Oicho-kabu (おいちょかぶ) is a card-based gambling game featured as a recurring minigame in the Like a Dragon series. It was first introduced in Yakuza 3.
Gameplay[]
A game played using either a hanafuda or kabufuda deck among four people where one is given the "dealer" role. At the start of a round, the dealer deals one card to themselves and lays out four separate cards for the other three. Each player chooses one of the face-up cards and places their bet, with the remaining card being an empty hand. Once bets are placed, the players and the dealer are dealt one card each, with every competitor having the choice to have a showdown with the dealer or draw another card for a total of three cards in their hand. At the end of a round, all competitors will have a showdown with the dealer once all hands are set, and the "dealer" role will be transferred to another competitor afterwards.
The objective of the game is to bring the hand's total to 9, or as close to it as possible, to win the showdown. If the total of the hand exceeds 9, the first digit is excluded (i.e. a hand of 7-7-2 yields a value of 6 as it adds up to 16). Each player will compare their hand to the dealer, and the winner is the person whose hand has a higher value. In the event of a tie, the dealer will win.
A player's winnings are decided by how much they bet on their hand while the dealer's winnings depend on how much the player they're facing had bet.
The selected difficulty affects the maximum amount of wooden tags that can be bet per round by the players. Higher difficulties are unlocked once enough rounds of the game have been played.
Special Hands[]
Certain hands can be formed which are worth more than usual and will win against any regular-scoring hand. In addition, most will increase the amount won. In the event both the player and the dealer have a special hand and each one is different, the winning hand is determined by priority. The hands are listed as follows, with the highest-priority hand at the bottom.
- 4-1 (シッピン, shippin): Valid for players only. A two-card hand consisting of a 4 and a 1 in any order. Allows player to win 2x the stake.
- 9-1 (クッピン, kuppin): Valid for the dealer only. A two-card hand consisting of a 9 and a 1 in any order. Allows dealer to win 2x the stake.
- Three of a Kind (アラシ, arashi): A three-card hand consisting of three cards with the same number. Allows competitor to win 3x the stake.
- 10-10-1 (ドシッピン, doshippin): A three-card hand consisting of two 10s and a 1 in any order. Allows competitor to win 20x the stake. Can be toggled in settings.
- Available in games released from Yakuza 5 onwards.
- 4-6 (シロクの逃げ, shiroku no nige): A two-card hand consisting of a 4 and a 6 in any order. Gives competitor the choice to sit out the round, keeping their stake. If a dealer has this hand and chooses to sit out, the round will end and all bets will be returned to their respective players. If a player chooses not to escape, their hand is treated as normal. Can be toggled in settings.
- Available in games released from Yakuza 5 onwards.
Cheat items[]
- 10-10-1 Charm - First hand drawn is 10-10-1.
- Available in games released from Yakuza 5 onwards.
- Trips Yokan - First hand drawn is Three of a Kind. Shared with Cee-lo.
- Available in games released from Yakuza 5 onwards.
Trivia[]
- 8-9-3 is a possible hand that leads to the worst result of zero. Using Goroawase, "8-9-3" can be read as "yakuza", which is the origin of the term.