Kaiji agrees to play Chinchirorin with the other workers and foreman Otsuki. Kaiji spends several rounds making small wagers to get a feel for the game. Dissatisfied with the small payout, Kaiji bets big- 3,000 Perica against the timid man Miyoshi.

Kaiji loses his first bet of 3,000 Perica, but strengthens his resolve to fight. He continues to make bets of 3,000 Perica. After 40 minutes of gambling, he ups the ante and bets 5,000 Perica against foreman Otsuki and his lackey. They respond with enormous bets- each betting the house limit of 20,000 Perica.

Weeks have passed since Kaiji's crushing loss on gambling night, and he finds himself in a cycle of debt with a group of five others, including Miyoshi. The group is referred to by the other workers as the "45s". With the help of Miyoshi, Kaiji discovers that the foreman's group is cheating. Kaiji rallies the 45s together to come up with a plan.

While Kaiji is on medical duty, he meets the son of Ishida, Hiromitsu, who is also working underground for his debt, but blames his father for not bailing him out. Angrily Kaiji berates him for not accepting his own weaknesses. Later, Kaiji insults Ōtsuki who then makes life a misery for Kaiji and the Forty-fivers, but after three months they all return to full pay. Meanwhile, Kurosaki Yoshihiro, Tonegawa's replacement, observes Kaiji through CCTV. When the gambling night begins, Kaiji proposes no betting limit before he will join in and Ōtsuki accepts.

When the foreman sees that the Forty-fivers have bet all their money, he suspects that Kaiji has discovered how he is cheating. A backstory is then shown of when Ōtsuki and his men started cheating after purchasing special dice without the 1, 2 or 3 dots. Back at the game, Ōtsuki is forced to play with normal dice, taking his chances, but then suspects that Kaiji does not know how he cheats, so on the final throw he uses his special dice. Suddenly, Kaiji grabs the dice before they stop rolling.

Kaiji plays on even though it appears the chances of winning are zero. Meanwhile, Ichijō receives a request to send a live CCTV feed to the Teiai underground forced labor camp and to Hyōdō. Kaiji continues to play, even after losing ¥20 million in what seems a pointless exercise.

Kaiji plays on, but he is on the verge of defeat, having lost all his money. He convinces Endō to lend him his last ¥10 million against his better judgement, but at an exorbitant interest rate, and Kaiji returns to the machine for a final assault.

Kaiji commences to play with the last ¥10 million he borrowed from Endō for a final assault, unaware that Ichijō has tilted the machine in the same direction that Kaiji's group tilted the building, thus creating an almost insurmountable tilt on the first two plates. When half of the money is gone, Ichijō gloats to Kaiji that he can never win, but Kaiji says that he knows about the tilt. As the crowd watches, Kaiji tapes three ¥10,000 bills to the glass, hiding the three plates. In frustration, Ichijō rips them off to see a number of balls circulating on the plates because the losing holes have become clogged with balls which are unable to exit the machine. This increases Kaiji's probability of winning, however they still do not drop into the winning hole.

Even with the plates filled to the brim with silver balls, Ichijō's secret weapon, the Curtain of Wind, prevents Kaiji from winning and Kaiji has run out of money. As he is dragged away, Sakazaki appears swearing vengeance on the machine, and gives Kaiji another ¥10 million which he again 'borrowed' from the company safe. Kaiji starts playing again with renewed vigor. The bottom plate is now awash with balls, but none can pass the curtain of wind around the winning hole. The machine appears to groan, and with the plate overflowing with balls, some cascade down the winning hole. Horrified that Kaiji won, Hyōdō sentences Ichijō to 1,050 years underground.

As Ichijō is removed by the men in black, Kaiji tells him to fight his way back to the surface for a rematch. Meanwhile, Kaiji's friends cash in the balls he won for a total of over ¥729 million. Kaiji, Sakazaki and Endō settle their debts and split the remainder for almost ¥190 million each, from which Kaiji must pay back his friends in the underground labor camp.