Würfel Poker
Würfel Poker Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Content
- 1 game board
- 18 dice
Objective
Dice luck and poker faces – use tactical skill to set three rows of three dice each against your opponent. A three of a kind wins against a straight, a straight beats a pair, and a six beats a five. Whoever has the two (or three) strongest rows wins.
Setup
The board is placed between the players and the dice next to the board. The board has three rows; each row has 2 by three fields. One player plays on the left and the other on the right.
Gameplay
Both players throw one die each and the player with the highest number is the starting player. The starting player throws three dice. They choose one of the dice and place it on a free field on their side of the board. Then the opponent chooses one of the remaining dice and sets it on a free spot on their side of the field. Finally, the starting player places the last die on a free space on his side of the board. Now it's the other player's turn. They throw three new dice, choose a die, then the opponent chooses a die, and finally, the starting player receives the remaining die to place. Play continues this way until there are no more dice left.
Example: Player 2 is up. If he places the 5 in row 1, his pair is higher than player 1's pair in row 1. Player 1 now has to triple with another 4 to win this row.
Example: Player 2 has a dilemma. If he chooses the 5 for row 1, he leaves player 1 the 6 for a higher straight in row 1. If he chooses the 6, then player 1 can use the 2 to complete the three of a kind in row 2. Player 2 decides to choose the 6 for row 2, giving them an opportunity to make a higher three of a kind than player 1's.
Game End
The game ends when all dice have been thrown and all fields on the board are occupied. A winner is then determined for each of the three rows. The player who has the higher dice combination wins the row and earns 1 point. The following ranking applies:
- Three of a Kind: Three of the same dice. The higher, the better. Ex.: 4-4-4 is higher than 3-3-3.
- Straight: Three consecutive numbers. The higher the better. Ex.: 6-5-4, 4-3-2, or 2-3-1.
- Pair: Two equal dice. The higher, the better. Ex.: 3-3-4 is higher than 2-2-1. In the case of equal pairs, the third die decides. Ex.: 4-4-3 is higher than 4-4-2.
- Single: Three different dice. The highest die decides. Ex.: 6-2-1 is higher than 5-4-3. If the highest dice are the same, then the next highest dice decide, and so on. Ex.: 6-5-1 is higher than 6-4-3.
Note: If both sides have identical dice, the player who first placed the dice breaks the tie.
Scoring
Example: Player 1 wins row 1 with a pair of 5s (beating player 2's pair of 4s). Player 2 wins row 2 with a straight of 2-3-4. Player 1 wins row 3 with a pair of 3s. Player 1 wins 2 points and player 2 wins 1 point.
Winning the Game
A player wins with two rows (score 2:1) or with three rows (3:0). Two or three games are played until a player has a total of 5 points. This player is the winner. As long as there's no winner at the end of a game, the player who lost the previous game starts the next one.
Variant
Players may place their dice on either side of the board.