Liars Dice

[Patrick Hand]

In Pirates of the Carribean dead man's chest, they are playing "one flop" Liars dice....

It's a standard bar game.... but there are reginal differences with the game... So I will discribe how the game is played in Central California.....

Before I start.... one word of warning.... if the "local" has thier favorite dice cup, and the dice are chipped..... THEY ARE CHEATING..... and interestingly enough.... I've seen this way too often.....

Equipment needed... for each player

one dice cup..... good sturdy leather so you can realy SLAM it onto the bar top...

5 dice (unchipped)

Each player rolls thier dice, and keep the result secret... (also watch for people who will use their thumb to flip thier dice..... (1))

The loser of the last game, or if it's a new game, the person at the far right goes first...... (this is one of the parts with a lot of regional differences.....)

You are betting on the total number in your dice cup (that you know) and the other players dice (that you don't know...)

The first player declires how many of what number rolled on the dice there are..... Their dice and all the other players dice..... You can tell the truth... or bluff .... so no one knows what dice you DO have..........

The next player either has to go higher, or "call" you....

So if you start with 5 Fives.... the next player has to go One higher (5 six's... or 6 ones.....

If "called", all the players reveal their dice...... if there are as many or more than the last player called, then they win..... if there are not enough of the called number, then they lose.......

The loser pushes one of thier die out of thier cup.... they now roll with one less die.....

The game keeps going untill one player has no more dice, and they lose.... (then buy a round for all the other players........)

Dang.... I know I'm forgitting something real obvious here..... but hey.... I (or someone else) can add clairification...........

In the movie, they were only playing "One Flop" not kicking one die out when they lost..... so It's a quicker game that way.....

(1) I've been to some realy cheap dives, where I've seen all sorts of cheating..... the "local" with their chipped dice.... "they are good luck" Ok.... let me roll the ones that are chipped so they always roll 5's...... and I've run into a LOT of "thumbers".... people that will use their thumb to change the dice roll...... It's kinda fun watching someone so dang desperate for a free drink that they will badly cheat for one............

And worse of all.... I'm not that good at Liars dice..... they don't realy need to cheat that badly for a free drink..........

[Mimi Foxmorton]

I actually purchased the Pirate's Dice set from the movie a month or so ago.

Cool cups...cool dice with a skull for one 'number'.... (wild?)

The cups are like in the movie.

$19.99 at Barnes & Noble

I have only opened it to check it out. Was confused by the rules....

(and, still confused listening to Will tell them....)

but, when you say 5 5's.......does that mean 5 dice with the number 5...or dice adding to 25......

I am VERY confused.......

And, don't think I should mix rum with this until I get the rules straight....! LOL!

Also....is it 'sort of' like Pitch......?

Either way....the set is cool.....but, not as cool as Front Porch Classic's 'Shut the Box' game........

~Foxmorton the Confused

[Rumba Rue]

I think a better version would to be use poker chips for betting instead of loosing dice.

As I stated, the less dice one has, there is no chance of winning against those who still have all of theirs.

[Calico Jack]

Found more history on the game - a thread on sailors' games [including Liar Dice] and their provenance is also current in Captain Twill.

https://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7956

And quick notes: losing dice changes the odds for _everyone_, although yes whoever is still in the lead now knows for certain a _slightly_ higher percentage of the total dice, compared to someone who has lost one or more of theirs. That changing ratio is a part of the game mechanic, and one of the things I like about it is that it is not exclusively a betting game [and adding poker chips instead _would_ make it exclusively a betting game]. Also, bidding five "5s" means exactly that - that amongst the total dice on the table [known or hidden], at least five of them are showing the number 5.

[The Doctor]

Either way....the set is cool.....but, not as cool as Front Porch Classic's 'Shut the Box' game........

I got as bunch of people hooked on "Shut the Box". It's great to while away the time at horse shows! :)

[William Blydes]

The version I've played in the Wardroom uses a box with 7 dice. Six are numbered, and one is blank.

The box is 4"x3"x3" with a lid on the top.

Inside the box is a shelf that you can place the dice you want to keep. The shelf is close enough to the lid that they will not move when you shake the box.

Hence the extra die. If you keep the 6 dice on the shelf, at least you will hear one die being rolled around.

To play, one person (usually the loser of the last round) start by shaking the box with all the dice loose.

They then place the 'hand' on the shelf and anounce the the player next to them what they rolled, such as "two 3's".

If the next player accepts the box, they accept what they player says as truth and chooses what dice to keep and puts the rest of the dice in the main area of the box. Rolls and places the hand on the shelf.

If the next player calls, the player has to open the box and show what they rolled. If the bluff is called and the player was lying, then that player must buy the group the next round. If the player was telling the truth, then the calling player is on the hook.

There are lots of ways to mess your buddies up. My favourate is to put all the dice in the main area and make up a new hand. Then announce a reasonable hand. Your buddy next to you gets pissed off, giving a tell and gets screwed

You have lots of opertunity to cheat too. If you want to.

[Black Hearted Pearl]

Aye, thank you for letting me know what to look for in cheaters and how to do it meself now. What! Did I say that out loud? Never mind.

[Sheila]

I just got to play the 'boxed' version of the game this past weekend. It is fun! It is like the dice version of Bullsh**.

[LadyBarbossa]

Haven't bought the Disney PotC Liar's Dice yet (eventually will, though). But with the amount of dice I have... my nephew and I played it briefly the other night.

Rather fun and easy really.

~Lady B

[Patrick Hand]

I forgot a variation of this .....

Ones are "Wild" unless they are called by the first player (and not called up)

So if I'm the first player, and I call 3 ones.... if the player to my right dosen't "call me up" then ones are only ones......(they are "dead")

.... and there have to be 3 or more ones out of mine and everyones dice... or I lose

Otherwise ones are Wild......

So if I roll 1,1,1,6,6...... dang.... your going (well maybe) to be in trouble.... (that many wild dice could work against me also.........)

Rather fun and easy really.

That's why it's such a popular bar game..... easy to learn.... and easy to lose and buy a round ..........

[LongTom]

In the long version, where you go until there is only one die left (and the owner of it is the winner), a variation is that when there are only two dice left, total, you bet on the number of pips showing. Otherwise, when there are only two dice on the table, it gets rather easy to guess how many of a given number on out there. (Gee, 1 or 2? Okay, maybe zero, but the higher numbers are right out, which makes the final round kind of short.)

It's a very fun game. Figuring out how to bid in order to get the next player into an untenable position is the fun of it. Though the time that I called foul on a bid of "14 fives" out of twenty dice...and they were actually there....

[flying-dutch-man]

i plan on gettin' this game this weekend! but if i don't i am gettin' cards for my potc card game deck and maybe 3,4.00$ figures i only have 5 more to collect the whole set! :) but if i get the dice game me an my mates can share a glass of rum (dr.pepper)

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

There is a boxed PotCII set "sold exclusively at Target" which contains a chess set, checkers game, and Liars Dice. I commented on this in another thread... but...

My family is now hooked on Liar's Dice. Of course, we have our own House Rules which work out rather well, as long as someone insists on lying. But if everyone plays it safe and refuses to stick out their necks, then it's a boring game the way we play it.

We have proposed setting up and running a Liar's Dice table at the neighborhood black party this next weekend. My son and I -- yes, in our Pirate garb -- will run a game designed to lose in favor of kids, and will give away a bunch of cheap tattoos, eyepatches, and other stuff.

[Capt Grey]

Thankee Master Hand and ye lot, fer explainin' this game. Me oldest cabin boy were wonderin' what this game be (since he's now seen Dead Man's Chest 3 times).

I be very unlucky at gamblin' so I'll stick t'me copy o' Star Wars Trivial Pursuit.

[Picaroon Lagoon]

For ye what likes hoarding POTC collectibles as much as ye likes playin’ Liars Dice, there be an ‘official’ version which was marketed as Pirates Dice. They’re no longer in production, but can be found in the wilds if yer up fer a bit o treasure hunting! Hardcore collectors, take note, the set was released with box art from both Dead Man’s Chest and a version with At Worlds End packaging (if that sort of thing matters to ye). 
 

In other news, I think I figured out how to share a link to specific photos on me Instagram feed; so if’n ye be interested, this should be a link to a pic of me own set: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce7U-0RjfhM/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== 

[Mary Diamond]

Well done with the link!

Our set is well used, the box long cast away…

[LadyBarbossa]

Aye! I got one. Although, I'm kicking myself terribly for not getting the 3 in 1 PotC game set with Liar's Dice, Chess, and Checkers. 
Tis a good fun game, isn't it? 

 

[Picaroon Lagoon]

1 hour ago, LadyBarbossa said:

Tis a good fun game, isn't it?

I would say so, but you never know when I might be lying 😉

[Stynky Tudor]

Ha! I was first introduced to this game, probably more than a decade ago by Mark Rusty Cutlass. I was a bit stand offish at first, but the rules were easy enough to grasp, it really ended up being a hoot and a lot of fun to play.

Last year I decided to make a couple mini travel sets, but I'm not sure how well they would actually work/play. I think the dice (and cups) are just too small.

 

 

[LadyBarbossa]

Those are awesome, Skynky! 😁👍

[madPete]

looks like you could play dice with em or fill em with grog!

[Picaroon Lagoon]

20 minutes ago, madPete said:

looks like you could play dice with em or fill em with grog!

And If’n he be playin’ a one on one game, ye each be havin’ a cup fer dice and a cup fer grog! 

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

On 5/14/2023 at 6:51 AM, Stynky Tudor said:

I think the dice (and cups) are just too small.

 

At inch and a half the die ain't comfortable to carry, At three inches... well they makes a good life preserver. Now goin' back to reread Patrick's rules cause our groups been doin' it wrong.

[Stynky Tudor]

Whoa, those are some frick'n huge dice!

You'd need a small barrel or medium cask to roll those puppies. Damn, imagine the work out.

[Stynky Tudor]

On 5/15/2023 at 5:10 PM, madPete said:

looks like you could play dice with em or fill em with grog!

Or both maybe?