Poker Dice Rules: How to Play, Hands and Scoring
Nov 9, 2026 · The Editors
Poker dice rules for beginners: five dice and three rolls, which dice to keep, the poker dice hands in order, the real odds of each hand, and how to play with ordinary dice and a cup.
Poker dice is poker without the cards: five dice, up to three rolls, and the best hand wins. It is quick, it needs no dealer, and it fits in a pocket. Traditional poker dice have card faces — 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace — but five ordinary dice work just as well, with 1 to 6 standing in for the faces.
How to play poker dice
- Each player in turn rolls all five dice, ideally from a cup.
- Keep any dice you like, and roll the rest again. Then, if you want, do it once more. Three rolls at most.
- The hand you finish with is your score for the round. You can stop after one or two rolls if you are happy.
- When everyone has rolled, the best hand wins the round.
A common rule makes it tactical: the first player sets the number of rolls. If they stop after two, everyone else gets only two as well.
Poker dice hands in order
From best to worst:
| Hand | Example (ordinary dice) |
|---|---|
| Five of a kind | 4-4-4-4-4 |
| Four of a kind | 6-6-6-6-2 |
| Full house | 3-3-3-5-5 |
| Straight | 1-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-6 |
| Three of a kind | 2-2-2-6-1 |
| Two pair | 5-5-3-3-1 |
| One pair | 6-6-4-2-1 |
| Nothing (high die) | 6-5-3-2-1 |
There are no flushes in poker dice — dice have no suits. Between two hands of the same type, the higher numbers win: three Sixes beat three Fives. With card-faced dice, Aces are high.
The real odds on one roll
With five dice there are 7,776 possible rolls. On a single throw:
| Hand | Ways | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Five of a kind | 6 | 0.08% |
| Four of a kind | 150 | 1.9% |
| Full house | 300 | 3.9% |
| Straight | 240 | 3.1% |
| Three of a kind | 1,200 | 15.4% |
| Two pair | 1,800 | 23.1% |
| One pair | 3,600 | 46.3% |
| Nothing | 480 | 6.2% |
Look closely and you will notice that a straight is slightly rarer than a full house on one roll. The traditional order still ranks the full house higher, as in card poker, but some groups swap them. Either is fine — decide before the first roll.
Which dice to keep
- Keep pairs and triples. Rolling three dice for a full house or four of a kind is the best percentage play in most situations.
- Chase a straight only with four in a row. With 2-3-4-5 kept, one die gives you a 1-in-3 chance of finishing it on each roll.
- With nothing, keep the high die if you need to win on high cards, or reroll everything.
Playing for points
For a longer game, play several rounds and award points to the winner of each — or play to a target, such as the first player to win five rounds. In a bar, the loser of each round traditionally buys the next drinks.
Poker dice with a cup
The fun is in the shake and the slam. A leather dice cup with five dice is exactly the kit, and the same cup plays Yacht, Ship, Captain and Crew and 10000. If you know card poker, the poker hand rankings chart shows how close the two orders are.
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