How to play

The short version

1. Every player secretly picks a number from 15 to 90. This is your Mark.
2. Five dice are rolled three times, 15 dice in all. They add up to one total.
3. There is a round of betting before the first roll and after each roll.
4. At the end, the highest Mark that is at or under the total wins the pot.

Closest Call is free. Chips are play chips with no cash value. They cannot be bought, sold or cashed out.

Your Mark

• Your Mark is your guess at where the 15-dice total will land, without going over it.
• You pick it at the start of every hand, before any dice are rolled. You have 15 seconds.
• Nobody else sees your Mark until the showdown, and you cannot change it during the hand.
• If the timer runs out, the game uses the Mark you chose last time, or 52 if you have not chosen one yet.
• Fifteen dice can total anywhere from 15 to 90. The average total is 52.5, and most hands land between the mid 40s and the low 60s.

A higher Mark beats lower Marks, but only if the total reaches it. A lower Mark is safer, but easier to beat. That trade-off is the whole game.

How a hand plays out

1. Pick your Mark. Everyone locks in a secret number.
2. Blinds. Two players post forced bets: the small blind (10) and the big blind (20). The dealer button moves one seat each hand, so everyone takes a turn.
3. Opening bets. A betting round before any dice are rolled.
4. First roll. Five dice are rolled, then a betting round.
5. Second roll. Five more dice are added to the total, then a betting round.
6. Final roll. The last five dice are added, then the last betting round.
7. Showdown. Marks are revealed and the pot is paid.

While you play, the table shows the running total and your odds of the total reaching your Mark.

Betting

When it is your turn you have 20 seconds to choose one of these:

• Check. Stay in without betting. Only allowed when nobody has bet in this round.
• Bet or raise. Put chips in, or increase the current bet. The smallest bet is the big blind, and a raise must be at least as large as the last raise.
• Call. Match the current bet to stay in.
• Fold. Give up the hand and whatever you have already put in the pot.
• All-in. Bet every chip you have at the table.

• There can be at most four bets and raises in one betting round.
• If your timer runs out, you check if you can, otherwise you fold.
• If everyone else folds, the last player left wins the pot and does not have to show their Mark.

Who wins at the showdown

• The highest Mark that is at or under the total wins. A Mark equal to the total cannot be beaten.
• A Mark above the total is over and loses to any Mark that is not over.
• If every remaining player is over, the lowest Mark wins, because it is the closest.
• Players with the same winning Mark split the pot evenly. Any odd chip goes to the first of them to the left of the dealer button.

All-in and side pots

If you go all-in for less than other players have bet, you can only win the part of the pot you matched from each player. The rest forms a side pot that the remaining players compete for.

Chips, your bank and buy-ins

• Every player starts each season with a bank of 10,000 chips.
• To sit at a table you bring between 200 and 2,000 chips from your bank. When you leave, the chips you have at the table go back to your bank.
• If you run out of chips at a table, you can rebuy from your bank or leave.
• Free chips: the free chips button adds 1,000 chips to your bank. You can use it up to 5 times a day, and it resets at midnight Eastern time. Free chips never count as earnings.

Ways to play

• Sit n Play. A 9-seat table that is always running. Open seats are filled by house bots, which are computer players marked as bots at the table. Blinds stay at 10 and 20.
• Private table. Start a table and send the invite link to friends. Anyone with the link can join.
• Tournaments. You pay a buy-in from your bank and everyone starts with the same tournament stack. Blinds rise on a timer. You play until you run out of tournament chips, and prizes are paid into the winners' banks.

Tournament schedule

• The prize pool is every buy-in plus the bonus pool. Final-table prizes run from 30% for first place down to 3% for ninth.
• Championship registration opens 24 hours before the start and closes at the start time.
• Your buy-in is refunded if you unregister before the start, or if fewer than 2 players register.
• Championship players start with 3,000 tournament chips and blinds rise every 8 minutes. 9-Player Tournaments start with 1,500 and blinds rise every 5 minutes.
• If you are registered but not at your seat, you are still dealt in and your turns check or fold automatically.
• There are no tournaments on Sunday. Sit n Play and private tables run every day.

Seasons and leaderboards

• A season lasts 6 weeks. Each new season you start again with a bank of 10,000 chips.
• Leaderboards show top earners, tournament wins, final tables, top 5 finishes, hands won and biggest pot, for the current season and for all time.
• Earnings count only the chips you win and lose in hands and tournaments. Free chips and your starting bank do not count.
• Your handle and your stats are visible to everyone on the leaderboards.

Leaving and disconnecting

• If you choose to leave during a hand, you leave when that hand ends and your table chips return to your bank.
• If you lose your connection at a regular table, your turns check or fold automatically. After you miss 2 hands you are cashed out and your chips return to your bank.
• In a tournament your seat is kept. Your turns check or fold until you come back or run out of chips.

Fair play

All dice are rolled by the server, and Marks stay hidden on the server until the showdown. Playing by the rules includes following our Acceptable Use Policy.