Originally Posted by
Ken Cheng
THE SHELL GAME I and THE SHELL GAME II are currently available only as a boxed set that includes both series. It's a great value, however: that's forty-five episodes.
Yesasia isn't the only retailer offering it, but they are the most reliable and their prices are reasonable (though not necessarily the lowest).
The main cast of THE SHELL GAME II features:
Patrick Tse Yin (again) as New Northern Gambler King "Golden Hand" Tao 1 Siu: He plays another gambling king, but Tao 1 Siu has a different style and different personality than Lo 4 Hoi did. He's much more arrogant than Lo 4 Hoi (or Cheuk 1 Fu or Tam Sing), and much more flashy, but the flip side of that is that he also has much greater insecurities and personal demons for his enemies to exploit.
Liza Wang (again) as Fok See Ling: Fok See Ling is initially a clumsy newspaper reporter, but she soon becomes the private tutor of Tao 1 Siu's mischievous young son, Ah Jen.
Chow Yun Fat as Ah Lung: Essentially, Ah Lung is THE SHELL GAME II's version of the young Tam Sing, but Ah Lung is much funnier than Tam Sing ever was. His antics during the first part of the series are hilarious, and as the series becomes more serious later on, he becomes a tragic, but heroic figure.
Simon Yam as Tam Sing: The only returning character from THE SHELL GAME I. It's eight years after the events of the original SHELL GAME. Tam Sing is older and (much) wiser, and has become something of a great sage among Gambler Kings. He appears only in the first and last few episodes of the series, and is sort of like a deus ex machina character. It's great to see how much his character has grown since THE SHELL GAME I, however, and at the end, we are reminded why he is truly the King of Gambler Kings.
Lau Siu Ming as Sau Dai Chin: The ultimate evil Gambler King, sometimes called the "Gambler Demon." Has a fetish for chopping off the hands of those who lose games to him (which is everybody who ever played against him during his 70-year long career) and displaying those severed hands in glass jars and cases at his casino. This guy is seriously scary.