Headscratchers / Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 05 E 25 In The Cards

• Why, exactly, did Giger spend an incredible ten bars of latinum on that auction lot, instead of just using that money to buy the list of things he wanted (none of which were particularly restricted items)? Well, because if he hadn't, Jake and Nog would have won the auction and the episode would have been over.
  • Not to mention that Giger could have gotten five bars of latinum back from Jake and Nog had he sold them the baseball card, which would have recouped half (or more) of the money he would have bid at the auction in the first place.
  • This could be explained if the one thing he was after in the lot was worth 10 bars of latinum and would have been more difficult or expensive to get elsewhere. He didn't know at the time that the item Jake wanted was not the same item he was after, so he felt he needed to win the bidding. Also, the items on the list he demanded were not for sale on the station. Otherwise, Nog could have simply bought them with the five bars of latinum he still had. Instead, Jake and Nog had to use their connections to convince the senior staff to give the items to them in exchange for favors, something Giger wouldn't have been able to do. It presumably would have taken Giger more time and money to get all the items than five bars of latinum is worth.