Casinos have long been a staple of the Dragon Quest franchise, and they all got started in Dragon Quest IV. More fair than their real-world counterparts, the Casinos in Dragon Quest IV can net you some valuable equipment very early in the game - though you either need to be lucky, or patient, for the effort to pay off.
If you're playing the NES version of Dragon Quest IV there is only one Casino available, in the basement of Endor's Inn. You can play at Endor's Casino in the second chapter, the end of the third chapter, and the entirety of the fifth chapter. If you play any of the remakes there's a second Casino, in the basement of the completed Pioneer Town. You'll find the stairs to the Pioneer Town Casino hidden on the ground floor of the castle, behind the stairs that lead up to the throne room.
Tokens
Both Casinos run off of a Token system. The concept is simple enough: Play games, earn Tokens, and turn those Tokens in for prizes. You can purchase more Tokens from an attendant in both Casinos, at a rate of 20 gold per Token. Note that Tokens temporarily increase in value from 20 to 200 gold during Torneko's chapter, as he rapidly accumulates gold.
There are two ways to receive Tokens besides exchanging gold or winning games:
- Cross through Torneko's tunnel in the fifth chapter. Do this and a guard will proclaim the Hero the 1,000 person to use the tunnel, and give you 100 Tokens.
- Fill out the Big Book of Beasts by encountering every enemy in the game. Do this and you'll receive 250,000 Tokens.
The two Casinos offer different prizes for their Tokens. The prizes are listed at the bottom of this guide. Tokens are universal, and can be exchanged for prizes in either Casino.
Poker
A simplified version of the real-life card game, Poker is best played if you know your card combinations. You can lay down a bet of up to 10 Tokens, at which point you receive five cards. You then choose which cards you want to keep. The cards you decide to discard are replaced by an equal number of new cards. If this hand contains certain combinations of cards you'll receive Tokens equal to your bid times the multiplier for that hand.
The hands that will earn you Tokens are as follows:
- Two Pair - Have two pairs of the same card value - Payout of 1 to 1
- Three of a Kind - Have three cards of the same value - Payout of 2 to 1
- Straight - Have four cards in numerical order, from any suit - Payout of 4 to 1
- Flush - Have five cards of the same suit - Payout of 5 to 1
- Full House - Have three of a kind and a pair - Payout of 8 to 1
- Four of a Kind - Have four cards of the same value - Payout of 10 to 1
- Straight Flush - Have a straight in the same suit - Payout of 20 to 1
- Five of a Kind - Have four cards of the same value and the Joker - Payout of 100 to 1
- Royal Flush - Have the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all of the same suit - Payout of 250 to 1
- Royal Slime Flush - Have a Royal Flush of the Slime suit - Payout of 500 to 1
The Joker is wild, and the game will automatically use it to make a combination for you.
If you manage to win a round you can choose to play Double or Nothing. The game will flip a card from a new hand, and you need to choose another card that is higher than the exposed card. Do so successfully and you'll double your earnings. A draw will allow you to continue the game without doubling the prize. You can keep doubling down as long as you like, or just accept your earnings and stop.
Slots
Simple slot machines. You can place up to five Tokens in a slot machine, then activate the wheel and see how you do. Depending no how the slots line up you may win a prize. The more Tokens you insert at the beginning, the more lines you could potentially win on (the fourth and fifth Token check the lines diagonally). You can earn Tokens from multiple lines at one time if you get lucky, so if you arranged two sets of Cherries in two different lines you would earn 10 Tokens.
The payouts for slots are as follows:
- Two Cherries - 5 Tokens
- Three Cherries - 10 Tokens
- Three Pots - 20 Tokens
- Three Swords - 50 Tokens
- Three Rings - 100 Tokens
- Three Crowns - 200 Tokens
- Three 'Bar' Signs - 500 Tokens
- Three Sevens - 1,000 Tokens
The slot machines in the Casino seem to be 'lucky' at random, and the only way to find the 'lucky' one that pays out more often is to keep playing at all of them until you start raking in the Tokens.
Monster Arena
Available only in Endor, the Monster Arena pits monsters against each other in a fight to the death. Before the battle you're given odds on the up to four combatants, and if your monster is still alive by the end you'll receive your bet back multiplied by the monster's payout. The weaker the monster, the better the payout if it wins. You can buy up to 50 Tickets per match.
If you win a match you'll be given a chance to push your winnings over to the next match. The multipliers will often be higher in the second match, giving you a chance to win substantially more Tickets - or lose it all. Once you're done your Tickets will be converted into Tokens.
Matches will only go for a certain length of time (somewhere between ten and twenty rounds). If the fight goes on for too long it will end in a draw, and you can push your Tickets into a different match.
Casino Tips
- Save before entering the Casino. If you blow a bunch of Tokens you can reload and try again.
- Save after you get a big payout. This way you won't lose progress, and, again, can reload your game if things go wrong.
- Don't bother with Poker. The payout isn't great, and the odds of winning around too stacked against you.
- If you plan on playing the slots then hunt around until you find a good machine. Ten spins on a machine should give you a good idea of whether or not the machine will pay out regularly.
- Watch the moves of the monsters in the Monster Arena carefully. I had the most luck choosing monsters that regularly used moves which inflicted status ailments, like Sleep or Paralysis.
- Don't bother with the Casino in the third chapter. The gold-to-Token conversion rate is ridiculous.
- For that matter... don't bother with the Casino, period. It takes way too long to earn Tokens for the best prizes. You can spend that time killing monsters and trying to fill up the Big Book of Monsters, which will give you more Tokens than you'll likely ever need. You'll also earn a ton of gold in the meantime, which you can convert into Tokens.
Endor Prizes
- Magic Water - 30 Tokens - Recovers a small amount of MP for one character
- Prayer Ring - 500 Tokens - Recovers some MP for its bearer whenever used - make break
- Gold Bracer - 1,000 Tokens - Accessory that boosts defense
- Spangled Dress - 2,500 Tokens - Armor for Alena, Meena, and Maya
- Meteorite Bracer - 10,000 Tokens - Accessory that doubles Agility
- Falcon Blade - 65,000 Tokens - Weapon that attacks twice per round
- Kamikazee Bracer - 500 Tokens - Accessory that casts Kamikazee if the wearer is reduced to 0 HP
- Magical Skirt - 1,000 Tokens - Armor for female characters that protects against magical attacks
- Thalian Staff - 3,000 Tokens - Weapon that can be used to make enemies 'smile', forcing them to skip their turn
- Ra's Mirror - 10,000 Tokens - Returns Float-o-Copiers to their original form (largely useless)
- Liquid Metal Helm - 100,000 Tokens - Helmet that protects against Confusion, Paralysis, and Sleep
- Gospel Ring - 250,000 Tokens - Accessory that boosts Luck and deactivates random encounters