Air Poker was a gamble between Kakerou member Madarame Baku and leader of Ideal Vincent Lalo, along with their allies Kiruma Souichi and Fukurou respectively. The gamble was overseen by Kakerou Referees Manabe Takumi and Nowa Shion.
The Wager
- Baku offered his, Champ's, and Ryuusei's level 80 vests.
- Lalo offered Richard Arata's level 100 vest.
- The winner will therefore earn the right to play Surpassing the Leader against Souichi
The Rules
- Ante: The ante increases by one air-bios every round.
- Bet: The first bet alternates between players after each round. A bet must be done in under thirty seconds. And a raise can only go up to half of the total pot.
- Any air-bios which isn't full due to things like breathing, cannot be used anymore as an ante or a bet. The maximum bet limit is set to the balance of the player with less air-bios.
- Calamity: In the case of a "special way of losing", the loser must release the air of his air-bios, according to the same number of air-bios that he bet that round.
- The definition of who wins and loses: Any player who leaves the chair for more than ten seconds loses. The opponent will be able to use the key to free himself. After the fifth round ends, or in the case where a player cannot aford the ante anymore, the game continues until one player leaves the chair, due to having no more air-bios. In other words, until one player ends up drowning.
- Forbidden conducts: Violence, or unwillingness to give air-bios, not respecting the limited time, or not listen to the referees orders, any behavior judged to be done in order to get in the way of the game will result in an immediate loss.
Synopsis
Baku and Lalo start off with 25 air-bios each. One air-bios equates to around 5 minutes of breathing. Before the game begins, the players are each dealt 5 silver cards with seemingly random numbers written on them:
- Baku's initial hand: 25, 45, 26, 36, 39
- Lalo's initial hand: 15, 8, 47, 63, 44
The numbers' meaning are not immediately known, as the players have to figure out a certain "Law" first.
| Round | Total Bios bet | Baku's card | Lalo's card | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 36 | 15 | Both players begin by using 1 air-bios to breathe, and the initial ante is 1 air-bios.
Lalo bets 1, Baku calls and raises 2, Lalo calls and raises 4, and Baku ultimately calls, bringing the total air-bios bet to 16. Lalo wins the first round as his "15" card is superior to Baku's "36" card. The "Law" of the numbers is not yet known. Lalo's bios: 32. Breathing his 1st bios. Remaining cards: 8, 47, 63, 44. Baku's bios: 15. Breathing his 2nd bios. Remaining cards: 25, 45, 26, 39. |
| 2 | 30 | 39 | 8 | The ante is now 2 bios.
Baku bets 2 bios, Lalo calls and raises 1, Baku calls and raises 5, Lalo calls and raises 1, Baku calls and raises 4, Lalo calls. Due to Baku going all in (15 bios), Lalo is unable to raise any more. Baku wins the second round as his "39" card is superior to Lalo's "8" card. Kaji figured out the "Law" of the numbers, and gave Baku a signal. The Law of each number on the cards is revealed to be the sum of values in a poker hand. Cards cannot be reused in new hands. Lalo's 8 can either be made from 2-2-2-A-A or 2-3-A-A-A, as an Ace has already been used in the first round by Lalo's "15" card. (otherwise, A-A-A-A-4 would be possible). Therefore, Baku's "39" will always win. Lalo's bios: 16. Breathing his 2nd bios. Remaining cards: 47, 63, 44. Baku's bios: 29. Breathing his 3rd bios. Remaining cards: 25, 45, 26. |
| 3 | 10 | 45 | 47 | The ante is now 3 bios.
Before the players select their cards, Baku takes one of his cards and carves the "Law" of the numbers into the table to let Lalo know about it. This is so Lalo will think more and increase his oxygen usage. Lalo bets 2 bios, Baku calls. Both players therefore bet 5 bios. Lalo wins the third round as his "47" card is stronger than Baku's "45" card. 47 is the sum of the Royal Flush hand, the strongest hand in poker, giving Lalo an automatic win. Baku's 45 was made up of J-J-J-J-A A Calamity occurs this round. Initially, a "Calamity" is only known to occur in the case of a "special way of losing". The losing player will then have to forfeit a number of bios equal to their bet. The "special way of losing" is when both players use the same cards to build their hands. Both Lalo and Baku used a Jack and the remaining Ace. Lalo's bios: 19. Breathing his 3rd bios. Remaining cards: 63, 44. Baku's bios: 18. Breathing his 4th bios. Remaining cards: 25, 26. |
| 4 | 8 | 26 | 63 | The ante is now 4 bios.
Before the 4th round begins, it is revealed to the readers that Souichi and Fukurou are playing alongside Baku and Lalo respectively, on the upper floor of the Panopticon. Souichi and Fukurou are the ones who decide which cards will be the ones that make up Baku and Lalo's hands. Souichi and Fukurou are not told each other's numbers beforehand, nor do they know all of their allies' numbers, but they are aware of the "Law" of the numbers. The losing player on the upper floor is subjected to a simulation of dying from various causes; They will receive the pain, but not the physical damage. Baku checks, Lalo bets 4 bios, Baku folds. Lalo wins the 4th round due to Baku folding. Lalo's hand was made up of K-K-K-Q-Q. Lalo's bios: 22. Breathing his 4th bios. Remaining card: 44. Baku's bios: 13. Breathing his 5th bios. Remaining card: 25. |
| 5 | 24 | 25 | 44 | The ante is now 5 bios.
Baku begins breathing his 6th bios. Lalo bets 1 bios, Baku calls and raises 6 to go all in. Baku's "25" card was his trump card for the majority of the game due to the hand 3-4-5-6-7 straight flush being possible to create. However, due to Baku using his "26" card during the 4th round, the remaining pool of 4's had seemingly been exhausted, meaning Baku's best hand in the 5th rounds could only be 3-5-5-5-7, a three of a kind. However, before the 4th round began, Baku had figured out that Souichi and Fukurou were the ones creating the hands above them. When Baku lost 5 bios to the calamity before the 4th rounds, he banged his fists on the table out of frustration. In reality, he sent a morse code message "Hal, its 36" that could be heard from the upper floor. Despite Fukurou being able to hear the message, only Hal would be able to decrypt it as Baku's last card being 25, not 36, due to the origin of Hal's nickname. Therefore, Hal intentionally created an invalid hand in the 4th round to save the straight flush for the 5th round. Baku wins the 5th round as his "25" card is stronger than Lalo's "44" card. Lalo's bios: 10. Breathing his 4th bios. Baku's bios: 24. Breathing his 6th bios. Due to the large gap in air-bios and the 5 rounds being finished, Lalo eventually runs out of air and drowns. |
Result
- Madarame Baku won and received his, Champ's, and Ryuusei's level 80 vests and Arata's level 100 vest. This gave him the right to become Kaiser.
- Vincent Lalo lost and was subjected to death by drowning.
References
| Special Terms
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| Organizations | Ideal | Kakerou (ACIA | Referee) | Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (Private Funeral Division | |
| Gambles | Air Poker | Battleship | Coin Pushing Game | Collecting the Handkerchiefs | Contradiction Game | Dotty Game | Drop the Handkerchief | Duel for the Antidote | Encirclement of the 4 Gods | Escape the Abandoned Building Game | Hand Chopper | Hangman Game | Labyrinth Game | Machiavellist Game | Seven-card Stud Poker Game | Surpassing the Leader | Untouchable Line | |
| Key Terms | Ban | Crime cover-up system] | L-file | Karamete | KY Declaration | Man-owners | The Great Breast Mission | The Prince Bee | |
| Protoporos terms | Bios | Bitch Pain | Classes (Slave | Citizen | King | Kaiser) | Colosseum | Co-ordinator | Developers | Fortress | Grivia Island | Huger | Kingdoms (Azura | Taper | Shoudo) | Outlaw | |