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dice-play How to play...

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Twenty-Six

This is a banking game which was popular in the Midwest of the USA between the 1930s and 1950s, played with ten dice. It was often found in taverns, which would make payoffs in drinks, until anti-gambling legislation killed the game off to a great extent. An operator will often provide a score sheet which states the rules and payoffs made on bets. Of course the odds are always in the operator's favour.

Play:

The player chooses a number from 1 to 6 as his point number. He then throws the ten dice 13 times. His score is the number of times that his point number is thrown.

Payoffs made by the operator vary but the following is considered to be the normal.

Score Pay-off Odds

10 or less 10 -1
13 5 -1
26 4 -1
27 5 -1
28 6 -1
29 8 -1
30 or more 10 -1
Any other score loses.

Variations:

Fourteens is played in the same way as Twenty-six but players nominate their point number after their first throw. If on their first throw they roll three-of-a-kind or better then this number becomes their point. If they don't throw three-of-a-kind or better then they may choose any value as their point number and they score three points regardless.

They have four more throws rolling the ten dice and score a point for every time their point number appears.

Players win if they score 14 or more, or if the last four rolls of the dice fail to give up a single occurrence of their point number. A winning player is paid at odds of 8 -1.