Barbut
BarbudiБайбуртBarbotte
Two dice and eight deciding combinations: four win for the thrower, four lose, and everything else simply hands the dice to the other player.
The wager is between two: one throws, the other holds the stake. There are two dice, and eight combinations out of thirty-six settle everything.
Roll 6-6, 5-5, 6-5 or 3-3 and the thrower takes the stake. Roll 2-2, 1-1, 2-1 or 4-4 and the thrower pays it. Everything else means nothing at all: the dice simply pass to the opponent, the stake stays on the table, and a is now awaited from them.
Hence something most dice games lack: the position is perfectly symmetrical. Nobody has an edge and nobody holds a bank — the dice go back and forth until one of the eight combinations settles the matter.
Six-sided dice
Under these rules: Two dice.
Ordinary gaming dice, pipped from one to six.
The most widespread randomiser people have invented. Opposite faces add up to seven — not a rule of any game but a convention of manufacture, and the thing by which a die is recognised.
Rules of barbut
The wager
Two players agree a stake. One takes the dice and throws.
The deciding combinations
| Rolled | What happens |
|---|---|
| 6-6, 5-5, 6-5, 3-3 | the thrower has won and takes the stake |
| 2-2, 1-1, 2-1, 4-4 | the thrower has lost and pays the stake |
Every other throw
Means nothing. The dice pass to the opponent, the stake stays as it was, and they throw under the same rules.
This continues until a deciding combination comes up.
More than two players
The others wait for the current wager to settle. The winner takes the dice and plays the next player round.
«Vari»
Before throwing, a player may call . For that throw the meaning of the combinations is reversed: the winning ones lose and the losing ones win.
Worth knowing
The set of deciding combinations differs between circles: the common one is given here, though tables are met where 6-6 and 1-1 settle separately and pay otherwise. «Vari» is a local rule and is not played everywhere.
Glossary of terms
- «Vari»
- A call before the throw reversing the meaning of the combinations: the winning ones lose and the losing ones win.
- A deciding throw
- One of the eight combinations that settle the wager. Everything else means nothing and merely passes the dice.