Liar's Dice: Rules

There are many variants and subtle rule differentiations to liar's dice. Feel free to experiment with any rule changes that might seem fun, but for the purposes of this article I'll be discussing the most common and easiest to learn version of the game, common hand liar's dice.

What You'll Need:
Liar's dice is a very basic dice game and as a result doesn't require a lot equipment.

First, of course, you'll need dice. Either poker die or regular six-sided die will work fine--I prefer the six-sided die for common hand liar's dice, so for demonstration purposes I'll be referring to this type of dice.

You'll need five dice per player to play. You'll also need two to five friends--more than five is okay, but not recommended--and dice cups for each participant.A good, hard wooden table is also a good idea for a playing surface, but any table-type furniture will work.

Other than that, rum and a fabulous looking hat are encouraged, but not required.

How to Play:
To begin all the players put their dice into their dice cup and roll. Then each player places their dice cup face down on the table, but doesn't expose the result of their roll.

Once down on the table, the bidding stage of liar's dice begins. The player who was randomly picked first then looks under his cup, being careful not to expose his dice to the other players, and announces a face value along with the number he thinks are on the table.

Notice the wine, this can also be a drinking game

For instance he might announce "15 sixes," meaning that he thinks their are 15 dice that landed on six amongst all the dice that were rolled.

The lowest bid in common hand liar's dice in one two, the highest is the maximum number of dice and sixes, for example if there are three players the max bid is 15 sixes.

Bidding is progressive, so if someone bids one two the next player must bid higher, at least two twos or one three, or he could call a bluff if he doesn't think the previous player's bid was accurate.

If a player calls bluff, everyone exposes their dice and the dice are counted up to see if the player's bid was legitimate.

After the bid is determined to be false or not the dice are re-rolled and play starts again.

How to Score:
Scoring in liar's dice is fairly simple. If the bid is true, the player who called bluff owes the pot; if the bid is false, then the bidder owes the pot.

I like the payout to be universal, so whoever lost must payout to each player at the table the predetermined payout bet, regardless of their involvement in the bid or bluff call. I also like double the payouts to those involved in the bid or bluff call.

So, according to those rules, if Player A has his bid called by Player B in a four-handed game and is telling the truth, Player B owes a payout bet to Player A, C and D, and owes Player A double the bet.

You don't have to score this way, but I think its the best combination of fairness and fun.

Liar's Dice: Strategy

Obviously, liar's dice is a bluffing game.

Being able to pick out your opponents uneasiness about their bids gives you a huge step-up in figuring out, roughly, what everyone has rolled. Tells are big in this game.

However, reading ability isn't the only trait a good liar's dice player is going to need. Serious players should also know the probability involved in each combination of rolls if they want to be really successful in the early part of the game.

So sorry non-math people, this might not be your game.

Okay, it's not this bad

Another important point to understand is that the bids are progressive in two ways, meaning that a player can increase the bid by either increasing the number of dice or the face value of the dice.

Understanding which route to go with your betting is a big part of how you can trap your opponents. If you can corner the next player into bidding an obviously impossible number or calling your bluff, you should win more times than not.

Liar's Dice: History

Although the game is known for being a pirating pastime, liar's dice actually has its roots in the New World.

During their many fun filled, conquering trips to South America, the Spanish were exposed to a form of liar's dice by the native people on the continent--presumably that's how the native's lost their land, right?

Anyway, the Spanish spread the game around to other European sailing outfits and presto, liar's dice becomes the game of choice for high seas gaming.

The game even made it onto the silver screen recently, as the high stakes game played by Will Turner and Davey Jones in the blockbuster film "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Another step by Disney to pass on gambling to the kids...how cute!

South American natives playing a traditional game of liar's dice...right?