Liars' Dice

Summary

Liars' Dice is an old gambling game that is generally enjoyed by seafarers. In the game, players roll a "hand" of dice, and then take turns making speculative claims about how many dice of certain values are present at the table. If someone believes that another player has made a faulty claim, they accuse that player of lying. Liars or faulty accusers must discard their dice between rounds. Typically, the last player with dice wins.

Rules

Liars' Dice can have an unlimited number of players, but requires at least two to start. The number of dice, as well as the sides per die, is decided at the start of the game. At the beginning of each round, all players roll a hand with their remaining dice, and keep the results secret.

Turn Order

Turn order is decided as follows:

On the first round of the game, the players must decide among them who will start. If no consensus is reached, it must be randomly decided.
For every turn other than the first, the player who lost the last round begins.
If the player who lost the last round was eliminated, the player with the least dice begins.
If two players share the least amount of dice, the player with the least chips between them begins.
If two players share the least amount of dice and the least amount of chips, they must randomly decide between them who begins

Turn Actions

The valid actions that can be taken during one's turn are:

Meet the pot - at the beginning of the turn, the player must meet the minimum pot in order to remain in the round, otherwise they must fold.
Go All In - if the player cannot meet the minimum bet, they can bet all of their remaining money and accuse their predecessor of lying.
Raise the bet - the player may raise the bet to any value above the current bet.
Make a claim - the player may make a claim larger than the last.
Make an accusation - the player may accuse the last player of lying.
Fold - the player can forfeit the round, automatically losing one die.

At the beginning of each round, the minimum pot is typically set to the round number (Round 1 = 1 gp; Round 2 = 2 gp; etc.)

Making Claims

A claim is a speculative statement about how many dice are present between all rolled hands. The first claim of a round is usually a player's lowest accurate claim, or the smallest possible claim that is not a lie. Each subsequent claim in the round must become bigger until one player accuses another of lying. In order for a claim to be bigger, it must have either:

A larger quantity than the last. (e.g. The last player claimed there were two 3's at the table, so the next player claims there are three 3's)
A larger face value than the last. (e.g. The last player claimed there were four 3's at the table, so the next player claims there is one 5)

Making Accusations

A player can accuse the previous player's claim of being a lie. In order to do this, the current player must meet the minimum pot or go all in. Each player must then announce how many of the face value in question they have. If the total number of the face value is greater than or equal to the quantity claimed, then the claim is true. Otherwise, the claim is a lie. If the claim was a lie, the liar must discard a die and the accuser wins half of the round's pot. If the claim was true, the accuser must discard a die and the claimant wins half of the round's pot. The other half of the pot goes to the game's running pot. If a player runs out of dice this way, they lose the game and are ejected from it.

Ending the Game

The game ends when there is only one player remaining. That player wins the game's running pot.

Popular House Rules

More often than not, 1's are considered to be wild and can be applied to any face value.
In Loria, a typical hand is usually three eight-sided dice.