WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Squid Game, now streaming on Netflix.

There were few who could predict that Netflix's Squid Game would become such a massive international success. With a story set in South Korea and tied culturally to the country in many ways, perhaps the main aspect of its worldwide appeal are the universal themes of avarice and desperation that drive the plot. Contestants risk their lives for the sake of winning a whole lot of money, and though that may be something audiences from most any country can understand, the show does leave many viewers asking "Okay, but how much money?"

For US audiences the conversion between the South Korean won and US dollars may be a necessary component to fully enjoy the experience. Just how much money was at stake?

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At the start of the series, viewers meet Seong Gi-hun as he becomes increasingly desperate for money. Losing contact with his daughter, mounting expenses for his mother, and his own gambling addiction put him in a vulnerable place where he can't turn down a chance to earn his way out. That chance first comes in a finely tailored suit, a briefcase, and an extremely strange offer. A salesman offers Seong the chance to win 100,000 won for every round he wins at a game of ddakji. When he loses, he can pay off his 100,000 won debt by accepting a slap in the face. Seong takes slap after slap before he finally wins. What was all that work for?

100,000 won amounts to $83.50 in US currency. The six digit figure may raise many eyebrows in the US at the riches Seong eventually earns, his face bright red from a full night of getting slapped silly, but the point to the scene is to show just how desperate Seong is for any amount of money. At the end of the night he is not rich, has not even put a dent in his debt, and his joy is more the sign of a degenerate gambler fixating exclusively on the winnings while paying little mind to the losses. Seong eventually accepts the invitation to compete in the Squid Game, where far more money is at stake.

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At the start of the game there are 456 participants, all in positions essentially similar to Seong's. Each time a player dies 100,000,000 won is added to the grand total, pitting the players against one another, as every death potentially means a bigger slice of the pie for themselves. For reference, that means that $83,519.92 is the amount motivating the more homicidal players to murder their competition. It's also worth noting that after the first round, when 255 players are eliminated, the players are told that if a majority elect to discontinue the competition then the bereaved family members of the 255 players will split the winnings gathered thus far. That would have meant $835.17 to each family, to compensate them for the participant's death.

Contestants from Squid Game get the results from the first contest

Of course, that doesn't happen because most of the participants want the money for themselves rather than the bereaved. Their focus is on the grand prize. With 456 players, at 100,000,000 per player, that means 45,600,000,000 won is at stake, totaling $38,460,271.20 in USD. While that is certainly enough money to set someone for life, allowing them to live out their days as a millionaire enjoying most anything they want and even earning a lot more than that in interest over the years, it would make them far from one of the wealthiest people alive. There are over 2,500 billionaires in the world, and the winner of the Squid Game would walk away from unimaginable trauma with no more than a fraction of any of those billionaires' wealth.

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Part of Squid Game's magic comes from its ability to transcend cultural boundaries. Even with games unfamiliar to global audiences, the show is so well crafted it never leaves viewers confused about context or unable to tap into the drama created. That said, the significance of a show so centrally concerned with wealth inequality becomes ever greater when viewers can appreciate precisely how much is at stake. Whether each amounts seems like a lot or a little, it helps to know how much won they could win.

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