Mario Kart Wii Gambling

It’s high time I got around to telling you about Mario Kart Wii gambling. It’s been probably over a year now since I last played it and I’d certainly like to document the rules before they are completely forgotten. I will present to you the rules as they are actually played as opposed to my ideal version of the ruleset (which differs slightly). I hope I can express them sufficiently because it’s been VERY difficult to explain verbally in the past.

Requirements:
1 Wii with internet connectivity
1 copy of Mario Kart Wii
2 willing participants
2 sets of controllers
1 sheet of paper

Introduction:
To understand WGA Mario Kart better, you must understand there are 3 sets of numbers kept at most times. They are Real Money/Debt, Chain Position, and The Stack. Real Money/Debt is the most simple number. It is simply the money that’s been won so far. At the beginning of the game it’s $0. As players win money from each other it would be something like “$15 bloocloud” if I was up $15 and used my online name in real life. At the beginning of the game, there is no Chain Position. ANY time there is no chain position, there is no Stack either. Chain Position(from here on out, just referred to as the Chain) and the stack go together hand and hand. You have a chain with an associated stack. As mentioned above, at the beginning of the game, there is no chain or stack. A stack is a dollar amount that is built up, but not won yet. Chain describes one player’s proximity to moving the money in the stack to their real money. The game can be ended by either player at any time that there is no current chain/stack or if the player with the current chain voluntarily chooses to forfeit his chain and end the game.

Main Rules:
Two players (together, locally on one wii) are to play an online game of Mario Kart Wii. That is, splitscreen and online with strangers. Whoever wins the first race begins a new chain and stack. All new stacks start off at $5 (without potential bonuses described later). The chain is a simple fraction 1/x, where x is the place the winning player (out of the two) came in the first online race. For instance, if Tim places 4th and Blobert places 7th, then Tim now has a stack of $5 and a chain of 1/4. This is what’s written on paper:

Real Money: $0
Tim 1/4 $5

There can only ever be one chain and one stack at a time. The current chain/stack is written down after each match. Now let’s say that Blobert places 3rd in the next race and Tim places 5th. Blobert has BROKEN Tim’s chain and simultaneously started his own chain. The $5 that Tim had in his stack is vanquished. The paper now looks like this:

Real Money: $0
Tim 1/4 $5
Blobert 1/3 $5

Again, the reason Blobert has $5 in his stack is because all new stacks start at $5. Now let’s say Blobert wins the next race, placing 4th. This advances him 1 position up the chain. It also adds $1 to his stack. The paper now looks like this:

Real Money: $0
Tim 1/4 $5
Blobert 1/3 $5
Blobert 2/3 $6

In the next race, Blolbert wins once again. This time placing 3rd. Again he advances 1 chain position and $1 on the stack. The paper now looks like this:

Real Money: $7 Blobert
Tim 1/4 $5
Blobert 1/3 $5
Blobert 2/3 $6
Blobert 3/3 $7(circled)

A few things happened here. Blobert has completed his chain (3/3). When a player completes a chain, the money in his stack is added to his real money (in other words, he won). At that point, the chain and the stack disappear (since they’ve been completed) and the game is at the same point that it was at the beginning, except of course for the fact that one player now owes the other player $7. Either player may choose to end the game at this point or continue. Although not required, it is polite to announce your intentions to quit the next time there’s no chain/stack ahead of time. This is the way the game is played. It’s a series of chains/stacks being built and destroyed until one player completes his chain, thus winning cash. This sequence is repeated as much as desired.

Auxiliary Rules:
Any time a player places BETTER than their current chain position, the chain is adjusted for best results. For example, if a player had a chain/stack of 1/6 $6 and then won 4th place in the next round, their new chain/stack would be 1/4 $7 (NOT 2/6 $7, which would be disadvantageous). So, any time a player who currently has a chain wins with a better position on his next round, his position becomes 1/x where x is his latest/best position. Any time a player with the chain places equal to or lower than his denominator wins, his numerator increases by 1. For instance, if you have 1/4 $7 and then win with 6th place, you now have 2/4 $8. Note that the stack is completely unaffected by this change, it always begins at $5 and increments by $1 with each win (barring bonuses explained later).

As you may have noticed already, that means a first place win would always be 1/1 or a completed chain. This is correct, although it’s actually recorded as 2/1 (to denote the bonus and for vestigial reasons). So to clarify: any player who has a chain and then places first place, immediately completes their chain and wins their stack. Should the player who doesn’t have a chain place first in the next race, they immediately break their opponent’s chain(never to return again) while immediately completing their own chain and winning a new stack. Any time there is no chain, the player who places first automatically creates and completes a new chain and, of course, wins the new stack. In addition, there is an extra $2 bonus for placing first place. However, this bonus is blocked should the losing player place 2nd. In that case, the chain is still complete and the stack won, only the extra $2 is not added to the stack (and the chain is recorded as 1/1). Any time a player without a chain wins first place and their opponent does not counter with a second place victory, that player wins $7 immediately. Any time a player with a chain wins first place and is not countered, they will have $3 added to their stack ($1 for winning + $2 bonus) then immediately complete their chain and receive real money. Under all circumstances(except for low-player games described below), a first place victory immediately wins money. Like all completed chains, the money in the stack is won and the chain/stack is wiped clean.

Another existing bonus is that in any race with a minimum of 7 players, any player who places last and/or does not cross the finish line before being timed out has an extra $1 added to his opponent’s stack. If neither player crosses the finish line before timing out, the round is disregarded and not recorded.

Any round with 4 or less total players (including the 2 participating players) does NOT affect the chain. No bonuses are awarded in such low-player races. The only affect low-player races have is that $1 dollar is added or subtracted to the current player’s stack depending on who wins. Chains are not affected and so cannot be broken in low-player matches.

Low-player (4 or less total) example:
Real Money $10 Tim
Tim 1/3 $5
Should Tim win the low-player round, the paper now reads “Tim 1/3 $6″. Should Blobert win the low-player round, the paper would read “Tim 1/3 $4″.

This means that low-player races when there is no current chain/stack cannot possibly have any effect.

Stages are always kept Random, except for when a player opts to buy a choice. For $1 of real money (not stack), a player can buy 2 choices to be used any time during the current session. Choices can be bought at any time.

Conclusion:
I hope I’m not forgetting any minor caveats, I will certainly update this post should I remember anything else. I also hope I was clear in my explanation. I kept the examples sparse, but I think that it’s a lot easier to understand when read than heard. All characters/vehicles are legal; there are no non-monetary house rules applied. At times it is a bit of a grind, with stacks being built and destroyed, built and destroyed, and very infrequently any money is won. At other times, it can go fast and furious, especially with lots of first place wins. This has been played many, many times and seems to work pretty well as a system and, yes, sessions have hit triple digits a couple of times. So, that should do it. Please let me know if anything needs further explanation and please especially let me know should anyone decide to adopt this gambling system! Some day, not soon, I will explain Wii Golf Gambling which, believe it or not, is much more complicated.