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Balut is a game of dice, similar to Yahtzee, created by United States soldiers as an alternative to poker, and is a popular pastime of businessmen overseas. The game is named after a delicacy made from the fetal duck egg available in some Southeast Asian countries.
Edgar "Eddie" Woolbright was an American soldier stationed in the Philippines who remained there for the rest of his life, becoming a successful local businessman. [1] The origin story that is recounted for the game by its players is that two U.S. soldiers were in one of Woolbright's early establishments in Tacloban, the Woolbright Tacloban Airline Hotel, stuck for a drinking/gambling game to play because they had no playing cards but wanted to play poker. [2] They settled on playing poker with dice rather than cards, inventing what they initially called "poker dice". [2]
Originally the game's format only extended to two players, but some Europeans staying at the same hotel who also wanted to play extended the game to more than two players. [2] The "poker dice" game gained its current name when Woolbright and some players out on a walk one day, hearing the cries of "balut!" by balut egg vendors, decided that that would be the name of the game. [2] Woolbright took the game from Tacloban to his later establishments in the Philippines as his businesses grew, and also played it at the British Club in Cebu City. [2] Other people exported it elsewhere: a British captain to Singapore, and some expatriate Scandinavians to Thailand. [2] An International Balut Federation was created in 1972. [2]
The international Danish community has taken the game as a popular method of social interaction abroad and at home, with Danish expatriates/businessmen gathering to play the game monthly. Rules of the game, code of conduct including dress code are enforced by participants and by the gamemasters, and games are organized by members of the International Balut Federation, or IBF. [3]
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The game involves rolling five dice up to 3 times to make various combinations, which are noted on a scorecard. A Balut is a five-of-a-kind of any denomination, but unlike in Yahtzee it counts for little in terms of points. Players who obtain a Balut announce it to the other players by calling out "Balut!"—similar to calling out "bingo!", and note it on a special scorecard. Players try to guess before gameplay how many Baluts will be made during the game; correctly guessing the total number can earn a prize. [4]
On a turn, player may roll the dice up to three times. After a roll, player may take one or more dice out of play to save their result and then roll the remaining dice. There are seven scoring combinations that the player may only achieve once. At the end of the turn, the player will score per the combo created. If the player cannot create a combo, then player must scratch one of their remaining unfulfilled combos. That scratched combo is no longer playable for the remainder of the game. Play then continues to the left until all players have completed the 7 combo possibilities with a score or a scratch. Further rounds may be played...high score wins.
Possible Combinations:
In 1973, the game was brought into Singapore and a set of rules was established at Singapore Town Club in 1978. This set of rules was later spread to other private clubs in Singapore and to other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. [5] [6] Although the Singapore Town Club ceased existence in 2000 other clubs continue the name for the tournament. These Clubs organize regular local and international tournaments as well as gathering together each year for the STC Balut Interport Championship. The 28th was held at the British Club Bangkok in 2008 and the 29th was held at the Sabah Golf & Country Club in 2009. In 2017 the international competition was held at the Sarawak Club in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
In 2010 the 30th STC Interport Competition was held at the British Club Bangkok on 19 to 21 November.
Pai gow poker is a version of pai gow that is played with playing cards, instead of traditional pai gow's Chinese dominoes. The game of pai gow poker was created in 1985 in the United States by Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club.
Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley. It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier dice games such as Poker Dice, Yacht and Generala. It is also similar to Yatzy, which is popular in Scandinavia.
Big two is a card game of Cantonese origin. It is similar to the games of winner, daifugō, president, crazy eights, cheat, and other shedding games. The game is very popular in East Asia and in Southeast Asia, especially throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. It is played both casually and as a gambling game. It is usually played with two to four players, the entire deck being dealt out in either case. The objective of the game is to be the first to play off all of one's cards.
Farkle, or Farkel, is a dice game similar to or synonymous with 1000/5000/10000, Cosmic Wimpout, Greed, Hot Dice, Squelch, Zilch, or Zonk. Its origins as a folk game are unknown, but the game dates back to at least the mid-1980s. It has been marketed commercially since 1996 under the brand name Pocket Farkel by Legendary Games Inc. While the basic rules are well-established, there is a wide range of variation in both scoring and play.
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Kismet is a commercial dice game introduced in 1964. The game's name is the Turkish word for "fate". E. William DeLaittre holds the trademark on the game, which was originally published by Lakeside Games, and which is currently produced by Endless Games. Marketed as "The Modern Game of Yacht", the game play is similar to Yacht and Yahtzee, with a few variations. A primary distinction is that in Kismet, the sides of the dice have different colored pips.
Cosmic Wimpout is a dice game produced by C3, Inc in 1976. It is similar to 1000/5000/10000, Farkle, Greed, Hot Dice, Squelch, Zilch, to name but a few. The game is played with five custom dice, and may use a combination score board and rolling surface, in the form of a piece of cloth or felt available in various colors and designs. Players supply their own game piece for score keeping.
The Singapore national cricket team is the team that represents Singapore in international cricket. Singapore has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1974, and was a founding member of the Asian Cricket Council formed in 1983.
Chingona is a dice game played by two or more players, using four or five dice and a cup. It is usually played to decide who is to pay for the next round of drinks, but betting can also be involved.
Poker dice are dice which, instead of having number pips, have representations of playing cards upon them. Poker dice have six sides, one each of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, and 9, and are used to form a poker hand.
Yatzy is a dice game similar to Yacht and Yahtzee. It is related to the Latin American game Generala and the English game of poker dice. Yatzy is most popular in the Nordic countries.
Generala is a dice game similar to the English game of poker dice, the German game Kniffel, and the Polish game Jacy-Tacy (yahtzee-tahtzee). The American variant of Generala, Yahtzee, is the most popular variant. Although it is sometimes played in Europe and the United States, Generala is most popular in Ibero-America.
Jack-Bot is a 1995 pinball game which was designed by Barry Oursler and Larry DeMar, and released by Williams. It is the third game in the Pin-Bot series, following Pin-Bot (1986) and The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot (1991).
A number of related games under the Yahtzee brand have been produced. They all commonly use dice as the primary tool for game play, but all differ generally. As Yahtzee itself has been sold since 1954, the variants released over the years are more recent in comparison, with the oldest one, Triple Yahtzee, developed in 1972, eighteen years after the introduction of the parent game.
Power Yahtzee is a variation on the classic dice game Yahtzee first published by Winning Moves Games USA in 2007. It includes a sixth multiplier die called a "Power die" and an expanded scoresheet. This game is no longer in production.
Family Game Night is an American television game show based on Hasbro's family of board games and EA's video game franchise of the same name. The show was hosted by Todd Newton. Burton Richardson was the announcer for the first two seasons; he was replaced by Stacey J. Aswad in the third season, and Andrew Kishino was hired for the fourth season. The 60-minute program debuted on October 10, 2010, on The Hub ; it was previewed on October 9, 2010, on its sister channel, TLC. Seasons 1 and 2 contained 26 and 30 episodes respectively. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 each contained 15 episodes. Season 2 premiered on Friday, September 2, 2011, with additional games being added. The games added to the second season included Cranium Brain Breaks, Green Scream, Ratuki Go-Round, Simon Flash, Operation Sam Dunk, Trouble Pop Quiz, and Spelling Bee. However games from the previous season were still kept.
Yacht is a public domain dice game, similar to the Latin American game Generala, the English game of Poker Dice, the Scandinavian Yatzy, and Cheerio. Yacht dates back to at least 1938, and is a contemporary of the similar three-dice game Crag. Yahtzee is a later development, similar to Yacht in both name and content.
Crag is a dice game similar to Yacht and Yahtzee. It is played with three dice. The game is quicker to play than Yahtzee, and in Clement Wood and Gloria Goddard's 1940 Complete Book of Games, it is described as a game that "shares with Yacht the supremacy among sequence dice-casting games".
Cacho Alalay is a popular dice game from Latin America. It is similar to Yahtzee/Yatzy. The purpose of the game is to roll five dice and score points from their combinations. The dice are rolled from a leather cup.
Edgar Ray Woolbright was an American entrepreneur who planned and developed the Beverly Hills subdivision of Lahug, Cebu City in the Philippines.
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