Gambling

Gambling is a recurring story element in the Final Fantasy series. It is often expressed through minigames, allowing players to spend money or items to play games and perhaps win prizes. Frequent minigames of this type include chocobo racing or a similar event, slot machines, and card games. Gambling is also present via the Slots ability and the Gambler class.
==Summary==
Gambling refers often to the engagement and use of games that rely more on chance and luck to win as a form of recreation. Because of their random and serendipitous nature, such games often have betting and prize pooling with items of monetary value wagered to further indulge patrons and increase the entertainment value and sensationalism of the game. Loosely, gambling can also refer to any use of money that relies on a sudden growth in value to multiply in worth, from speculation capital based markets and values that rely entirely on the growth of that capital or any high risk venture that has a volatile market. 
Within the western world, the term gaming often had more connotations with gambling, even after the rise of video games into the 1960s. Within the history of RPGs, Dungeons & Dragons was and is still played with a series of dice used to calculate success or failure with rolls within a series of calculated mathematical formulas to determine the outcome of a roleplaying scenario. About all known RPG video games in the world can trace their gameplay and setting origins back to Dungeons & Dragons in some way, although video games greatly differ in the use of level scaling, more controlled and regulated coding to ensure consistent output in gameplay, and relying more on the player's skill in most games to progress and win. 
Gambling has often been the cause of controversy, being seen as an ill of society or a "necessary evil". In excess, unchecked gambling can lead to the warped perspective that hard work and effort has no meaning and as such life is determined entirely by chance, and within the Catholic Church is seen as a cause of the sins of sloth and greed. In some individuals, gambling addiction can manifest, believed to be caused by the combination of "the rush" of winning and winning money by payout, giving the impression and a foci of addiction by "reliving" that rush again. Gambling has often historically been the target of legislation and state laws, although its ban can often lead the trade to be exploited and governed entirely by criminal enterprises and the underworld, thus making its regulation a more crucial aim. Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs have also been the target of outrage by morality in media and church stemmed legislation and decency groups, with its dice-based gameplay along with "satanic" imagery being the cause of its controversy, which has often been countered by its fanbase who have full knowledge of the actual game and that the game promotes heroism and fighting the demonic foes presented in its material. Furthermore, the correlation between monetary exploitation and gambling as entertainment has been historically and critically reviewed as not being mutually exclusive, with more monetary forms of gambling often being promoted with the backing of the state and increasing as a means of satiating public distress and increasing tax returns to the state in times of social and economic hardship. 
Nevertheless, as a form of entertainment, gambling is often regarded with the same use of common sense to be responsible and to play responsibly.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy VI===
Setzer, known by the moniker of "The Wandering Gambler", commands the Blackjack, a flying casino airship hosting roulette and blackjack tables. As a Gambler, Setzer can use the Slot ability and throws gaming paraphernalia, like playing cards, dice, and darts to attack.
Dragon's Neck Coliseum acts as a form of gambling through a wager system. The player puts an item up as ante and fights a predetermined enemy in a one-on-one AI-controlled fight; if they lose they forfeit the wagered item, but if they win they receive a new, usually superior item.
===Final Fantasy VII===
The Gold Saucer plays host to a variety of minigames and gambling opportunities, many playable throughout the rest of the game.
Tifa and Cait Sith make use of slot reels in their Limit Breaks. As Tifa learns new Limit techniques, a new reel is added to her slots, up to seven. Stopping the reel on "Hit" gives a hit, "Yeah!" gives a stronger hit, and "Miss" causes nothing to happen. Tifa will attack enemies based on the results when all reels have been stopped. Cait Sith's second Limit command is Slots, where he will execute a random attack based on the results. His first Limit command is Dice, damaging enemies depending on the results of the dice roll.
====Final Fantasy VII Rebirth====
Tifa's and Cait Sith's limit breaks no longer work like slots reels, but the latter has a Lucky Slots ability with randomized outcomes.
There are numerous minigames the player can play in Gold Saucer, but there are no wager mechanics.
====Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-====
Gambling-type effects are a main mechanic in the battle system via the Digital Mind Wave.
===Final Fantasy VIII===
Selphie has the Slot ability as her Limit command. It does not consist of actual slot reels; Selphie will cast a random spell up to three times and the player can "Shuffle" the available spell repeatedly to try for better results.
The player can engage in gambling by playing Triple Triad, playing the game against other players to win new cards. During his travels as a journalist for Timber Maniacs, Laguna Loire wrote of his experiences gambling in Dollet to try and raise travel funds.
===Final Fantasy IX===
Tetra Master is playable as a card game. At one point in the story, the player must play Tetra Master to proceed with the game, but does not have to win.
The player can play blackjack in a minigame hidden in the ending credits.
===Final Fantasy X===
Wakka uses Slots as his Overdrive, stopping slot reels to determine how he will attack enemies.
====Final Fantasy X-2====
The Lady Luck dressphere is able to use Slots as its ability, executing attacks depending on the reel results.
Sphere Break is playable as a gambling minigame.
The Calm Lands host a variety of gambling minigames.
===Final Fantasy XI===
Corsairs act as a stand-in for the Gambler job. Wielding unique "hexaguns" the Corsair can use attacks with random 1/6 effects, equivalent to rolling a die. Many of their abilities are named after gambling terminology.
Chocobo racing features a gambling option, as the player is able to bet on chocobos.
===Final Fantasy XIII-2===
Serendipity hosts numerous gambling minigames, some of which are only playable in Sazh's DLC episode "Sazh's Story: Heads or Tails?".
===Final Fantasy XIV===
Manderville Gold Saucer hosts a variety of gambling minigames.
===Final Fantasy XV===
The Moogle Chocobo Carnival includes various gambling minigames.
The Wiz Chocobo Post hosts a chocobo racing track. The player can also play Justice Monsters Five at certain outposts.
The player can bet chips to win prizes at Totomostro.
===Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy===
Tifa's EX Burst utilizes an identical slot mechanic to her home game.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Various events include a roulette. By betting chips won in dungeons in the event, the player can win various rewards from a prize pool. Provided the player is able to play the event dungeons enough and keep winning chips, it is plausible to clear out the prize pool, at which time remaining chips can be exchanged for gil.
Category:Recurring story elements