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.
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.
Each variety of poker dice varies slightly in regard to suits, though the ace of spades is almost universally represented. 9♣ and 10♦ are frequently found, while face cards are traditionally represented not by suit, but instead by color: red for kings, green for queens and blue for jacks. Manufacturers have not standardized the colors of the face sides.
Note that neither a "flush" nor a "straight flush" is possible, due to the lack of suits on the dice. [1] [2]
The game also may be played with ordinary dice. In this case, the 1-pip side is high, representing the ace, followed by 6 (K), 5 (Q), 4 (J), 3 (10), and 2 (9). [3] [4] On mutual agreement, players may designate certain faces as wild. [5]
The classic poker dice game is played with five six-sided dice and two or more players, but typically no more than five. [5] Each player has a total of three rolls and the ability to hold dice in between rolls. [5] After the three rolls, the best hand wins. In some variations, only two rolls are allowed, [3] and in others, the number of dice that may be re-rolled is limited to three. [4] If the first to roll uses less than three rolls, generally that limit applies to subsequent players. [5] [6] : 242
Ties are broken by the dice used in the combination, then by the dice not counted in the combination. For example, suppose three players each have four of a kind. They would rank as follows:
Alternatively, and especially when the five dice are shared amongst the players, the dice not used in the combination can be disregarded, speeding up the game, although there could be more ties. [6] : 240, 241
Because there are six faces on each die and five dice, there are six distinct rolls in which all five dice have different values:
Each of these sequences has an exact probability of 120⁄7776.
In older variations of the game, straights are counted as busts. [5] There are only two possible straights with Poker Dice, namely: [6]
The combined probability of rolling either straight is 240⁄7776. This means a Straight is less probable than a Full House (300⁄7776), so, if counted, it should rank above a Full House, though tradition usually ranks it below Full House, as in card poker.
In some rules, only the low straight to a King [9 10 J Q K] is called a Straight, while the high straight to an Ace [10 J Q K A] is called (incorrectly) a Flush. Under these rules, the Straight (low straight) beats a Full House (unlike in card poker, but correctly reflecting its probability) but does not beat a Four of a Kind (incorrectly reflecting its lower probability). A Flush (high straight) beats a Four of a Kind (unlike in card poker, but correctly reflecting its lower probability).
Alternatively, a straight could be ranked between four and five of a kind, or either of the four bust hands could be called a flush, ranking between a full house and a straight. [6] : 241
There are 65 = 7,776 potential combinations when rolling five six-sided dice. The poker dice hand rankings and the corresponding probabilities of rolling that hand are as follows: [7] [8] [9] [10]
| Hand [4] : 104–105 | Probability [b] | Wagering | Examples | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exact | Percentage | 1 in ... | Pays [11] | House edge | |||
| Five of a kind | 6 / 7776 | 0.08% | 1296 | 500 to 1 | 61.42% | J J J J J |  |
| Four of a kind | 150 / 7776 | 1.93% | 51.8 | 40 to 1 | 22.84% | 10 10 10 10 A |   |
| Full house | 300 / 7776 | 3.86% | 25.9 | 20 to 1 | 22.84% | K K K 9 9 |   |
| Straight [c] | 240 / 7776 | 3.09% | 32.4 | — [d] | A K Q J 10 |  | |
| Three of a kind | 1200 / 7776 | 15.43% | 6.5 | 5 to 1 | 22.84% | 9 9 9 K J | |
| Two pair | 1800 / 7776 | 23.15% | 4.3 | 3 to 1 | 30.56% | Q Q 9 9 A | |
| One pair | 3600 / 7776 | 46.3% | 2.2 | 1 to 1 | 53.7% | 10 10 K Q 9 | |
| Bust (high card; no pair, no straight) | 480 / 7776 [e] | 6.17% | 16.2 | — | A K Q J 9 | | |
The combined probability of a straight or a bust is 720⁄7776. As previously noted, variations of the game may rank the straight higher than a full house, and a bust higher than three of a kind.
Marlboro once marketed a set of octahedral poker dice that included suits; each die had slightly different numberings, ranging from 7 up to ace. A similar set is currently manufactured by Koplow Games. [13] [14]
In 1974, Aurora produced a set of 12-sided poker dice called "Jimmy the Greek Odds Maker Poker Dice" [15] and in 2000, Aurora/Rex Games produced a similar set under the name "Royal Poker Dice". [16] The sets featured five 12-sided dice allowing for all 52 playing cards to be represented. The remaining 8 faces featured stars and acted as wild cards allowing for every possible poker hand to be rolled.
A two-player variant of the game Liar's Dice can be played with Poker dice. Players roll their own set of Poker dice behind a screen, and bid and call based on Poker dice hands.
Five-card draw is a poker variant that is considered the simplest variant of poker, and is the basis for video poker. As a result, it is often the first variant learned by new players. It is commonly played in home games but rarely played in casino and tournament play. The variant is also offered by some online venues, although it is not as popular as other variants such as seven-card stud and Texas hold 'em.
A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are drawing to a flush. In contrast, a made hand already has value and does not necessarily need to draw to win. A made starting hand with no help can lose to an inferior starting hand with a favorable draw. If an opponent has a made hand that will beat the player's draw, then the player is drawing dead; even if they make their desired hand, they will lose. Not only draws benefit from additional cards; many made hands can be improved by catching an out – and may have to in order to win.
In a poker game with more than one betting round, an out is any unseen card that, if drawn, will improve a player's hand to one that is likely to win. Knowing the number of outs a player has is an important part of poker strategy. For example, in draw poker, a hand with four diamonds has nine outs to make a flush: there are 13 diamonds in the deck, and four of them have been seen. If a player has two small pairs, and he believes that it will be necessary for him to make a full house to win, then he has four outs: the two remaining cards of each rank that he holds.
Omaha hold 'em is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards. The exact origin of the game is unknown, but casino executive Robert Turner first brought Omaha into a casino setting when he introduced the game to Bill Boyd, who offered it as a game at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget Casino. Omaha uses a 52-card French deck. Omaha hold 'em 8-or-better is the "O" game featured in H.O.R.S.E.
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.
Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially in Finland where a specific variant of five-card stud called Sökö is played. The word sökö is also used for checking in Finland.
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River, is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was one of the most widely played poker variants in home games across the United States and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Although seven-card stud is not as common in casinos today, it is still played online. The game is commonly played with two to eight players; however, eight may require special rules for the last cards dealt if no players fold. Playing with nine players is possible.
Texas hold 'em is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards, later an additional single card, and a final card. Each player seeks the best five-card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards: the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot. In certain situations, a "split pot" or "tie" can occur when two players have hands of equivalent value. This is also called "chop the pot". Texas hold 'em is also the H game featured in HORSE and HOSE.
In poker, the probability of each type of 5-card hand can be computed by calculating the proportion of hands of that type among all possible hands.
Lowball or low poker is a variant of poker in which the normal ranking of hands is inverted. Several variations of lowball poker exist, differing in whether aces are treated as high cards or low cards, and whether straights and flushes are used.
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.
Suited connectors is a poker term referring to pocket cards that are suited and consecutive, for example Q♥ J♥. These hands are considered stronger than average because they have the highest potential to form straights and flushes when combined with the community cards.
Non-standard poker hands are hands which are not recognized by official poker rules but are made by house rules. Non-standard hands usually appear in games using wild cards or bugs. Other terms for nonstandard hands are special hands or freak hands. Because the hands are defined by house rules, the composition and ranking of these hands is subject to variation. Any player participating in a game with non-standard hands should be sure to determine the exact rules of the game before play begins.
Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low. It is one of the oldest forms of poker, and has been played since the start of the 20th century. It emerged around the time people started using the 52-card deck instead of 20 for poker.
Chinese poker is a card game based on poker hand rankings. It is intended as a beginner-friendly game, with only a basic knowledge of poker hand rankings needed to get started. The format allows for frequent unexpected outcomes due to the large element of luck involved, meaning a beginner has a good chance of winning in the short term against even experienced opponents.
Teen patti is a gambling card game. Teen Patti originated in India and is popular throughout South Asia. It originated in the English game of three-card brag, with influences from poker. It is also called flush or flash in some areas.
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.
Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round. The cards dealt face down to each individual player are called hole cards, which gave rise to the common English expression ace in the hole for any hidden advantage.
Draw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards.
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