Alternative title:
Ultimate Survivor Kaiji
カイジ (Japanese)
逆境無頼カイジ (Japanese)

Based on a manga serialized in Young Magazine by Nobuyuki Fukumoto (Akagi) about a gambler named Kaiji.
The main character, Ito Kaiji, is a lazier than normal guy who lives day by day without any desire to do anything. His life consists of working part time, gambling with his friends and always ending up losing money.
He always cries blaming himself that he is broke, yet he still doesn't want to work. Basically, he IS a loser.
Then one day, he is visited by Endo, a lender of a loans company. Kaiji had a 3,850,000 yen debt because he signed to make a guaranteed debt for a person he hardly knew. Endo convinces Kaiji to go into a gambling ship called 'Espoir' to pay off his debts. He says the ship was for the 'salvation' of young men in debt, with a high chance of 'making it out of the ship' with some extra cash if lucky.