Usogui - Vol. 40 Ch. 434 - The Straying Resolution

[MangaDex]

 

[Clooud]

Kaiji what do you seeeeeeeeee

 

[Veshv]

Kaji's giving Baku motivation! What a long way he's come from the start of the manga.

I like the touch of the onlookers guessing all sorts of random things, but Nowa and Yakou being fully silent. I can't help but think the two of them also managed to figure out what the cards represent.

 

[MYW]

I always suspected, but now it's clear that I am dumber than kaji by a fair bit

 

[JoebRogers]

Loving Kaji's growth and character arc from the beginning of the series

 

[Metronome67]

Used cards : Ace of spade, 2 of spade, 3 of spade, 4 of spade, 5 of spade, 8 of spade, 8 of hearts, 8 of clubs, 8 of diamonds, 4 of clubs?

Thanks for the batch 👍

Spoiler

Best possible set for 8 = 2 of clubs, 2 of hearts, 2 of diamonds, Ace of clubs, Ace of hearts (full house of 2)

Best possible set for 39 = 9 of spade, 9 of hearts, 9 of clubs, 9 of diamonds, 3 of hearts(4 of a kind - 9)

Baku wins this round, If Lalo really understand the "law" he will fold this round.

Frequently using the number close in range will risk a "Calamity". Cards that have been deprecated Aces, 2s, 8s, 9s. Possible future calamities :
Lalo's card : 15(1st round), 8(2nd round), 47, 63, 44
Baku's card : 25, 45, 26, 36(1st round), 39(2nd round). Its still safe for the next round I guess.

 

[Doomroar]

I will stick with my theory, Baku will win this round if 39 approaches one of the 4 possible numbers that could come as a result of earning or losing bios for each player once they are finished with their bets.

 

[pedantiq]

My boy is finally useful.

 

[belkrax]

Awesome Kaiji, this is great support. Lol and Midara and Douji acting like they know shit.

 

[KeepTheFeather]

Im guessing kaji got it because of the line "competing with a set of 5 cards is how poker should be played, right?" And based off that, he puts his open hand on the tank, all 5 fingers as a hint to baku

 

[Elhao]

While I am getting discouraged with it (because why would Kaji be a master chemist) it is funny that my "periodic table" solution from last chapter would still hold up with this round's result:
8=oxygen
39=yttrium => higher density => Baku wins

@Metronome67
I'd say your solution is quite likely to be correct but wouldn't there very easily have been a problem with the "extreme cards" 8 and 63 since there are few combinations that can form them?
63 especially can only be formed by a full house of 3 kings and 2 queens or 4 kings and 1 jack (assuming aces are only represented by 1 and not also 14, depending on which role they take) so if Lalo chose 63 late in the game there might not even be a way to reach the number anymore. Would that be a loss by default? Seems weird.

 

[Veshv]

@Elhao
About that, there's a possible explanation.

Spoiler

That could be what actually triggers the calamity condition. If all 3 of the 40- range cards get played, the 63 becomes impossible to build a hand with, so as a penalty for using impossible cards, the calamity is forced. I think it might end up forced with the 47 and 45 alone, but I can't tell off the top of my head.

 

[299792458]

Thank you for the batch as always. See you in 7 days? Stay safe.

 

[Metronome67]

@Elhao

Spoiler

I think It's in line with the "nightmare" the referee is trying to explain because when you realize the "law" then you will understand that there will eventually be cards that you can't use. No matter how safe you play your limited cards eventually the players will be forced to play a "Calamity". So the important part of the game will be on how to force your opponent hand to a "Calamity".

Just like any gamble on usogui, there are several layers of game being played. The actual game mechanics, the betting mind game, the possible cheats, unforeseen circumstances, etc. I don't think the game is that simple even though we understand the rules, there are too many uncertainty.

 

[Ominous]

Saw this chapter at work. It was worth waiting until I was out to read it.

Kaji has really come a long way. Now he's graduated from creating his own clever schemes to supporting Baku's own plays. Nice!

 

[failninja21]

wow pg. 15 is incredible

 

[Lithe]

Kaji's still gotta get it right though.

But I stand by my most recent profile pic and believe. I think the problem is that Lalo will figure it out quickly from the 8 and 63 and maybe even from Kaji helping Baku.

@KeepTheFeather Yeah I bet that scene will be referenced when Kaji explains it.

 

[Takoshi]

From the hints of the last panel in previous chapter and the whole of this chaoter, I'm all-in on the sum poker analysis.

I feel that the analysis from @Metronome67 and @Veshv looks to be on-the-dot!

With this, I think we can deduce the laws of this game as such:

Spoiler

Law #1: The number represents the sum of possible poker hands.

Law #2: If multiple hands are available from the remaining cards, pick the best hand.

Law #3: Once the round is over, remove the cards that form the hand from the deck and carry on.

And most importantly, the calamity law:

Law #4: If it is impossible to form a certain hand in anyway, the person triggers the calamity loss.

From this, we can see that Baku will win the second round based on what has happened in the first round, as mentioned by @Metronome67.

This is truly one of the greatest games that the writers came up with.

 

[ftxnhxyy]

If the game picks the best possible hand for given number from a pool of remaining cards, what happens if two hands in the same round conflict?

e.g., Baku plays 45 and Lalo plays 44:

The best 45 hand is a 7-8-9-10-J straight flush, the best 44 hand is 10-10-10-10-4, but that pair of combinations requires five 10s. (Assuming this all happens in round 1, all cards are available)

While the hands conflict, there are other available non-conflicting possibilities like J-J-J-J-A and 10-10-10-10-4 (if for some reason Lalo's number gets resolved first, though I don't recall any order/precedence rule)

 

[Veshv]

@ftxnhxyy
That's a good point. It might be the same case with what I suggested with 63 earlier.

@Takoshi
I'm doubtful with regards to Law 4, since the only cards that can truly be in the calamity state are

Spoiler

8 and 63 from Lalo's hand

. Seems like yet another odd case of skewed advantage. Then again, I can't come up with another way for calamity rule to make sense with what we know, so it might be right.