How to play Buck Dice

Buck Dice is played with three dice and suits 2 to 8 players. It is traditionally a stakes game, but chips or points with no value work just as well.

Everyone starts by rolling one die to decide the order of play: highest goes first. The player who rolled lowest then rolls the die once more, and the value that comes up becomes the point number for the round. If it shows a four, fours are what everyone will be chasing.

On your turn you roll all three dice. Every die showing the point number earns you one point. As long as at least one die shows the point number, you keep rolling. The first throw without a single point number ends your turn, and the dice pass to the next player.

Announce your total after every throw so everyone knows where you stand. The goal is to reach exactly 15 points.

Three terms come up again and again:

• Buck: reaching exactly 15 points. You are done and step out of the round.
• Little buck: three of a kind of any value other than the point number. Worth 5 points.
• Big buck: all three dice showing the point number. You are finished on the spot, no matter what your total was. This throw is also known as a general.

A throw that would carry you past 15 does not count. You simply roll again and try once more.

Players drop out of the round as they reach 15 points, until a single player remains. That player loses the round. When playing with chips, the loser commonly hands one chip to each of the other players.

Before the next round you set a new point number the same way as at the start, and off you go again.

Buck Dice needs no stakes at all. Without chips you are simply playing to avoid being last, and whoever finishes first gets the bragging rights. Some groups also play that only a big buck wins the whole evening, but that is a strict rule and makes for a long game.

If counting hits on a chosen number appeals to you, try the banking game Twenty-Six with ten dice. If you would rather have a quick game where your turn can end at any moment, Sevens Out is a good pick.

The exact-15 requirement keeps the endgame tense. Sitting on 12, a little buck would take you to 17, so the throw is void and you must try again. Sitting on 14, only a throw with exactly one point number helps you. Without this rule, rounds would often be decided by one lucky throw halfway through.