Casino
The Casino is a recurring mini-game in the Dragon Quest series. Casinos appear in all Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest games beginning with Dragon Quest III. While gambling in the Dragon Quest series began in Dragon Quest II, where merchants would give out lottery tickets for use similar to a slot machine, the full blown casino had its debut in Dragon Quest IV.
Description
The Casino is a gambling hall, usually underground, where the player can use their gold coins to purchase casino coins, or tokens, which can then be wagered on various games of chance. The only reward for doing well in these games is more tokens, but after accruing large amounts of them, the player can cash them in for various special items, many of which cannot be obtained anywhere else and are the most powerful in the game. Simply buying enough tokens to purchase the desired items would be insanely expensive, basically necessitating high performance on the casino floor if one wishes to obtain the best prizes. Of course, all games are set in favor of the player losing, so many devise special tricks to increase their odds. Tokens cannot be exchanged for gold.
The Casino is known for its "mascots", the energetic, bunny-eared young women who promote the location and do the more secretarial work.
Dragon Quest IX was the first main series game since Dragon Quest to not include a form of gambling.
Games
Slot machine
Insert 1, 2, or 3 tokens for a chance to earn multiples of that amount with each spin. The input to return on these machines are very small. This game is the least likely to give the player a high return.
Poker
This game is played just like video poker (Jokers Wild video poker to be exact). The player is first dealt five cards. Then the player decides which cards to hold and which to draw. After the draw (if any) the player receives a payout for the following winning hands. Unlike real-life Jokers Wild video poker, the minimum pay out is two pair or better as opposed to pair of Kings or better. Also, any kind of Royal Flush will win the jackpot; in real video poker you must have a "natural" (no wild cards) Royal Flush for the jackpot.
Poker Hands
| Poker Hand | Requirements | Odds | Payout |
| Two Pair | Having two pairs of the same cards (e.g. Pair of 2s and Pair of 3s) | 15 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | Having three of the same card (e.g Three 4s) | 36 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
| Straight | Having cards in successive order in any suit (e.g 5c, 6d, 7h, 8s, 9c) | 237 to 1 | 2 to 1 |
| Flush | Having any cards in the same suit (e.g. 2s, 3s, 5s, 8s, Ks) | 468 to 1 | 4 to 1 |
| Full House | Having three of a kind and a pair in the same hand (e.g. Three 10s and Two Jacks) | 614 to 1 | 10 to 1 |
| Four of a Kind | Having four of the same card (e.g. Four Queens) | 4004 to 1 | 20 to 1 |
| Five of a Kind | Having four of the same card plus the joker | 22,101 to 1 | 50 to 1 |
| Straight Flush | Having a straight in the same suit (e.g. 5 to 9 in spades) | 71,839 to 1 | 100 to 1 |
| Royal Flush | Having a straight flush with the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace | 649,020 to 1 | 200 to 1 |
| Slime Flush | Having a royal flush in in the slime suit | 1,296,600 to 1 | 500 to 1 |
Note: Because of the addition of the Joker that can become the highest card the player needs, the odds are slightly lower than in regular poker.
- Double or Nothing: After winning the hand, the dealer will allow the player to go double or nothing, betting their winnings on the chance to double their winnings or lose everything. The game consist of guessing whether or not a given card is higher or lower than the face-up card. Guessing correctly will double the winnings. Guessing incorrectly ends the game and the player leaves with nothing. If the card is the same, it is a draw and the player gets another chance to guess high or low.
- This game is played with a deck of 53 cards, including a Joker. The Joker is the highest and the four 2s are the lowest. Statistically, if the base card is a 2, 3, or 4, the next card will be higher. Conversely, if the base card is an Ace, King or Queen, the next card will be lower. Should the Joker appear always pick lower. If the player understands statistics and has some luck, that player can rack up thousands of tokens.
Monster Arena
The Monster Arena has the player bet on one monster out of a pool of 3-5 that will then battle each other. The odds are listed before the match and affect the payout, but not necessarily its outcome. Once the match begins, the battle is actually performed as it might happen on the field, opening up the possibility of misses and other events, such as the effects of particular moves. The player is initially limited to a bet of only 50 tokens at once, but can earn up to 10,000 tokens in a single round if he continues to bet his winnings from previous rounds.
Lucky Panel
Introduced in Dragon Quest VII, the lucky panel is a matching game that allows the player to win items along with the usual tokens. The game starts with the player revealing six cards. Doing so gives the player some knowledge of what is under that card. If the player matches a pair of cards before the game actually begins, they stay flipped. After the six cards are revealed, the player is given three chances to match all the cards. If the player can do so within the chances allotted, they win all three prizes in the game. There are 12 cards in the game.
- Two Astrological Aquarius signs
- Two Astrological Cancer signs
- Two Astrological Scorpio signs
- Two Astrological Sagittarius signs
- Two Cursive V cards
- Six prize cards, two for each prize
- Shuffle All Cards
- One Bonus Turn.
The player should avoid the Shuffle All Cards card. Flipping it will usually result in the player losing this game. The player should aim for the One Bonus Turn card as it will help the player win this game.
Bingo
Introduced in Dragon Quest VIII, Bingo gives the player a bingo board with 24 set values plus a free space in the center. A machine randomly picks 10 numbers. Should the numbers form a five number line vertically, horizontally or diagonally, the player wins. The payout is higher the less numbers used to make Bingo.
Roulette
Introduced in Dragon Quest VIII, Roulette is equivalent to its real life counterpart. A player puts a bet on a number in the hopes that a ball spinning on the roulette wheel lands on that particular number. They can also bet on the color, row, column, section, or corners. However, the payout becomes higher the less likely the odds are of the ball landing on a particular number.
Appearances
Dragon Quest III
There are monster fight rings in Romaria, Isis, Manoza and Mercado. The hero is limited to placing bets to win gold. No special prizes are available.
Dragon Quest IV
The casino is located in the castle town of Endor in the basement of the inn. It has a monster battle arena, slot machines, and a poker table. In Chapter 2, Alena and her entourage can play at the casino while they are in town for the Endor Tournament. In Chapter 3, Torneko meets Ragnar there and learns from him that the casino was closed for renovations, and doesn't reopen until near the end of the chapter. In Chapter 5, the hero discovers that Maya had blown all of her and Meena's money.
In the remakes, a second casino opens once the Immigrant Town is fully developed. It offers a different set of prizes than the Endor casino, but does not have a Monster Arena.
Endor Casino Prizes (NES Version)
|
Endor Casino Prizes (Nintendo DS Version)
|
Pioneer Casino Prizes
|
After crossing the Trans-Montane Tunnel, The Hero receives a congratulations for crossing the tunnel for the 1,000th time (the number of times to cross varies). As a reward, The Hero receives 2,000 casino tokens. In the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo DS Version, the number of tokens awarded is 100.
The Hero will also receive 250,000 if 'The Big Book of Beasts' is filled out with all of the enemies encountered.
Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest V has a casino in Fortuna, in a highly decorated building at the center of town. It was the first casino to feature a slime race track.
In the DS remake, a second casino is at the Ventuno Casino Ship ship near Pontoon. Aside from various games, both casinos also feature a T'n'T board in the lower level.
| Prize | Tokens | Information |
| Elfin elixir | 300 | Recovers all MP on use. |
| Yggdrasil Leaf | 1,000 | Revives one fallen ally. |
| Kamikazee bracer | 5,000 | Casts Kamikazee if the wearer is defeated. |
| Falcon knife earrings | 10,000 | 35 attack, attacks twice per round. Can only be equipped by female humans or slime companions. |
| Metal king sword | 50,000 | 130 attack |
| Gringham whip | 250,000 | 100 attack, hits all enemies. |
| Staff of resurrection | 45,000 | 66 attack, casts Zing on use. |
| Prizes are available at both Fortuna & Ventuna casinos | ||
Dragon Quest VI
The game has three casinos, each with different prizes. They're found in:
- Port Haven - Stairway north of the port house.
- Turnscote - Center of the town.
- Greedmore Valley - Downstairs in the valley Inn.
Port Haven
|
Turnscote
|
Greedmore Valley
|
Dragon Quest VII
Pilgrim's Rest
Regular prizes
|
Lucky Panel prizes
|
Dragon Quest VIII
Dragon Quest VIII has casinos in both Baccarat and Pickham; the first one the player can access is in Pickham.
The casino in Baccarat has slot machines, roulette wheels, and a bingo machine operated by a healslime.
|
Pickham Casino Prizes
|
Baccarat Casino Prizes
|
See also
References
 This page uses CC BY-SA-licensed content from FANDOM.
|
Gallery
Famicom art of a casino token
Casino on a manga cover
