Dice poker, explained

What people mean by dice poker

"Dice poker" covers two different kinds of game:

• Poker hands made with dice. In classic poker dice, players roll five dice and try to make hands such as three of a kind, a full house or five of a kind. The skill is in choosing which dice to keep and which to roll again.
• Poker betting played over dice. Here the dice replace the shared cards, and the game is about betting: blinds, raises, bluffs and folds, with a pot that goes to the best position at the showdown.

Closest Call is the second kind. It keeps the betting that makes poker tense and drops everything you would normally have to memorize.

How Closest Call works

1. Each player secretly picks a number from 15 to 90, called a Mark. This takes the place of your hole cards.
2. Two players post the blinds, and there is an opening round of betting.
3. Five dice are rolled in the middle of the table for everyone, followed by a betting round. This happens three times, so 15 dice are rolled in all.
4. At the showdown the Marks are revealed. The highest Mark that is at or under the total of all 15 dice wins the pot. If every remaining player went over, the lowest Mark wins.

The full details are on the rules page, and the odds for every Mark are in the strategy guide.

What it shares with poker

• Small and big blinds, and a dealer button that moves each hand.
• Check, bet, call, raise, fold and all-in, with side pots when players are all-in for different amounts.
• Hidden information: nobody knows your Mark until the showdown.
• Shared information that arrives in stages, like the flop, turn and river. Each roll changes who is ahead.
• Bluffing. If everyone else folds, you win without showing your number.
• Cash-style tables and tournaments with rising blinds.

What is different

• No hand rankings. There is nothing to learn about flushes, straights or kickers. One number is compared with one total.
• You choose your own hand. In poker you are dealt cards. Here you decide how bold to be before the hand starts.
• The odds are easy to see. Fifteen dice average 52.5, and the table shows your live chance of the total reaching your Mark.
• Hands are quick. There are four short betting rounds and a 20-second timer on every decision.

Where to play

Closest Call runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. It is free, there is nothing to download, and you do not need an email address: you pick a handle and sit down. Tables seat up to 9, and open seats are filled by house bots so a game is always running. There are public leaderboards, a Daily Championship at 8 PM Eastern from Monday to Saturday, and private tables you can share with friends.

Chips are play chips with no cash value, and the game is for adults aged 18 and over.

Play now   Read the rules