Liar's dice

There is more information available on this subject at Liar's dice on the English Wikipedia.

Liar's dice is a human dice game of luck and subterfuge, requiring players to detect the deception of their opponents. This fast-paced and classic game has many forms and variants and has been played across different cultures and time periods.

Overview

The betting sport involves two or more players each rolling a set of five dice, concealing their rolls or "hands" from other opponents with cups, and taking turns making bids on the total number of dice showing a specific face value among all players' dice. As the game progresses, players must either raise the bid or challenge the previous player's bid, calling them out as a liar if they believe the bid is too high. When a bluff is called, the accused deceiver reveals their dice and the winner is then determined.

History

The dice game originated on Earth, with its roots tracing back to the 15th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it spread globally to Latin American, European, and Asian countries. The game was popular among sailors, pirates and soldiers, who played it as a form of entertainment during long voyages or campaigns.

By the 26th century, liar's dice was still known and played by the surviving colonists of Madrigal and by the residents that inhabited the asteroid settlement called the Rubble. As a direct result of cultural exposure, the Kig-Yar population living alongside the humans of the Rubble learned about the game, which found growing popularity among many groups of their species. In the ensuing decades following the Rubble's destruction, the game continued to be played by Kig-Yar and became known as "rwr'u a'uamr'ep" within Covenant circles, which translates directly as "cube gambit" in the Sangheili tongue.

Shipmistress Writh Kul, a Ruuhtian skirmisher and Banished mercenary, was one such Kig-Yar who knew how to play it. In 2558, she played a hand of liar's dice against Vrak'is, an older Ibie'shan Kig-Yar and former pirate queen, for the chance to win her prized heirloom weapon, a modified and pinpoint-accurate needler. Although Writh Kul was unable to deceive to old pirate queen and lost, Vrak'is nonetheless still gave her the pinpoint needler, informing Writh Kul that there was no more fight left for her and that the weapon would be of better use in her hands, especially given her good relationship with the Banished.