Empire Holdem

Though poker is a mainstay in many high-class casinos, all you really need for a game is a standard card deck. (Cash or chips are optional, since you can just play for fun if you like.) However, it turns out that it is possible to play poker without cards. Yes, this is indeed true!

A poker-like game can be played with a set of five dice instead of cards. Each face represents the six highest cards in the deck, according to the usual poker rules (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, and Nine). If you wish, you can obtain special dice with the markings of each card on the faces. However, it is probably more practical to use five regular dice. The following valuation scheme can be implemented: 1=Ace, 2=Nine, 3=Ten, 4=Jack, 5=Queen, and 6=King. You are “dealt” your hand according to the results of rolling these dice. Hands are ranked as they usually are in five-card poker, except that flushes are not involved for obvious reasons. A certain variant of Poker Dice, called Horse, surprisingly gives a low ranking to a hand consisting of five Aces. A player with this hand automatically loses.

Fans of traditional card poker, particularly Texas Hold ‘Em, may gripe at the fact that Poker Dice seems to have no room for bluffing. Poker, whether or not it actually involves cards, can seem a lot less thrilling without the drama of trying to detect other players’ poker tells while hiding your own.

For such players, there is the version of this game known as Liar Dice, ideal for two players. Here, players hide their dice (in contrast to “regular” Poker Dice, wherein all dice are clearly visible.) In Liar Dice, you hid the results of your throws from your fellow players. You can then either state your real hand, or bluff and say that you have a much better one. The other player now has two options. If he/she believes you, he/she can try to throw the dice and get a higher-ranking hand, so that the player with the better hand wins. Otherwise, he/she can call your bluff. A mistaken call, will, of course, result in a loss for your opponent. This version of Poker Dice can be a great deal of fun. However, unless play is carefully managed, it can be very easy for the first dice-thrower to cheat. Try to come up with safeguards against this before you start playing, so that the possibility of dishonesty will not be such a huge concern and spoil the game.

Yahtzee and Kismet are both considered variations of Poker Dice, albeit much more complicated than the variants described above. You might also be interested in General, a Puerto Rican version of Poker Dice.

The spirit is strong and versatile enough to permeate a game, even without the aid of something as basic as cards. If you think you know all the variants of poker worth knowing, and are starting to get a little tired of your favorite game, try to give Poker Dice a try.