Poker dice is a very old dice game that uses dice instead of cards to play the game of poker.
Number of Players
The game may be played with two or more players.
Set Up
- 5 specially pipped six-sided dice per player that contain faces from playing cards
Determine play order using whatever method works best for the players.
Using dice with Pips
It is entirely plausible that standard six-sided dice to play the game. The translation of faces may be as follows:
- 1 pip face is 9
- 2 pips face is 10
- 3 pips face is Jack
- 4 pips face is Queen
- 5 pips face is King
- 6 pips face is Ace
Wild Cards
Before play begins, if players want to have wild faces, all players agree on which one(s) are wild. Historically, Aces are wild.
Game Play
The game is simple. Each player rolls the dice to create “hands”. They may roll up to three times, keeping as many dice as desired from the previous roll. Each “hand” has a rank that determines which player wins.
Hand Ranking
Here is the ranking from lowest to highest
- Five of a kind
- Four of a kind
- Full house (3 of a kind and 2 of a different kind)
- Straight (9 - Ace)
- Three of a kind
- Two pair (Two of a kind and 2 of a different kind)
- One pair
- High card (Two results that have one of either King, Queen, or Jack and otherwise nothing)
Betting
First, before play begins all players need to agree what betting rules will be used (e.g. anteing or blinds). Next, some mechanism, preferably an opaque cup will be used to roll the dice. After that, when the dice are shaken in the cup, immediately flip the cup over in a way that does not reveal the results to other players. Next, each player may peek at their results at any time in a way that does not reveal the results to other players. Finally, players place bets into the pool called a “kitty” to determine who has the best hand. This can be done through any mechanism, but tokens placed in the kitty, such as poker chips or money, are preferred.
Once all bets are placed, all players reveal their dice results. The highest ranking player gets the kitty. In case of ties, the kitty stands in the next round.