How to Play Chuck a Luck – The Sailors’ Favourite Wicked Game | Game Rules

Ingeniously simple and quick to learn – the dice game Chuck a Luck is all about challenging your own luck. It offers entertaining fun at home or in the pub. This is how to play Chuck a Luck.

Chuck a Luck means a lucky throw. And that’s exactly what this entertaining game of chance is about, which rough sailors love and which is often played in American gaming salons.

Chuck a Luck is played by any number of players with 3 dice. It is also called Crown and Anchor and Grand Hazard – because it is closely related to Hazard, which for centuries was the most popular and notorious dice game in the entire British Empire.

Apart from 3 dice and a dice cup, all you need to do is draw up a tableau yourself (see picture) or you can buy it cheaply from amazon, for example*.

Tip: Whether with chips, or cents or a completely different stake for gambling. Like poker, Chuck a Luck is super suitable as a party game, as it is really easy to play and entertaining!

How to Play Chuck a Luck – Game Rules

• Game type: Dice game, game of chance
• Players: 2-infinite
• Accessories: Game chips or cents, 3 dice in a dice cup – in the original: these Special dice and tableau
• Skills required: Lucky hand

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As with Hazard, each player places bets and then you roll the dice to see who wins the bet. Each round 1 player is banker and makes no bet – this alternates clockwise.

At the beginning, everyone pays the same amount into the bank. If you play with penny pieces, you can start with 1 euro – that is 100 cents per player. You can simply use a small box or a bowl as a bank.

In the middle of the table is the tableau – in the original it is a table with the numbers 1-6. But you can add more fields to the tableau, just like in roulette: here with odd, even, field 1, field 2, over 10, under 11 (see picture) and this is how it is played in many American casinos. Each player has his stake in front of him – either pennies or chips. All players in Chuck a Luck except for the banker choose any stake and place it on any number of squares of their choice.
Chuck a Luck was probably invented in England’s pubs. There, the banker now rolls the 3 dice in a horn – in English chuck – we take a dice cup for this (unless you own a drinking horn :-)). Now the banker determines the winning stakes and distributes them from the bank to the players.

Note: Chuck a Luck is also known as American roulette and there are different tableaus and also the winning rate per stake is different. We have oriented ourselves to adjust the win to the probability.

The Original Tableau With 6 Fields

Chuck a Luck is also called Anchor and Crown – because how to play it originally with dice showing anchor, crown and spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs as symbols.

If 1 die shows the bet symbol, the player is paid his stake and the amount bet as winnings. If 2 dice show the bet symbol, he gets his bet and double the bet amount as winnings and if all 3 dice show his bet symbol, he gets triple the bet amount paid.

Tableau and Winnings per Bet

1 dice shows the number of eyes set (1:1)

If a die shows the number bet, the player gets their bet back plus the same amount from the bank as a win. So for 4 cents bet on the number 4, the player wins 4 cents if a 4 is rolled.

2 dice show the number bet (3:1)

If 2 dice show the number the player bet on, he gets three times the bet as winnings.

3 dice show the same number (30:1)

Jackpot! If the lucky player bets on the number that all 3 dice show, he gets paid thirty times the stake.

No dice show the number bet

The banker collects the stake and pays it into the bank.

The total rolled is odd (1:1)

The player bets that the sum of the 3 dice is odd. If this is the case, he is paid the sum of his bet as his winnings. Important exception: If an odd triple is rolled – i.e. 1-1-1, 3-3-3 and 5-5-5, the player loses his entire stake to the bank and wins nothing!

The total rolled is even (1:1)

If a player places his bet on the even square, he bets that the sum of the 3 dice is even. If he wins, he gets the sum of his bet from the bank. Important exception: if the dice show an even double – i.e. 2-2-2, 4-4-4 and 6-6-6 the player wins nothing and loses his entire bet to the bank!

The total rolled is 5, 6, 7 or 8 (2:1)

The first box contains the numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8. If a player places a bet on box 1, he wins if the sum of the dice rolled equals one of these 4 numbers. He gets the sum of his bet as his winnings.

The total rolled is 13, 14, 15 or 16 (2:1)

The second box shows the numbers 13, 14, 15 and 16. If a player bets on this box, he wins if the total rolled equals one of these numbers. His winnings are the sum of the amount bet.

The total rolled is over 10 (1:1)

If a player places his bet on the box that shows an arrow pointing upwards, this means that he is betting that the sum of the dice rolled is over 10. If he wins, he receives the sum of his bet as winnings from the bank. Exception: In the case of a high triple, i.e. 4-4-4, 5-5-5 and 6-6-6, the player loses his bet completely to the bank.

The total rolled is less than 11 (1:1)

If a player bets on the box with the arrow pointing downwards, this means: the player bets that the total rolled is lower than 11. If this is the case, he wins his bet from the bank. Exception: if the triple is low, i.e. 1-1-1, 2-2-2 and 3-3-3, the player loses his bet.

This is how to play Chuck a Luck – Good luck!

Playing, gambling, with luck or skill: at Abenteuer Freundschaft there are many games to discover for a board game night! From well-known dice games like Yahtzee and card games like Whist to forgotten classics like Faro or Piquet and completely unknown games like Dudo that are worth trying out. Or take a look at our other activities with friends?

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