How to play Aces in the Pot

Aces in the Pot is played with two dice and chips, and suits three to eight players. Each player starts with two chips, and the middle of the table needs room for a pot. The name comes from card games: the one on a die is the ace.

On your turn you roll both dice, and the dice decide what happens to your chips:

• Ace (one): a chip goes into the pot. It is out of the game.
• Six: a chip goes to the player on your left.
• Any other number: nothing happens.

Roll two aces and you lose two chips to the pot. Running out of chips does not knock you out, but you skip your rolls until someone hands you a chip with a six.

When only one player has chips left, the game is not quite over. The last player must roll both dice three times without rolling a six. Manage that, and the win is sealed and the pot is the prize. If a six shows up, the chip moves on to the left-hand neighbour, and the endgame continues from there.

With many players you can start with three chips each for a slightly longer round. Some skip the endgame and let the last player holding chips win outright, as in LCR. Both work, just agree beforehand.

More simple games where chips wander: Help Your Neighbour and Jackpot.

Usually ten to fifteen minutes. Every ace sends a chip out of the game, so the round always heads towards an ending. The three-roll endgame adds a little thriller right at the finish.