The Yu-Gi-Oh manga is better. That's comic book stuff for you unedjumakted types. Turns out there's a lot of death in early Yu-Gi-Oh. In fact, the first season never came to the US. There are some bloody scenes. Gator like creatures chomping off heads... snatching coins from in front of angry scorpions... really dangerous games like that. You really have no idea what a bastard Kaiba is just watching the english anime. The manga is carried in Shonen Jump which you can probably order at your local magazine/comic shop.
http://www.shonenjump.com Check it out. You'll find a lot of the Cartoon Network anime stuff is from there. Of course this is the Japanese story, not edited for the kiddies.