How to Play Liar's Dice

Liar's dice is based on draw poker. You bet, you bluff, you lie your head off. The object of the game is to call your opponent's bluff or to convince him to challenge your honest calls.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cups
• Poker Chips
• Dice

1. Supply two to four players with an opaque dice cup, 10 poker chips or other betting counters and five dice.

2. Have each player roll one die. The highest roller will go first; play will proceed to the left.

3. Begin the round with the first player, the caller, shaking five dice in the cup and turning the cup upside down on the table.

4. Peek at your dice if you are the caller, keeping the results hidden from the other players. Decide whether you want to stand pat or draw. If you choose to draw, you may re-roll any number of dice. You may re-roll twice in one turn.

5. Announce your "hand." You must be specific. That is, you can't say, "I have three of a kind." Rather you should say, "I have three fours."

6. Rank the hands in this order: five of a kind; four of a kind; full house (three of a kind and one pair); high straight (2-3-4-5-6); low straight (1-2-3-4-5); three of a kind; two pair; one pair.

7. Move to the next player, who may challenge the caller's statement or roll his dice and make a call on his own hand. To make a call, the hand must be higher than the original caller's hand. The person to this new caller's left may now challenge, or roll and make his own call.

8. Reveal your dice when challenged. If the challenger is wrong and you were honest about your hand, he must put a counter into the pot. If you are caught bluffing, you must put one into the pot.

9. Begin a new round each time a challenge is made.

10. Win the game when you are the only one remaining who has a counter.

Tips & Warnings

• You may announce any hand you wish, regardless of your roll.
• Players can make up to three rolls in one turn, rolling any number of dice and covering the ones they want to save under a hand.
• Betting may also be played as in poker, with each player putting his stake in the pot at the beginning of a round and betting on each call with a wager. Wagers may be matched or raised and then challenged, and players can fold and lose whatever bets they've already placed into the pot.

[ursaminor]

on 5/29/2008 It's better if you play with more than 3 people, because the third person keeps getting 'set up' by the other two. It's a wonderful dice game, and there are some pretty cool variations on the play. Thanks for an excellent article. 5 stars.

[phantom_890]

on 3/22/2007 Ok so lets say I don't challenge and I have 2 Kings so I want to roll 3 dice you just take the 2 Kings out for everyone to see and reroll the remainder?