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Chuck-a-luck, also known as birdcage, or sweat rag, [1] is a game of chance played with three dice. It is derived from grand hazard and both can be considered a variant of sic bo, which is a popular casino game, although chuck-a-luck is more of a carnival game than a true casino game. The game is sometimes used as a fundraiser for charity.
Chuck-a-luck is played with three standard six-sided, numbered dice that are kept in a device shaped somewhat like an hourglass which resembles a wire-frame bird cage and pivots about its centre. The dealer rotates the cage end over end, with the dice landing on the bottom. [2] : 335
Wagers are placed based on possible combinations that can appear on the three dice. The possible wagers are usually fewer than the wagers that are possible in sic bo and, in that sense, chuck-a-luck can be considered to be a simpler game. In the simplest variant, bettors place stakes on a board with six numbered spaces, labelled 1 through 6, inclusive. They receive a 1:1 payout if the number bet on appears once, a 2:1 payout if the number appears twice, and a 3:1 payout if the number is rolled all 3 times. [3] In this respect, the basic game is identical to Crown and Anchor, but with numbered dice instead of symbols. [2] : 338
Additional wagers that are commonly seen, and their associated odds, are set out in the table below.
| Type | Wager | Typical payout | Actual odds [a] | House edge [b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Die Bet | A specific number will appear | 1 die matches: 1 to 1 | 75⁄216 (34.72%) | 4.63% (10:1) [c] 7.87% (3:1) [d] |
| 2 dice match: 2 to 1 | 15⁄216 (6.94%) | |||
| 3 dice match: 10 to 1 [e] | 1⁄216 (0.46%) | |||
| Any Triple [f] | Any of the triples (all three dice show the same number) will appear | 30 to 1 | 6⁄216 (2.78%) | 13.89% |
| Big [f] [g] | The total score will be 11 (sometimes 12) or higher with the exception of a triple | 1 to 1 | 105⁄216 (48.61%) | 2.78% (≥11) |
| Small [f] [g] | The total score will be 10 (sometimes 9) or lower with the exception of a triple | 1 to 1 | 105⁄216 (48.61%) | 2.78% (≤10) |
| Field [f] | The total score will be outside the range of 8 to 12 (inclusive) | 1 to 1 | 91⁄216 (42.13%) | 15.74% (<8 & >12) |
Chuck-a-luck is a game of chance. On average, the players are expected to lose more than they win. The casino's advantage (house advantage or house edge) is greater than most other casino games and can be much greater for certain wagers. According to John Scarne, "habitual gamblers stay away from Chuck-a-Luck because they know how little chance they have against such a high [house edge]. They call Chuck-a-Luck 'the champ chump's game.'" [2] : 101
For the single die bet, there are 216 (6 × 6 × 6) possible outcomes for a throw of three dice. For a specific number:
At payouts of 1 to 1, 2 to 1 and 10 to 1 respectively for each of these types of outcome, the expected loss as a percentage of the stake wagered is:
1 - ((75/216) × 2 + (15/216) × 3 + (1/216) × 11) = 4.6%
At more disadvantageous payouts of 1 to 1, 2 to 1 and 3 to 1, the expected loss as a percentage of the stake wagered is:
1 - ((75/216) × 2 + (15/216) × 3 + (1/216) × 4) = 7.9%
If the payouts are adjusted to 1 to 1, 3 to 1 and 5 to 1 respectively, the expected loss as a percentage is:
1 - ((75/216) × 2 + (15/216) × 4 + (1/216) × 6) = 0%
Commercially organised gambling games almost always have a house advantage which acts as a fee for the privilege of being allowed to play the game, [2] : 55 so the last scenario would represent a payout system used for a home game, where players take turns being the role of banker/casino.
There is a reference to chuck-a-luck in the Abbott and Costello film Hold That Ghost .
In Fritz Lang's 1952 film, Rancho Notorious , chuck-a-luck is the name of the ranch run by Altar Keane (played by Marlene Dietrich) where outlaws hide from the law. Chuck-a-luck is featured in the lyrics to the theme song and in some plot points.
The game is played by Lazar in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun .
The game is played by Freddie Rumsen in Mad Men Season 2 Episode 9: Six-Month Leave.
In Dragonfly in Amber the character Claire Randall describes the activity inside of an inn as having several soldiers playing chuck-a-luck on the floor along with a dog sleeping by the fire and smelling strongly of hops.
Blackjack is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as "twenty-one". This family of card games also includes the European games vingt-et-un and pontoon, and the Russian game Ochko. The game is a comparing card game where players compete against the dealer, rather than each other.
Games available in most casinos are commonly called casino games. In a casino game, the players gamble cash or casino chips on various possible random outcomes or combinations of outcomes. Casino games are also available in online casinos, where permitted by law. Casino games can also be played outside of casinos for entertainment purposes, like in parties or in school competitions, on machines that simulate gambling.
Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other or against a bank. Because it requires little equipment, "street craps" can be played in informal settings. While shooting craps, players may use slang terminology to place bets and actions.
Gambling is the wagering of something of value on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration, risk (chance), and a prize. The outcome of the wager is often immediate, such as a single roll of dice, a spin of a roulette wheel, or a horse crossing the finish line, but longer time frames are also common, allowing wagers on the outcome of a future sports contest or even an entire sports season.
Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets. In some countries it is known as the tote after the totalisator, which calculates and displays bets already made.
Roulette is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the color red or black, whether the number is odd or even, or if the number is high or low.
A slot machine, fruit machine, poker machine or pokies is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers.
Fixed-odds betting is a form of gambling where individuals place bets on the outcome of an event, such as sports matches or horse races, at predetermined odds. In fixed-odds betting, the odds are fixed and determined at the time of placing the bet. These odds reflect the likelihood of a particular outcome occurring. If the bettor's prediction is correct, they receive a payout based on the fixed odds. This means that the potential winnings are known at the time of placing the bet, regardless of any changes in the odds leading up to the event.
Hazard is an early English game played with two dice; it was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the 14th century.
Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine.
Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. It is a prolific form of online gambling.
Vigorish is the fee charged by a bookmaker for accepting a gambler's wager. In American English, it can also refer to the interest owed a loanshark in consideration for credit. The term came to English usage via Yiddish slang which was itself a loanword from Russian.
Cee-lo is a gambling game played with three six-sided dice. There is not one standard set of rules, but there are some constants that hold true to all sets of rules. The name comes from the Chinese Sì-Wŭ-Liù (四五六), meaning "four-five-six". In America it is also called "See-Low," "Four-Five-Six," "The Three Dice Game," "Roll-off!," and by several alternative spellings, as well as simply "Dice." In China it is also called "Sān Liù Bàozi" (三六豹子), or "Three-Six Leopards". In Japan, it is known as "Chinchiro" (チンチロ) or "Chinchirorin" (チンチロリン).
Fan-Tan, or fantan is a gambling game long played in China. It is a game of pure chance.
Sic bo, also known as tai sai (大細), dai siu (大小), big and small or hi-lo, is an unequal game of chance of ancient Chinese origin played with three dice. Grand hazard and chuck-a-luck are variants, both of English origin. The literal meaning of sic bo is "precious dice", while dai siu and dai sai mean "big [or] small".
A progressive jackpot is a jackpot which increases each time the game is played but the jackpot is not won. When the progressive jackpot is won, the jackpot for the next play is reset to a predetermined value, and resumes increasing under the same rule.
Crown and Anchor is a simple dice game, traditionally played for gambling purposes by sailors in the Royal Navy as well as those in the British merchant and fishing fleets.
The Big Six wheel is an unequal game of chance, played using a large vertical wheel that can be spun.
Casino War is a proprietary casino table game based on the game of War. It is distributed by Shuffle Master, a division of Scientific Games. The game is one of the most easily understood casino card games.
The mathematics of gambling is a collection of probability applications encountered in games of chance and can get included in game theory. From a mathematical point of view, the games of chance are experiments generating various types of aleatory events, and it is possible to calculate by using the properties of probability on a finite space of possibilities.
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