Poker dice challenges a player’s luck and strategy as they create the highest poker hands with a set of dice. The game is a unique twist of traditional poker where you can enjoy new challenges and outwit different poker players and their strategies. If you love online casino games, you’ll definitely want to try poker dice. Read on to learn about the game’s history and how to play poker dice.
History of Poker Dice
Poker dice dates back to the 18th century in the United States. It was developed by an unknown creator in 1881 and is said to be a variation of traditional poker that started when players began experimenting with different poker formats, strategies, gaming structures and adaptations. Over the years, poker has created different types of players, each with their unique strategies and gameplay, and variations of the card game have also honed new skills and pushed players to overcome numerous gaming challenges. With the introduction of the internet and digital gaming, the game of poker dice has gained even more exposure and is offered on multiple online gambling platforms.
The Fundamentals
Poker dice imitates traditional poker. However, instead of using playing cards, you’ll use dice to play. Five standard six-sided dice are needed. The six sides represent the six highest cards — ace, king, queen, jack, 10 and 9 — in a standard deck of poker playing cards.
This unique game is usually played by two or more players. Poker dice rules are also very easy to learn. The goal of this poker game is to throw the highest hand — a five-of-a-kind. There are no flush hands in this game.
Each “hand” of poker dice lasts only three rounds. Players take turns rolling dice, and after their first roll, they can either stand or draw (roll again.) If they decide to draw, they’ll set aside any dice they want to keep and re-roll up to three dice. The player with the best hand at the end of the round wins the pot.
Equipment
Before you can enjoy a good game of poker dice, there are a few essential items you need.
Dice Set
You can use six ordinary dice or get yourself a set of poker dice printed with images of the six highest poker cards — ace, king, queen, jack, 10, and 9. These dice have unique color codes that represent card symbols on a regular poker deck — red for kings, green for queens, and blue for jacks.
Dice Cup
Some players like to use dice shakers or dice cups to play this variant of poker. While a dice cup is not a prerequisite for playing the game, it adds an element of suspense and surprise for players.
Notepad and Writing Tools
These will help you keep track of the game and accurately decipher the winner.
Hand Rankings
Hands listed here are ranked from highest to lowest.
Five of a Kind
This is the highest poker hand a player can attain in a game of poker dice. A five-of-a-kind of aces ranks the highest while 9s rank the lowest.
Four of a Kind
This is the second-highest poker hand you can achieve. Aces also rank the highest, while 9s rank the lowest.
Full House
A full house consists of three of a kind and a pair. The more aces in your hand, the higher your hand ranking.
Straight
A straight involves five consecutive dice values. For example, a player with a combination of ace, king, queen, jack, and 10 will beat a player with a king, queen, jack, 10, and 9 combination.
Three of a Kind
Three aces rank the highest, while 9s rank the lowest.
Two Pair
This hand consists of a combination of two dice pairs with the same symbols each. For example, a player with two dice pairs of aces and 10s and a single 9 has a higher hand than a player with two dice pairs of kings and queens and a single 10.
One Pair
A pair of aces ranks higher than a pair of 9s.
Highest Die Rank According to Highest Backers
On this hand, there are no pairs. Each die is different. However, a winner can be deciphered by the rank of a symbol. A player with a hand consisting of a king, ace, jack, 10 and 9 has a higher hand than a player with a combination of ace, queen, jack, 10 and 9.
Unique Variants
Poker dice offers fun and intriguing variants of its original version loved by poker players.
Marlboro
The Marlboro version was previously marketed by the tobacco company as a set of octahedral poker game dice. The dice had a unique and beautiful structure, with each die representing traditional poker cards from 7 to ace. Koplow Games makes a similar type of dice today.
Aurora
In 1974, Aurora developed a 12-sided dice titled Jimmy the Greek Odds Maker Poker Dice. A similar dice was developed by Aurora and Rex Games. However, these dice were called Royal Poker Dice, and each 12-faced die featured all 52 playing cards in the classical poker game. The other eight faces in the dice featured stars, which represent wild cards so players could roll every type of poker hand.
Liar’s Dice
This is the most commonly used poker dice. It primarily involves bluffing poker tactics where players roll their dice behind a screen and announce their hands. The next player can choose to roll to try and better the hand that was called or confront the player with a claim of bluffing. If confronted, the player must reveal their hand. If they announced their hand truthfully, they would win. If they’re caught bluffing, the player who made the confrontation wins the hand.
Yahtzee
This is a type of poker game dice that uses a scoreboard.
Horses
This dice game follows the same gaming structure as regular poker. However, you lose when you get a hand with five aces.
Poker Dice Markings
While you can play with regular dice, you can also buy sets of dice specifically for poker dice. These dice are marked with images or numbers representing a standard deck of poker cards. Some dice are marked with numbers or letters signifying poker symbols. For example, the number 1 or the letter A can represent an ace. Some dice have colored images of kings, queens and other symbols that are present in a regular poker deck.
Roll Your Poker Dice With Borgata Online
Poker dice offers a fun twist of traditional poker games online that many players enjoy today. If you want to test your poker skills and ability to adapt to new poker challenges, register at Borgata Online to play online casino games like slots, bingo, keno and online poker and take part in online poker tournaments.