Spacetrawler

That was so over the top in its obviousness, I kinda respect it.

So is anyone getting a feeling with this most recent page that it looks like Baldwin's setting up the rest of the Earth crew (+ Devyat) alliancing themselves with Jabby and Mauricio? They've been treated badly by Nogg and co. enough and they could very well end up sympathising with what those two (or at least Mauricio) have been through

That's always been in the cards, I've felt.

I have a feeling they wont like Jabby.

To Bruff's safe house again.

Low-key Dramatic Irony: they'd probably learn something important about Mauricio and Jabby if they just asked Bruff, but they're not gonna do that because they're trying to keep a low profile.

Sign ups.

To be fair, I bet Bikkie is a bit upset about the "no claws" rule.

Yeah, Real Life kangaroos mainly fight by clawing opponents with their hind legs, so they'd be at a huge disadvantage with this rule in place. I don't recall offhand how realistically Chris has drawn Bikkie's fighting before, so I can't say if it'll be an issue or not.

Betting.

Suddenly, I feel a lot better about Bikkie's chances of winning. Anesu seems to be the Dmitri of the new series, in that she succeeds at every scheme she comes up with, so I'll be surprised if she suddenly fails now.

I think Bikkie has mostly been shown punching. He was a boxer, remember. Sure kangaroos aren't quite built for that, but then neither are humans. Though, okay, humans are more built for boxing than kangaroos.

edited 8th May '18 9:53:34 AM by Discar

I'm not saying Bikkie doesn't know how to box, or that he can't win without his claws, mind you. Just that I think he'd prefer to have them available. They produce blood faster.

The fight gets philosophical. Or not.

If I may be Captain Obvious, Warrior Therapist he ain't.

Blood? Blood.

Come on, Bikkie, he doesn't look that tough. Three mouths just means he has three times as many teeth for you to knock out!

Looks like Bikkie has been going for a bit. Maybe a nice cool glass of BLOOD! will perk him back up.

edited 10th May '18 7:17:57 AM by 32_Footsteps

Bikkie must already have beaten the betting odds senseless at this point. He could come in second, hell he could throw this one, and still make Anesu a ton of money.

Mission, what mission?

I don't know about that. If you bet on a team to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the NFL season, and they end up losing, you don't get a consolation prize for them being the closest to winning without doing so.

Comes down to how the betting works, I guess. Did Anesu bet on each individual fight separately (in which case she's probably already made bank) or did she just bet on the outcome of the final round? The payout for the latter would certainly be better. Her wording here ("I plan to bet everything on Bikkie for the win.") seems to imply that as well.

It just now occurs to me: What's the Gounder's angle for sponsoring this fight? Fixing prize fights is a traditional source of mob income. If Gounder's doing that, is Bikkie's presence in this tournament disrupting Gounder's desired outcome? (Although if he retaliates by sending goons to bust Bikkie's kneecaps, then I really feel sorry for those goons.) Or maybe this tournament isn't rigged at all, but it's a way for Gounder to find the best fighter in the system and get them on his payroll. That's why the winner gets to stay at a suite in the Gounder's own castle—so they're in the perfect position to get an offer they can't refuse.

Being able to bet only on the last match would be a weird system in which every better but one loses their money. Unless there are no bets on the preliminary matches, which is unlikely, given the nature of betting people.

Yeah, I doubt it's only possible to bet on the last match. That would be weird. It just looks like there is an option to bet on the last match before the tournament even starts, and Anesu may have put all her money on that.

Oh, I see. She bet on Bikkie to win the entire tournement before any of the preliminary rounds had even been fought yet. I guess that was obvious, I was only being dense. I'm sure she got great odds, to the point where the bookies might not be able to pay off afterward. That should go over well.

Well, a sensible casino will always make sure to have the funds needed on-hand to pay out all outstanding debts in case of the worst-case scenario (i.e. the one that would require the most payouts), so I doubt that will be an issue (as I recall, places with legalized gambling in real life tend to have laws requiring it, even). Also, it depends on just how much funds Anesu has (but then again, she did rob pirates of pretty much everything earlier, so we can probably safely assume "a whole lot").

Yeah, from the way I read it, Anesu bet on Bikkie before everything started to win it all. She probably could have bet round-by-round, which would have resulted in a smaller but steadier and safer payout. To use the NFL as an example again, someone who bet on the Eagles to win the most recent Super Bowl in the preseason would have won a 50-1 bet, so betting $20 would have won $1000. Fast forward to right before the Super Bowl, betting $20 on the Eagles to win outright (not just beat the spread, which they also did, as they were the underdogs) would only have won you $33.

Generally, even betting on the odds-on favorite to win it all before everything starts is seen as risky (which probably explains their reactions to Anesu wanting to bet that early on the finale) - in the above NFL scenario, even the Patriots (who were the odds-on favorite to win before last NFL season) still were a 15-4 bet to win the Super Bowl in the preseason, so had they beaten the Eagles, that payout still would have been $75 on a $20 bet (and relatedly, a straight bet to win right before the Super Bowl would have only been worth about $10.50 on a $20 bet... they were pretty heavily favored).

All of this is really illustrative on how casinos stay in business, and Anesu not only knows all this (in terms of making bets, I'll guarantee this is not her first experience dealing with them), but how to exploit their ignorance and complacency to win. It can be done (people do make their living as professional gamblers, after all), but it takes the right mix of knowledge, audacity, and more than a little luck. Which does all fit in with Anesu being the "new Dmitri."

BLOOOOOOOO-whoomp

Maybe it's just the angle of the shots, but it looks like Mr. Three-Mouths is hunched over as if in pain. Bikkie's still in this.

Bloood?!?

Schismatism in the comments section provides an inspired translation.