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Faizan
Dice have been used for gambling and social games for thousands of years across many cultures; the most popular form of dice are the ubiquitous six-sided versions found in Las Vegas betting games and innumerable board games. While many dice games are sold as sets with official rules--like Yahtzee! and backgammon--some of the most popular dice games use nothing more than dice and agreed-upon house rules.
Farkle
Farkle is a dice game comprising two or more players who roll six dice in order to achieve points based on the combinations of the numbers rolled. Each player begins his turn by throwing all six dice. Different combinations yield different point values, as follows: each 1 scores 100; each 5 scores 50; three 1's score 1000; and threes of 2-6 are multiplied by 100 to yield point values of 200-600. The dice that make a point value can be gathered after the first roll and "banked," meaning that any points scored are tallied and the dice are passed to the next player. The player can also set aside the dice that make a score and try rolling the remaining dice to achieve higher scores. However, if any dice thrown after the first roll results in a non-scoring die, the player has "farkled" and loses all points; he must then pass the dice to the next player. If the player scores points with all six dice in the first roll, he not only gets to bank all those points, but he also has "hot dice," which means he gets an additional round of rolls that may add points to his totals. Players typically play to an agreed-upon point total, such as 10,000. Since farkle is a old folk game, there are numerous local variations of the rules on top of these basic ones; these home rules must be agreed upon before play.
Bunco
Bunco is a social game that requires little, if any, skill and relies on random chance to achieve points. The game was a popular form of illegal gambling in the 1920s, giving rise to "bunco squads" that tried to bust up games and arrest participants. The game has steadily risen as a family game for the past few decades and attained a much more wholesome reputation. Bunco is played in six rounds; the target number for each round matches the number of that round. For example, players in round 1 seek to roll a 1, while players in round 2 seek to roll a 2, and so on. Three dice are rolled each round, and points are given for each target number rolled. If a player should roll a three-of-a-kind of the target number, then she gets a bonus score of 21 points (called a "bunco"). Play in each round continues until someone achieves a total of 21 points, in which case that person has won that round. The person who has won the most rounds at the end of the game is declared the overall winner.
Craps
Perhaps the most well-known dice game of all time is craps, a betting game with a highly-stylized table that has been popularized in countless Las Vegas nightclubs and Hollywood movies. The rules and strategies for this seemingly simple game can fill books, but the basic rules are fairly straight forward. The person who rolls the dice is called a "shooter," and the first roll of the dice is called the "come out" roll. If a 7 or 11 is rolled on this very first attempt, the shooter wins and gets another "come out" roll. If the first roll results in a 2, 3 or 12, then the shooter automatically loses the game and is entitled to another "come out" roll. If the first roll does not result in a 2, 3, 7 or 12, then that number is now the "point" roll and must be repeated to win. For instance, if the first roll by a shooter is a 6, then that number becomes the point roll. In this example, the shooter must then roll repeatedly until another 6 is rolled, in which case the shooter wins, or until a 7 is rolled, in which case the shooter loses and hands the dice to the next player. The shooter and the other players of the game can place bets in a wide variety of outcomes for both themselves and the other players.
Farkle
Farkle is a dice game comprising two or more players who roll six dice in order to achieve points based on the combinations of the numbers rolled. Each player begins his turn by throwing all six dice. Different combinations yield different point values, as follows: each 1 scores 100; each 5 scores 50; three 1's score 1000; and threes of 2-6 are multiplied by 100 to yield point values of 200-600. The dice that make a point value can be gathered after the first roll and "banked," meaning that any points scored are tallied and the dice are passed to the next player. The player can also set aside the dice that make a score and try rolling the remaining dice to achieve higher scores. However, if any dice thrown after the first roll results in a non-scoring die, the player has "farkled" and loses all points; he must then pass the dice to the next player. If the player scores points with all six dice in the first roll, he not only gets to bank all those points, but he also has "hot dice," which means he gets an additional round of rolls that may add points to his totals. Players typically play to an agreed-upon point total, such as 10,000. Since farkle is a old folk game, there are numerous local variations of the rules on top of these basic ones; these home rules must be agreed upon before play.
Bunco
Bunco is a social game that requires little, if any, skill and relies on random chance to achieve points. The game was a popular form of illegal gambling in the 1920s, giving rise to "bunco squads" that tried to bust up games and arrest participants. The game has steadily risen as a family game for the past few decades and attained a much more wholesome reputation. Bunco is played in six rounds; the target number for each round matches the number of that round. For example, players in round 1 seek to roll a 1, while players in round 2 seek to roll a 2, and so on. Three dice are rolled each round, and points are given for each target number rolled. If a player should roll a three-of-a-kind of the target number, then she gets a bonus score of 21 points (called a "bunco"). Play in each round continues until someone achieves a total of 21 points, in which case that person has won that round. The person who has won the most rounds at the end of the game is declared the overall winner.
Craps
Perhaps the most well-known dice game of all time is craps, a betting game with a highly-stylized table that has been popularized in countless Las Vegas nightclubs and Hollywood movies. The rules and strategies for this seemingly simple game can fill books, but the basic rules are fairly straight forward. The person who rolls the dice is called a "shooter," and the first roll of the dice is called the "come out" roll. If a 7 or 11 is rolled on this very first attempt, the shooter wins and gets another "come out" roll. If the first roll results in a 2, 3 or 12, then the shooter automatically loses the game and is entitled to another "come out" roll. If the first roll does not result in a 2, 3, 7 or 12, then that number is now the "point" roll and must be repeated to win. For instance, if the first roll by a shooter is a 6, then that number becomes the point roll. In this example, the shooter must then roll repeatedly until another 6 is rolled, in which case the shooter wins, or until a 7 is rolled, in which case the shooter loses and hands the dice to the next player. The shooter and the other players of the game can place bets in a wide variety of outcomes for both themselves and the other players.
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