Raider Dice

Raider Dice

No one is exactly sure when Raider Dice came to the Bailey. But over the years it has become a gambling tradition throughout pubs, casinos and back alleys all across the growing city. There are many varieties of the game though the most common is the single handed Grist variant. In some versions of the game it should be noted, a ONE is considered a wild card. This and any other modifications to the rules are declared before any dice are cast.
Raider dice requires at least two players. Each player has a cup with which to roll and conceal their dice. Each player takes six standard six sided dice preferably of the same color.
To begin a round, each player posts a minimum bet into the pot, usually one or two shells. Each person puts their current dice pool into their cup and vigorously shakes the cup. Then at the same time, each player slams the cup down mouth first onto the table so the dice spill onto the table top but but not get away.
Each player may then peek at their dice to determine what hand they are working with, taking care to keep the dice hidden from the other players. If any dice has landed on top of another, that player must re-roll their whole dice pool again.
Then one of the players makes a starting bid, and makes a claim or bid about the total number of all dice on the table that have certain face value. All player hands. are considered in the bid For example, the player may guess that among all of the hands currently on the table there are five dice that are showing the value six. 
Play then passes to the player to the right. 
On their turn, any player may:

• increase the number of dice bid and leave the face the same (example: 3 fives to 4 fives)
• increase the number of dice bid and change the face value in either direction (example: 3 fives to 4 twos)
• keep the number of dice bid the same, but you must increase the face value (example: 3 two to 3 threes)
• fold
• call the previous player a raider (challenge)

If the player folds, in which case they remove a die from their cup and can no longer play in this hand
If a player challenges a bid, all players reveal their hands. The number of dice containing the last bid face are counted. If the number of dice equals or exceeds the number of dice that the player bid, the last player wins. Otherwise, that player that challenged the bid wins. The losing player sets aside one die from their cup and play continues. The next hand begins play with the loser of the previous hand.
In the event that play comes down to two players with only a single die each, the players then bid on the sum of the pips on both dice instead of the quantity of the faces showing.
The last unchallenged player remaining to have any dice left is considered to be the winner and takes the pot. When played for shells, a skilled liar can make quite a lot of money playing this game. Games played at casinos such as the Blacktop generally pay the house a rake, or percentage of each pot, for the right to play there.

Example of play

Bastille, Hudson and Gideon are all playing Grist style Raider Dice. Bastille plays first. All of the players shake up their dice cups and slap them down onto the table. Bastille, Hudson and Gideon all look at their dice. Bastille puts down 10 shells and bids "Five threes". Hudson considers this for a second and matches Bastille's bet before saying "Six threes." Gideon considers this, knowing he's got three threes under his own cup, and so also matches the bet and says "Seven threes". There is no one left to challenge Gideon's bid, so the hand ends but play continues.
Back around to Bastille, who places a bid of 10 more shells and says "Seven threes". Hudson sucks his teeth and glances at both Bastille and Gideon. He places his bet to match Bastille and says "Bastille you're a raider." and all players show their dice. Bastille has two threes, Gideon has 3 threes and Hudson has no threes bringing the total number of threes to five. Bastille loses the round and forfeits a dice. The next round begins.
All players shake up their remaining dice and then slap them down on the table. Bastille lost the last hand so play starts with him again. Bastille puts down 10 shells and claims there are two threes among the 17 dice left on the table. Hudson decides this isn't unreasonable and so matches the 10 shells and bids 'Four threes'. Gideon also thinks this is possible. He matches the 10 shells and says "Five threes."
Play passes back to Bastille, who ups the bet to 15 shells and says "Six threes." Hudson eyes Bastille, thinking about what he knows about Bastille's personality, the dice in his own cup, the bids already played and the probability that there are six or more dice showing threes out of the 17 remaining dice. He frowns, matches Bastilles bet and says "Seven Threes." Gideon scoffs, he matches the 15 shell bet and says "Hudson you are a Raider.". All players show their hands. Too bad for Hudson, there are only three threes on the table. Hudson laughs and throws some stink eye at Bastille.
Eventually only Bastille and Hudson remain, one die in each of their cups. Hudson goes first and puts down 50 shells as a bet saying "Total of 7 on the table.". Bastille wonders if Hudson is correct or not but he doesn't want to back down. If he folds, Hudson automatically gets the pot. He matches the 50 shells and says. "Hudson you're a raider." both players show their dice. The total on the two dice is in 10. Hudson loses and Bastille takes the pot.