Thoughts on ‘Daebak (The Royal Gambler)’ Episode 2

OK, this is my turn. I chose episode 2 as I heard there was no JKS appearance. haha I gave the opportunities for other eels to write FAs of the episodes with him. Anyway, as many of you have been already talking about this drama ‘Daebak (The Royal Gambler)’, it’s really interesting to see even without him… That means.. with him, it’ll be more interesting! I can’t wait to see episode 3 as soon as it was finished the airing. Oops, I’ve talked too much in the introduction. Then, enjoy reading my FA!

—
WARNING: If you haven’t watched this episode, please be aware of spoiler from reading this article. If you do not want to see, please do not click the link “Read rest of this entry”. We welcome all the comments and please share your thoughts too about ‘Daebak’. Thanks.

Author: tenshi_akuma
Photo credits: SBS

There are times we have to decide something very important in life. In this drama, gambling is used as to emphasize the moments. One’s fate is decided by God, luck, or someone’s intention? I found there are people who are easily controlled by others. The good example is Baek Man Geum. He’s addicted to gambling, but it seems he is not the expert. Rather, he’s very bad when he tries to play slots online. I don’t gamble, so I don’t know well about what makes the difference between the one is good or bad. But I think mentality layer affects the result a lot. In my idea, those who has the ability to read minds is a good gambler. In addition, gamblers need strategies to win. But the person who wins the game is not always the winner…

Baek Man Geum has no foresight. He’s a role model who has a problem with compulsive gambling. He doesn’t care what he once said to others. A very irresponsible man. What is even worse, he believes to be forgiven when he just says “Sorry…” and take back what he lost. He doesn’t think that is very bad… That’s why he made a bet over his wife. Plus, he was careless about other’s strategy and confident to win… but failed as viewers expected.

After he knew that that man was not a fool merchant but a king and tricked him to get his beautiful wife, he rushed to the palace to appeal the bet was invalid.

How could he say such a thing forgetting his own fault??? To my surprise, the king accepted his offer to make another bet on that night’s weather. It was obvious that it would rain, but the king accepted to bet the opposite without hesitation as Baek Man Geum chose ‘rain’ first. His aide suggested him to cancel the bet, but he didn’t. He knew he would lose the bet, but also knew he would not be the loser.

As expected, it rained.

When he was full of joy, Bok Soon appeared. He happily reported to her that he won against the king on guessing the weather, and asked her to go home together.

Sadly he was so blind… He didn’t know how serious she said good-bye to him. He didn’t know how his ex-wife had been feeling while living with him… He won the bet, but he couldn’t get her back to him. He was the loser, indeed.

Six months later, a baby was born in the palace. The baby will be called ‘Dae Gil’ later (yes, the grown-up boy will be played by Jang Keun Suk!) and the lead character of this drama ‘Daebak’.

As the baby was born in six months, much earlier than usual, a rumor that the boy is not a son of the king spread in the palace… Jang Ok-Jung came to Bok Soon (now she’s called Lady Choi) after his birth and gave her a hint that the newborn baby would be killed by someone.

Only with her words, Lady Choi thought it would happen for sure and made a big decision to make him survive.

When the baby’s death was reported officially, there were two men who didn’t believe anything but their instinct.

And their aides were trying to take the baby back or kill him. A blade went into his tiny body…
OMG!!! I was lost for words for a moment. I didn’t expect that the baby Dae Gil was about to die like that.

Then, a miracle happened.
I heard a baby’s crying! How lucky he is! Or the heavens give him great luck already!

In the episode 2, there was another bet between master and disciple, Yi In Jwa and Kim Yi Soo. As Yi Soo helped Lady Choi secretly for the baby, he was asked to kill Yi In Jwa, the mastermind behind the scenes by the king. So Yi Soo showed his serious attention to kill him several times before their battle.

However, in the end, Yi Soo chose not to kill him but to be killed by him…
What a poor loyal man… 🙁 Perhaps, he felt ashamed and sorry for In Jwa that he kept what he did for Lady Choi secret. And he regretted it badly as that means he betrayed him.

Without knowing what happened around the baby, the gambler Baek Man Geum was playing games as usual. Although he has a baby beside him, he hasn’t changed at all. He hasn’t given milk to the baby… Then, a kind old man who is also a gambler noticed the poor situation and paid for his milk. I was so relieved that this kind man took care of the baby as I couldn’t expect it from Baek Man Geum. And the old man (Nam Dokkebi, a legendary gambler) praised the baby’s noble facial features. He was instinctively sure that the baby has good luck. To prove it, he cast a dice. The dice showed ‘Dae Gil’, which means good fortune.

Then, he did again with two dices. The result was the same. That means three dices showed ‘Dae Gil’ that was unbelievably rare. Meanwhile, the baby Dae Gil was sleeping at peace.

Then, an unexpected accident happened on TV. When I saw this episode live, I had no idea in details as I don’t understand Korean. As a father, I thought Baek Man Geum must be very happy that this baby has good luck that he doesn’t have. But I was wrong… I forgot he is very impulsive. As he knew that the baby is too lucky as his baby, he realized he must be the king’s son, not his.

Can you guess what happened next? I couldn’t…
Unexpectedly, he did throw the baby Dae Gil to a waterfall!!!!!

WHATTTT??????? How dare he do such an inhumane thing to an innocent baby?????? I was lost for words again…. After a while, he recovered his senses and regretted what he did for the lovely baby… But still I couldn’t forgive him as a human!!! *crying crying *angry angry

Then, that old man helped the baby Dae Gil again! I was relieved again. He warned Baek Man Geum not to do such a thing to him. He told that the baby is very special, and no one can’t change his fate (luck).

However, there was a man who is trying to use his luck to realize his dream. That is Yi In Jwa. He asked Hong-Mae, owner of casino to get the baby back to him. And now he was happily and gently holding the baby Dae Gil in his arms.
I smiled when I heard he praised the baby’s beauty, saying “The strong forehead and clear eyes…” kkk It’s natural that Dae Gil has a million-dollar forehead as JKS plays the role.

A bad idea occurred in his mind. He knew the baby Dae Gil survived twice under dangerous situations. He felt tempted to prove his luck by himself.

He told Lady Choi the truth that innocent Kim Yi Soo was dead because he helped her. She looked so shocked to hear the news. She just wanted to help her own baby and didn’t expect her behavior would affect other’s life. Yi In Jwa offered her a game to be responsible for someone’s life. Of course, it’s her baby that she has to bet with him. In Jwa said, “In those cards, there is 10 card. If you can find it within three tries, I will return the child to you.” She failed two times, but In Jwa also failed to shoot two times.

When only one chance was left, suddenly Baek Man Geum appeared. He said he would choose the last card instead of her. And he also said, “In return, if I pick the 10, don’t bother MY child ever again.”

He used ‘MY’ for the king’s son. What made him change so much? What will happen in the next episode? Even though we already know that the baby Dae Gil has grown up to an adult, we can’t wait to see what kind of miracle will happen to the next episode ^^ [END]