competition, match

The upper part of 賽 is composed of 宀(the picture of a house) and 共(together), depicts two hands stuffing something into a house, which has the meaning of squeezing in or stuffing, 貝(shell, money) is added to represent that the stuffing is money. 賽 has the meaning of offering thanks to the gods in olden days, the gods stuff money into your house, you should thank them without any question. On the other hand, competing for wealth is human nature, so 賽 also means competition.