wrong move will make him lose his very life!
18. Legendary Gambler Tetsuya
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 20
- Watch: Crunchyroll
Even though it first aired in October 2000, Legendary Gambler Tetsuya is widely considered to be the finest of its kind.
The anime features the story of people in Shinjuku who have taken to gambling as a means of survival in times of suffering when they have no other way to make money after the war.
Similarly, Tetsuya, the protagonist, frequently visits Mahjong places, where he routinely comes out on top until he meets the highly skilled Bou Shu-san, and understands he has a long way to go.
17. One Outs
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 25
- Watch: Netflix
“One outs” is also known as Toua Tokuchi, a baseball and gambling anime series prodigy with the main character, Tokuchi.
Tokuchi is well-known for his 499-win streak in the game “One Outs,” which pits a pitcher against a hitter in a battle of wits and skill. However, despite his extraordinary skills, Tokuchi considers sports nothing more than a means to an end (making money).
However, when Hiromichi Kojima, a legendary batter, sees Tokuchi’s pitch, he realizes that he may be the player he has been looking for. So, to win Tokuchi’s heart, Kojima wins against him and offers him the invitation to join their club.
16. Legend of Koizumi
- Season: 01 (Movie)
- Episodes: 01
- Watch: 9anime
Legend of Koizumi is a comedic anime that primarily makes fun of world politics by focusing on The Pope, George Bush, and the Japanese Prime Minister playing Mahjong.
However, in the world of this anime, every political leader in the world is a master of Mahjong, and all political issues are settled through the game.
Moreover, there are no offending scenes, but just the world leaders trying to work out their differences through a friendly game of Mahjong.
15. Joker Game
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 12
- Watch: Crunchyroll
Although gambling does not play a major role in Joker Game, the episodes that focus on it are some of the best and most memorable in the series.
The anime shows World War II as the next real possibility soon and thus, to infiltrate and obtain intelligence from neighboring nations, Colonel Yuuki develops the D-Agency.
What makes the agency top class is eight specially trained “monsters” prepared to do anything they are ordered to!
14. Alice in Borderland
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 02
- Watch: Anime Planet
Alice in Borderland is a no-where-to-find anime series with a captivating story like the Squid Games.
The minigames in Alice in Borderland push the players to make choices that might have fatal consequences, creating a tense environment that enhances the overall story.
The thrills and chills of this great survival series more than makeup for the fact that it’s only an OVA anime and not a full-length feature.
13. One Piece Film: Gold
- Season: 01 (Movie)
- Episodes: 01
- Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
When it comes to action anime, the name “One Piece” requires no introduction. So, let’s go into the actual plot of the movie.
The movie, One Piece Film: Gold involves the Straw Hat Pirates visiting Gild Tesoro’s Gran Tesoro, a floating metropolis full of casinos and nightlife.
The concierge Baccarat treats the Straw Hats like VIPs because of their notoriety, and the group uses this opportunity to their advantage by going to a casino and winning a fortune. But as usual, for Straw Hats, things never end without an exchange of fists.
Related Read: All One Piece Characters We’ve Met In The Anime So Far
12. Saki
- Season: 02
- Episodes: 25
- Watch: Crunchyroll
The anime reflects the story of first-year high school student Saki Miyanaga who despises mahjong and everything associated with it because of traumatic events in her childhood.
Although she still plays the game but prefers not to be the center of attention. However, when Kyoutarou Suga, a friend of Saki, eventually convinces her to join the school’s mahjong club, she is caught by the Club president Hisa Takei, through her peculiar playing style.
Aware of her potential, she decides to put Saki’s true skills to the test, ultimately revealing that Saki is more skilled than was previously believed.
11. Selector Infected WIXOSS
- Season: 02
- Episodes: 24
- Watch: Amazon Prime
WIXOSS is a widely played card game that brings together individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and professions. However, there is a variant of the game where girls called “Selectors” compete for the chance to have their most sinister desires granted.
One of the few people that doesn’t want that is Ruuko Kominato. Does she have the will to fight? The stakes are incredibly high, with death resulting from a loss for the Selectors.
Moreover, it’s not simple to find someone you can trust because the game is full of treachery and betrayal—even your own avatar card might mislead and turn against you.
10. Mardock Scramble
- Season: 03 (Movie)
- Episodes: 03 Movies
- Watch: Just Watch
Located in Mardock City, Rune Balot is a young adult who makes her living as a prostitute until the day when an ambitious casino manager named Shell picks her up and showers her with lavish gifts.
Thanks to Shell, Balot has a newfound appreciation for the false innocence, false past, and false life she has been granted. She can’t help but wonder why he’s been so helpful to her and looks into his background online.
Ultimately, this turns out to be a disastrous misstep that will drastically alter the course of her life. And the Eggnog Blue Casino, which serves as Shell’s hideout throughout the latter half of the second film and the entirety of the third film, plays a significant role in the series.
09. Rio: Rainbow Gate!
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 14
- Watch: Amazon Prime
Here is the famous casino-theme gambling anime. People from all over the world come to the “Howard Resort Hotel” to have a good time and make a lot of money. Rio Rollins, a stunning female dealer known as the “Goddess of Victory,” works in the casino.
She fights to amass the famous playing cards known as “gates” so she can be closer to her mother, one of history’s greatest dealers. Those that collect the entire set of 13 gate cards are recognized as the “Most Valuable Casino Dealers” (MVCDs).
The action, which takes place in a massive resort, quickly escalates into a war between rival dealers. Everyone will be rooting for you and saying “Leave it to Rio!” which means that Lady Luck must be on your side.
08. Touhai Densetsu Akagi
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 26
- Watch: Crunchyroll
Akagi, the protagonist of the famous gambling series is a 13 years old boy who runs away from the police and hides in a mah-jong gambling parlor operated by the yakuza.
Soon after starting to play, he quickly outplays everyone else and enters the list of urban legends. The story twists when he returns to the mah-jong gaming scene after an absence of six years, where he faces off against the fearsome yakuza, the Japanese mafia, both within and outside of Japan.
Related Read: Best Anime About Mafia in 2023
07. C: The Money Of Soul And Possibility Control
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 11
- Watch: Crunchyroll
In the series, an economics major Kimimaro Yoga (protagonist) is dragged kicking and screaming into the brutal realities of the East Financial District, where money is everything and the lives of people don’t matter any much.
In Eastern Financial District, players with the “Entre” moniker are made to compete in weekly tournaments for huge cash prizes with their future at stake. A single loss will just end your life! That’s what’s gambling about it!
Although it is just an 11-episode anime, fans loved how the characters banded together in the face of danger.
06. No Game No Life
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 12
- Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix
No Game No Life is a gaming-themed gambling anime where the two Step-siblings and the main characters of the series, are the rulers of many video games under the nickname “Blank.”
Despite their notoriety online, the two see the world and their lives as nothing more than meaningless games.
However, after replying to a message from an anonymous user, Sora and Shiro find themselves transported to a fantastical world where games are used to resolve even international disputes.
05. Btooom
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 12
- Watch: Netflix
The protagonist, Ryouta Sakamoto, is a homebody who lives with his mother and has little prospects in life other than his status as Japan’s best player of the massively popular online video game Btooom!
But his tranquil existence is about to be shattered when he wakes up on a deserted island with a little green crystal buried in his left hand and no recollection of how he got there.
He can’t believe someone would try to make a real-world version of the game he loves to play with the stakes literally being life or death.
04. Danganronpa: The Animation
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 13
- Watch: Crunchyroll
Danganronpa is mystery-filled gambling anime that features the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy, a school of the most brightest students with a total of 16 students enrolled, and are known for monikers such as “Ultimate Swimmer” and “Ultimate Gambler.”
However, Makoto Naegi, the protagonist, is not particularly skilled, but he does have a fitting title given his good odds.
A humanoid bear acts as their teacher, locking the students in the building until one of them kills another and escapes unnoticed. This continues until just one player remains, and if the next killer is caught, he will be put to death.
03. Stardust Crusaders (D’Arby The Gambler Story Arc)
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 02 (34 and 35)
- Watch: Netflix
Another legendary anime to make the cut is Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures. In this arc, Jotaro plays poker against the mysterious D’Arby to reclaim the soul of Joseph and avenge everyone who has ever lost to D’Arby.
Like all Jojo stories, this one features a crazy plot with nearly impossible stakes. Unlike other MCs, Jojo manages to keep fans on the edge of their seat in its own unique way.
In the series, the odds are that D’Arby will succeed in his plan to steal everyone’s souls, but Jotaro still has a few aces up his sleeve.
02. Kakegurui
- Season: 02
- Episodes: 24
- Watch: Netflix
The Japanese manga and anime Kakegurui (or Kakeguri) follows Yumeko Jabami, the protagonist who, as a member of a prominent family, was accepted to the elite Hyakkaou Private Academy.
In Hyakkaou Private Academy, the success or failure of each student is ultimately tied to their ability to gamble. Further, the gambling habits of students are supported by mandatory contributions to the Student Council.
When compared to life in the real world, gambling anime characters do not have access to any promotions that would ease the burden of their Student Council contribution.
01. Death Parade
- Season: 01
- Episodes: 12
- Watch: Netflix, Crunchyroll
Many people believe that when they die, they will go to either Heaven or Hell. Some people, however, end themselves at Quindecim, a bar that only those who pass away in pairs can enter.
Death Parade shows a mysterious character known only as Decim who appears at the after-life bar and passes judgment by way of a potentially fatal game to the ones who end up in the Quindecim.
From darts to bowling and fighting games, players reveal more about themselves as they risk their hearts and minds. And the winner of these games will be reincarnated into a new life or cast into the void, never to be seen again.
Conclusion
Now that’s the cool gambling anime list with the twist of mystery, action, horror, and many exciting elements. To get more into the anime world, check out 30 Best Anime With Overpowered MCs.
