Guide 03 of 04
Keep or roll: a short guide to poker dice
The keeps that matter in Bonecaster and the ones that only feel right.
Bonecaster gives you five poker dice, one look and one chance to roll again. Unlike the other games in the pack, what you keep changes the long-run return. Here are the keeps that matter.
The table in one line
Five of a kind pays 18 times the stake, four of a kind 3, a full house 1.75, a straight 1.5 and three of a kind 0.5. Pairs pay nothing on their own; they are only worth keeping because of what they can become.
Keeps that are usually right
- Three of a kind: keep the three and roll two. You keep your 0.5 at worst and give yourself a shot at four, five or a full house.
- One pair: keep the pair and roll three. This is the most common keep in the game.
- Four to a straight: with 10, J, Q, K and a stray, keeping the four open-ended dice is worth more than it looks, because either end completes it.
- Full house or better: keep all five and take the pay.
Keeps that only feel right
Two pair is the classic trap. It pays nothing, and keeping both pairs leaves one die to roll for a full house. Keeping one pair and rolling three usually does better on average because it opens the way to three, four or five of a kind. The Show the best keep button works this out for every roll; use it until the patterns feel familiar.
Worth knowing: with the best keep every time, Bonecaster returns a little over 95 glints for every 100 staked over a long run. Good keeps lose less; they do not turn the dice your way.
Slow is fine
There is no clock in Bonecaster. Take as long as you like over a keep. If you find yourself rolling without looking at the dice, that is usually a sign that it is time for a break rather than another hand.
Glints have no cash value. Playing or success in these games does not imply future success at real-money gambling.
Next guide: What a pause is for