The drinking game is quite simple. The explanation given is mostly correct, although it leaves out a couple of rules.
1.Firstly, you prepare your dice
Make sure you have exactly 5 dice in the cup, shake it (or any kind of motion), and then lift the cup up so only you can see the dice.
2. Make sure you know what you have
Each die is worth exactly what you see, except that the 1 can be used as any number (wild). The 1 remains wild throughout the game, except when it is "bid" (more on that later). For the vast majority of games, this does not happen very frequently, so MOST of the time, 1 is wild.
3. Generally the person who lost the last time must open with a bid (for the purpose of this explanation, let's assume you lost last game)
Your 5 dice are as follows:
(2) (2) (4) (1) (6)
There are a total of 4 players (including yourself) so you know that there are a total of 20 (4x5dice) in play, of which 15 dice you can't see.
Considering that you have (2) (2) (1), you have "three - twos", with the (1) acting as a wildcard. You decide to bid "EIGHT-(2)", which basically means you are declaring that of the 20 dice in play, at least 8/20 are (2)s. Please note, there is no penalty for lying as long as you don't get caught.
4. The person who bid (you in this case) decides whether the bidding will now go clockwise or counterclockwise.
Generally, this goes counterclockwise if not declared but if there is a rule about this, I don't know it. The original bidder can always dictate the direction once after the opening bid, after which it cannot be changed. In this case, you decide it will be clockwise, which remains this direction until somebody loses.
5. The person whose turn it is now has the option to either enter his own bid that is bigger than yours, or whether to call you a liar
For clarity, subsequent bids must be greater than the last bid. Greater than your bid of "EIGHT-(2)" would be:
NINE-(2)s
TEN-(5)s
or even EIGHT-(3)s.
Note: SEVEN-(6)s is not bigger than the original bid in this case.
The rule can be stated simply as, "Subsequent bids must have a FIRST number that is equal to or greater than the last bid, in the case whether the subsequent bid's FIRST number is equal to the last bid, the SECOND number (denoting what is shown on the die) must be greater than in the original bid.
Note: (1)s are greater than all other numbers shown on the die, including (6)s.
IE: EIGHT-(6)s is < less than EIGHT-(1)s
Although it does not happen frequently, a player may bid (1)s. He may call out EIGHT-(1)s. This has the immediate effect of rendering all (1)s non-wild for the duration of that round of play. This has a dramatic effect on the game, as removing the wild card dice generally reduces how much the next person(s) can bid. This is an advanced bid that can be hard to use properly, so I'd advise avoiding it until you get the hang of the game.
6. The round of bidding continues in the clockwise direction until somebody is declared a liar.
The bids will increasingly grow larger until somebody is forced to call somebody else a liar. You should note that ANYBODY at ANY TIME, may call somebody a liar. It does not need to be your turn to bid to call a liar of somebody.
Also, you can call MULTIPLE people liars in succession.
IE: You bid EIGHT-(2)s, the next person bid NINE-(4)s, the third guy bid ELEVEN-(6)s, and the next guy is thinking what to bid, you can simultaneously call the second and third bidders liars.
7. The dice are examined to determine the loser(s)
The cups are removed and the dice are are counted to see how many of each number exists. Of the twenty dice in play, let's assume the following are showing face-up:
SIX-(2)s, FOUR-(3)s, THREE-(1)s, FIVE-(5s), and TWO-(6)s for a total of twenty dice exposed.
You called both of them liars, so let's see are there NINE-(4)s and ELEVEN-(6)s?
There are a total of only THREE-(4)s composed of the THREE-(1)s wildcards, so that bidder loses and must drink
There are a total of only FIVE-(6)s composed of the THREE-(1)s wildcards plus the TWO-(6)s, so that bidder also loses and must drink.
However, if there were NINE-(4)s, the one calling LIE must drink. If there were ELEVEN-(6)s, the one calling LIE must drink again. You can end up on the hook for as many drinks as liars you call. So if you call liar on two people or more simultaneously, you must be prepared to drink one drink for each one that you were wrong in calling a liar. If you expose them as liars, they must drink one each.
8. Start all over, with the loser of this round opening the original bid to start.
TIPS:
1. Lying, especially in early rounds is useful for disguising your true dice. If you have ZERO-(4)s, you may consider pretending as if you have many, and then switching your bid in later rounds.
2. Don't bid (1)s until you know what you are doing. Advanced play requires advanced skill.
3. Gauge how much you can bid based on the amount of players in the game, and what they have previously bid. One of the biggest ways to play wrong here is always increasing the bid by the barest increments, this is wrong play. The correct play is to bid as close to the edge as possible, forcing the next player to bid a number that somebody will call a liar.
4. Call liar on people out-of-turn when you notice that it will be impossibly high when your turn to bid comes. You should do this sparingly, as you don't want to be wrong and lose all the time. However, it is better to gamble when you have a chance to win, rather than wait for your turn and be unable to offer a realistic bid. This is also related to tip 3.
5. This ia Liar's dice, so people lie nonstop. The more advanced players are generally lying from the first bid, and switch back and forth to confuse you.
As in advanced poker, this game is not really about your dice, but about what other people think you may have. | |
