Liar's Dice





Liar's Dice is a gambling activity featured in Red Dead Redemption and involves five traditional six-sided dice per player.

Winning a game of Liar's Dice in Casa Madrugada unlocks one of the scraps for the Bandito Outfit.

Rules
Overview

Liar's Dice is played by two (2) or more players. Each player has one (1) cup and starts with five (5) dice. The game is started by choosing a player who will be the first to "bid." After selecting said player, the first round begins by all players picking up their cup containing five (5) dice, shaking, and slamming the cup upside down onto the table, thus concealing all dice.

At this point, each player may look at his/her dice and contemplate the mathematical probability of all dice on the table, including their own. The player chosen before the game began then states the opening "bid." An example bid would be "3 fours." The action is then passed clockwise to the player sitting to the left of the starter. The second player may then do one of three things: raise the bid; call a bluff; or declare the bid spot-on.

After a bluff or a spot-on bid is called, all players reveal their dice, and total the number of dice showing the face that was bid on. The round is ended by at least one player discarding one (1) die each. After discarding a die, there is no way to regain it until the game is over and a new one begins.The opening bid of the next round is passed counterclockwise (to the right) of the player that opened the last round's bidding. To start the next round, all players must put their dice back into their cup, shake, slam and repeat the steps of the typical round as laid out above.

Winning and Losing

The style of Liar's Dice is free for all elimination. The object of winning is to be the last player with at least one (1) die remaining. Players lose (are eliminated) by discarding all of their dice.

In this section, we will assume the current bid is "3 fours," four pertaining to the specific face (four dots on one side), and 3 pertaining to the total number of all dice on the table with the matching face, four. As stated above, the current bidder has three options.

1. Raising the bid: To raise a bid, the current bidder must declare a higher number of total dice matching the face last bid on, increase the face of the dice last bid on, or both. The total number of dice and the face value can only increase and can not decrease after the first bid is made. At this point, all players are still concealing their dice, taking turns raising the bid.

2. Calling a bluff: If a player believes the last bid (3 fours) to be too high, he may call a bluff. At this point, all players show their dice and total the face value bid upon. If the total number of dice matching the face value bid upon (four) is more than the last bid (3), the player to last bid is safe (bidding under the true total), and the player calling the bluff discards one (1) die for calling a bluff on a valid bid. If the total number of dice matching the face value bid upon (four) is less than the last bid (3), the player to last bid discards one (1) die for bidding over the true total, and the the player calling the bluff is safe for accurately calling out a "lying" player.

3. Declaring a Bid Spot-On: If a player believes the last bid (3 fours) to be correct, he can declare the last bid "spot-on." At this point, all players show their dice and total the face value bid upon. If the total number of dice matching face value bid upon (four) is greater or less than the last bid (3), the player who declared the bid spot-on discards one (1) die for inaccurately calling a bid spot-on. The player whose bid was declared spot-on is safe. If the total number of dice matching face value bid upon (four) is exactly the same as the last bid (3), the player who declared the bid spot-on is safe, and all other players discard one (1) die each for getting caught with a spot-on bid.

Optional Drinking Penalties Addendum

"Right place at the right time." - If a player (A) declares a bid spot-on and the table is caught in a spot-on bid, everybody drinks as all players (except (A)) discard their die.

"No one likes a liar." - If another player thinks you're bluffing, and they are right, take two (2) drinks for being a liar as you discard your die.

"Don't accuse an honest man of lying." - If you think an opponent is bluffing, and you call them on it, but turn out to be wrong, take three drinks for being presumptuous as you discard your die.

"Don't be a poor sport." - If you discard all of your dice and lose, cheer up and finish your drink.

Tips and Tricks
First and foremost, it is far easier to win at this game when playing against only ONE opponent. The dynamics of bid escalation, guesswork, and AI tendencies make it so that your best chance in this game lies in a simple duel. After all, this game involves mathematical probability; it's easier when the table's total dice count is 10 instead of 15. Also, it's easier to read one mind rather than two.

Note that NPCs rarely, if ever, call out a bluff on bids lower than four of anything. For example if you bid that there is at least 3 fives, the NPC(s) will rarely ever call out that bluff. It may be different if facing only one NPC.

The exception is if they don't possess at least 1 die of the face value you are betting on, even if you're betting there's 2, they will say you are bluffing. This leads to one of the easiest winning strategies (for one on one especially) which is to just tell the truth and bet whatever doubles/triples you have, most of the time they lack a dice of the same value and will call your non-existant bluff, leading to an easy (and reliably repeatable) win. In a game with 3 players, if they DO have a die of the same value, they will raise the bet to a higher value and almost always get called bluffing by the 3rd player, either way resulting in your dice laying untouched.

When bidding, seek out multiple dice with the same number, i.e. three 4s, and bid what you have. If you haven't got any multiples, bid one of your singles. It's often good to bid on your lower dice, to leave headroom for subsequent bids to cover the higher-valued dice (i.e. if you have 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, bid there is one 1 -- if the opponent bids two 2s, because you have a 2 yourself, you can then either call spot-on or raise the bid to three 2s if you think there's another 2 out there).

The best approach is to bid what you have (or one less than what you have) and avoid bluffing -- avoid guessing (or hoping) your opponent has one more of the die you need. Although, sometimes the NPC might surprise you!

NPCs very often call your bluff, not believing you when you say you have 2 or 3 or more of a particular die. They may also be forced into an obvious bluff (i.e. you bid three 6s, then they jump the bid to five 6s).

NPCs rarely, if ever, use the Spot On bid, so the player can gain a sizeable advantage by learning to use spot-on properly. It is confirmed that, at least in one-on-one matches, your NPC opponent NEVER uses the spot-on bid!

If you can get your opponent down to one die remaining, the game is in the bag. The NPC will ALWAYS bid the value of their die honestly during their initial bid. Their bid's quantity might vary between one or two, but the bid's face value is always the truth. If they bid one 2, they have one 2; if they bid two 4s, they have one 4. Therefore, if they bid two 6s and you have one 6 yourself, you can successfully bid spot-on because you know the total is two 6s. If they bid two 6s and you have none, by the process of elimination you know they are lying. If they bid two 6s and you have three of your own, you can raise the bid to three or four 6's; they will either either erroneously call your bluff, or raise it to an impossible amount where you'd know they were lying. Also, if you have a pair of something other than the value they bid (i.e. they bid one 2 and you have two 4s), bid on your pair; they will always erroneously call your bluff.

In summary, because NPCs often call bluffs they shouldn't, and they often make their own obvious bluffs, and they NEVER (at least in one-on-one matches) use spot-on bidding, and their endgame strategy is awful, this game can easily be mastered.

**EASY MONEY**: During the Stranger side-mission "Lights, Camera, Action", the game's ante amount is $200 instead of $20, making it the most profitable opportunity in the game. The ante remains at $200 until you leave Lyle Mouton at the table and save elsewhere (pushing the mission into its next phase), but you may periodically get up from the table to allow Autosave to preserve your growing fortune, then sit down again repeatedly to enjoy this sweetly inflated ante (upon sitting down for a second round your opponent becomes considerably more difficult). *WARNING*: Loading the auto-save will cause the ante to drop back to $20.

Locations
Liar's Dice games are available at the same three locations in single player and multiplayer. In single player, the ante is $20 at all locations. In multiplayer, the ante is different at each location, as noted below.
 * Escalera ($10 multiplayer ante)
 * Casa Madrugada ($25 multiplayer ante)
 * Thieves' Landing ($100 multiplayer ante)

Cheating

 * The description for the Elegant Suit at the Thieves' Landing tailor says that it can be used to cheat at Liar's Dice as well as Poker. The cheating opportunity is when the player to your left looks at their dice, you can see the side face of one of the die. From this, you can figure out what they may have, particularly if they have a small number (1-3) of dice remaining. Remember that the opposite faces of a die add up to seven. For example, if a 6 is showing on the side, you know that die is not showing a 1 or a 6. You may be able to figure out whether it's a 2-5 or 3-4 showing.

Multiplayer
In Multiplayer, a game of Liar's Dice can be launched from markers on the game map or by a playlist selection in the multiplayer menu. The same $200 daily multiplayer gambling allowance is shared between Liar's Dice and Poker. If a player enters a Liar's Dice lobby with insufficient funds to buy into the game, $200 will be added to the player's account (limit of once per day).

Players have a time limit within which to make their bid. If a player exceeds the time limit, a default bid of "one one" is entered.

When a game is finished, the Liar's Dice playlist will take the players to the next location unless the majority choose to replay at the current location. At each location, the buy-in cost and the player's current multiplayer gambling balance are displayed above the table in the lobby.

Two multiplayer challenges under the Gambling category are available for Liar's Dice, with eleven ranks total.

Bugs

 * Sometimes when someone loses a die and you skip to your turn, you may get the same die faces from the one you already had, which is good because you can do the same bid before.
 * (PS3/other?) Occasionally in multiplayer, when a player leaves the session after being eliminated, the camera will stay focused on the player and the game will not proceed. The game can not be completed and the remaining players must manually transfer to other sessions. No money is awarded, even to the last player to leave.
 * (PS3/other?) In multiplayer, when someone loses a die the animation can make the die shake and clip into the player's hand.

Achievements/Trophies
The player can acquire the following Trophies/Achievements while playing Liar's Dice:

Dado Mentiroso