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Liar's dice comes in two common versions. Everything is the same except for one thing: what a 1 is worth. That one rule changes how many dice a bid can count, how high the bids go and what a good hand looks like. If you are new to the game, read how to play first.
The difference in one line
| Wild ones | Straight ones | |
|---|---|---|
| What a 1 is | Counts as any face you bid on | An ordinary face |
| Chance one die matches a bid on 2 to 6 | 1 in 3 | 1 in 6 |
| Chance one die matches a bid on 1s | 1 in 6 | 1 in 6 |
| Typical bids | Higher | Lower |
How the counting works
Ten dice are on the table when the cups come up: 4, 4, 4, 1, 1, 6, 2, 3, 5 and 6. The last bid was “four 4s”.
- Wild ones: three 4s plus two wild 1s makes five. Five is at least four, so the bid holds and the caller loses a die.
- Straight ones: only the three 4s count. Three is fewer than four, so the bluff was caught and the bidder loses a die.
The same dice and the same bid, and opposite results. That is why a table must agree on the rule set before the first bid.
Bidding on 1s in wild ones
A bid on 1s counts only the 1s. A 1 cannot be wild for itself, so in wild ones a bid on 1s is the same kind of bid as in straight ones, with the same 1 in 6 chance for each die. A 1 is also the lowest face, so you can never raise to 1s at the same quantity. A bid on 1s always means going up in quantity, or opening the round.
Ten dice on the table. You hold 1, 1, 3, 4 and 5, and five dice are unknown. A bid of three 1s holds 60 % of the time, since you already hold two. With no 1s in your own hand, the same bid holds only about 3.5 % of the time.
What it does to the numbers
Because each die matches twice as often in wild ones, you expect twice as many matching dice on the table.
| Dice on the table | Expected matches, wild ones (2 to 6) | Expected matches, straight ones |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 3.3 | 1.7 |
| 20 | 6.7 | 3.3 |
| 30 | 10.0 | 5.0 |
The full tables of which bids are safe are on the odds page.
Same hand, two rule sets
Ten dice on the table. You hold 4, 4, 3, 2 and 5, so two dice count for 4s, and five are unknown. How likely is each bid on 4s to hold?
| Bid | Wild ones | Straight ones |
|---|---|---|
| three 4s | 87 % | 60 % |
| four 4s | 54 % | 20 % |
| five 4s | 21 % | under 4 % |
A bid of four 4s is a coin flip in wild ones and a long shot in straight ones. Anyone who plays both has to re-learn what a safe bid is.
How play feels different
These are tendencies rather than rules, and they come from the numbers above.
- Wild ones gives longer rounds of bidding and higher numbers. A 1 in your hand is as good as a matching die, so a lot of the game is guessing who holds the 1s.
- Straight ones is leaner. Bids are low, every matching die counts for much more, and a single die more or less on the table changes the odds a lot. It rewards careful counting.
The habits in the strategy guide work in both, but the numbers you plug in are different.
Do not mix them up
- Odds for one rule set are wrong for the other. Use a third of the dice for wild ones and a sixth for straight ones.
- Habits from one rule set do not carry over unchanged to the other, so re-learn what a safe bid is when you switch.
- In Pips & Lies the two are kept apart. Wild ones and straight ones each have their own ladder and their own rating, because they are different games.