Sharps (game)

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Sharps is a dice game primarily played by college and high school students in Nevada. It is a gambling game by nature that can be played one on one, or in groups. The game only requires a set of five dice, ideally checked before the game for shavings or weights, and a cup. The cup is not necessary and is only used to roll the dice in. The game is ideally played on the floor or a large table to prevent dice from spilling over.

[edit] How to Play

Sharps involves rolling five dice simultaneously onto the ground a maximum of three times. The game is sort of a mix between poker and yahtzee. The idea is to get the best hand possible within the three rolls. After the first roll you can lock in dice that are favorable to you, and re-roll the rest. You lock any additional dice on the second roll to make your hand better. After the third roll you have your final hand. Your opponent then performs their three rolls. Whomever has the highest hand at the end wins. If only two people are playing, the first roll alternates after each round. If more than two people are playing, the first roll moves around the table like a dealer's button in poker. Obviously, the last person to roll has the advantage as they know which die they should lock in to beat the current best hand. If the two highest hands are an exact tie, then the hand is forfeit and no one loses their money.

[edit] Hands

The hands in sharps are very similar to the game of poker. The highest hand in the game is when you roll five '1s', or sharps. The next best hand would be a five of a kind with '6s'. After five of a kind is four of a kind. In this case '6s' would be the highest hand, and '1s' would be the lowest. The '1s' only represent the highest hand if you get a 5 of a kind. After a 4 of a kind is a full house. This would be three die with the same number, and two die with a different but matching number. For example, if you rolled three die with '4s', and two die with '5's, you would have a full house. The highest set of three die in a full house determines which hand wins if there are two or more full houses. If two winning full houses have the same three numbers on top, then the bottom numbers are used to determine the winner. After a full house there is a three of a kind, which is three die with the same number and two other die with completely different numbers. If there is a tie with a three of a kind then the kickers (fourth and fifth die) determine the winner. If the fourth die is same as well, then the highest 5th dice would determine the winner. For example two players both roll three '2s'. The first player rolled a '6' and '3' as well, however, the second player rolled a '6' and a '4'. So the second player would be the winner. After that, two pair is the next best hand. The kicker is also used to determine the winner for inexact ties. Otherwise the highest of two pairs is used to determine the winner. Finally, there is one pair which is simply two die with the same number. There are no straights in sharps. If someone does not roll at least one pair, they are considered to have trash.