Like a Dragon: Ishin! — Chicken Racing, Betting Options and Making Tags

Like a Dragon: Ishin! — Chicken Racing, Betting Options and Making Tags Chicken racing can make you a lot of money in Ishin, but there's a difference between improving your chances and guaranteeing a win. The favorite can still come last. An expensive pile of tickets can still lose. Also, the old trick where you exit and immediately start the race to keep refunded bets was patched in version 1.05. This guide is for the updated 2023 remake. Don't spend an evening trying to reproduce an old video without checking that distinction. Where to go Chicken Racing has its own building in Rakugai. It isn't the poker table inside the Gambling Den. Once Chapter 3 opens the area, leave Fushimi through the north gate, turn east at the first intersection and look for the purple activity building at the next intersection. Its entrance is on the north side, with blue curtains. The receptionist sells wooden tags. These are the same tags used at the Gambling Den, so you don't need a second currency. The receptionist also has a friendship to finish. There are two separate goals here. Cocksure requires betting on five races. The completion-list entry requires earning 10,000 tags, with losses not deducted from that recorded total. Five tickets on one race isn't five races. Reading the race Five chickens compete. Before buying anything, compare their condition, recent finishes, predictions and payouts. An upward condition arrow is better than a downward one. Recent results show the last three finishes, so a string of ones and twos is more encouraging than fourth and fifth places. For predictions, the symbols run from double circle to circle, triangle, X and then blank. A low payout generally identifies a favorite. The larger payout on a long shot is compensation for that chicken being less likely to win. It doesn't mean you've found a better deal by itself. Look for several signs agreeing rather than picking a name and dumping everything on it. If the whole field looks uncertain, you can leave before committing and look at another race. There are short, medium and long races, so don't ignore the race information while comparing runners. Every ticket type • Single Win: choose the winner. • Quinella: choose the first two finishers, in either order. • Double Exacta: choose first and second in the correct order. • Triple Exacta: choose first, second and third in the correct order. • Quintuple Exacta: choose all five finishers in the correct order. Each individual ticket allows up to 300 tags. The Dividend List puts the available bets together, which is much easier than repeatedly opening separate ticket menus. Check Tickets lets you review what you've bought. There is a countdown before the race starts. Choose your approach before buying and check the controls for quickly setting a ticket to its maximum. Don't confuse the 300-tag limit per ticket with the cost of your entire bet. Twenty tickets at that amount cost 6,000 tags. A worked example using two favorites Suppose chickens 2 and 4 look like the strongest pair. A commonly used approach is to cover both ways they could finish first and second, then cover every order for the other three behind them. At 300 tags per ticket, the full selection is: • Singles on 2 and 4: two tickets, 600 tags. • Quinella on 2 and 4: one ticket, 300 tags. • Double Exactas 2-4 and 4-2: two tickets, 600 tags. • Triple Exactas starting 2-4 or 4-2, with each of the other three chickens third: six tickets, 1,800 tags. • Quintuple Exactas starting 2-4 or 4-2, covering every order of the other three chickens: twelve tickets, 3,600 tags. That's 23 tickets and 6,900 tags altogether. The arithmetic matters because a few missed selections can leave holes in what you thought you covered. This is NOT a bet on every possible result. The big returns depend on 2 and 4 taking the top two places. If another chicken splits them, most of that ticket stack loses. If neither wins, even the singles fail. You can reduce the amount per ticket or buy fewer types instead of committing the full 6,900. The displayed payout isn't your profit either. Subtract what you spent across all the tickets, including the losing ones, before deciding how much that race actually earned. Protecting your progress Save before a large betting session. If you choose to reload a loss, remember that reloading also removes any other progress since that save. Save again after a result you want to keep. This protects a save file; it doesn't turn the chicken you picked into a guaranteed winner. Once you have surplus tags, take them to the Gambling Den prize exchange. Platinum Plates are one way to turn them into money at the pawnshop. Keep a reserve if you're still finishing the other gambling entries or saving for a prize weapon. Finally, check the friendship separately from your winnings. A big first payout can clear the 10,000-tag objective before you've finished the receptionist's bond. Those are two different pieces of the completion list.