Pirates Enjoyed Gambling and Simple Dice and Card Games to Pass the Time
Pirates stuck for months at sea with little but grog rations and hardtack biscuits often turned to gambling to pass the time or win extra doubloons. The most popular card games these scallywags played were poker variants, cribbage, and rummy. Dice games were also common, with Liar‘s Dice being a favorite among pirates looking to test their cunning.
Bluffing, Bragging…and Brawling
Sailors brought card and dice games with them from homeports into the relative monotony of shipboard life. Variants of poker, likely originating from 16th century Persian card games, became go-to leisure activities for buccaneers and privateers across the Caribbean. These renegades customized decks by adding iconic pirate symbols, Naval ranks, and regional motifs. As all-in betting with literal "boatloads" at stake fueled tensions, pirate captains laid down gamlbing guidelines to keep the peace. But rowdy disputes still erupted frequently. As 18th century seaman Charles Johnson wrote:
"At first gambling was freely allowed; but quarreling afterward happened, which occasioned its being forbid."
Yet pirates prided games of chance as tests of nerve and wit, weaving elaborate tales of spectacular wins, ambushes, and trick plays into nautical folklore. The ability to convincingly bluff about strength of hand or size of wager separated sharks from guppies at the card table sea dogs.
Liar‘s Dice: The Art of Pirate Prevarication
Legends persist of the fabulously devious lies and clever illusions pirates concocted to gain advantage at cards. But no game embodied the pirate talent for deception more than Liar‘s Dice. Played in rowdy taverns throughout the West Indies as well as quietly in captain‘s quarters, this rapid-fire dice game mixed chance with cunning feints and fox-like instincts.
To start Liar’s Dice, each player rolled 5 dice hidden under a cup, peeked at their hand, then made a bid announcing how many of a chosen number they believed were showing across all dice on the table. Numbers and bids escalated in turn, with rivals upping the ante or shouting “Liar!” if they felt the latest claim untrue. A bidder caught in falsehood lost a die. The slickest schemer to lose his last die won the stash.
Easy to transport and quick to finish, Liar’s Dice let pirates gamble skillfully between raids and revels. And the game’s emphasis on deception and detecting lies honed talents useful both at cards and when grappling with treasure-laden traders on the high seas.
Liar‘s Dice Rules
| Number of Players | 2 or more |
| Dice | 5 per player |
| Dice Faces | Standard d6 numbered 1 to 6 |
| Bids | Claims of how many dice show a chosen number, from 1 to 30+ total |
| Bluffing | Bids not matching actual dice rolls acceptable, but risky |
| Role of "Liar!" | Challenge opponent‘s bid as too high |
Pirate Variants of Poker Stoke High Stakes Drama
While most associate poker with Wild West saloons, sailors and pirates also relished the tense betrayals and triumphant upsets of its high-risk rounds. Pirates customized decks to highlight nautical themes, adding suits of ships, treasure chests, compasses, and skulls & crossbones. The rankest hands were often called "Full Sail" or "Buried Treasure".
Three popular poker variants emerged in the Age of Sail:
Draw Poker: 5-card hands drawn and swapped out bet by bet
Stud Poker: 5 cards dealt in series, some face-up
Community Card Poker: Shared cards combine with personal hole cards
These basic formats spawned endless gaming innovation and one-upmanship. Crewmen described royal flushes using pirate phrases like “five parts of eight” and four-of-a-kind as “Edward Teach’s Hand”. Full houses and three sets went by “Full Ship” and “Fleet”, while pairs were “Cannons” since two cannon made up a gun deck. Even forced discards were dubbed “Walking the Plank”.
Pirates also switched up rules to ratchet up risk and reward. The ruthless variation Dead Man’s Hand, for instance, meant players stayed in betting rounds even after folding. This tempted fate to often disastrous results. As seafaring writer William Bolitho noted “Adventure…is simply bad planning, but bad planning is the most romantic thing in the world.”
Key Poker Terms in Pirate Lingo
| Raise | Run up the flags! |
| See/Call | Broadside back! |
| Fold | Make port! or Strike colors! |
| Check | Belay action! |
| Bluff | Fire a shot across the bow |
Whether bluffing through tells at a tavern table or mastering the odds on night watch, pirates embraced card play‘s turbulent rhythms, using games to thwart idleness and enrich legend. This fusion of chance, deception, nerve and destiny distilled the pirate ethos at its most essential.
From Old Maid to Modern Mayhem: Centuries of Pirate Gaming Lore
Beyond niche dice and card favorites, pirates amused themselves much as average sailors. Chinese checkers, chess, nine pins bowling, and soccer style games were common at sea centuries before video games. In remote locales, makeshift bowling was played by rolling cannonballs at stacked casks.
But the modern explosion of pirate fiction, film and gaming both derives from and further romanticizes scurvy seadogs in intriguing ways. Building on motifs of high risk and ruthlessness, immersive RPG and strategy franchises like Sea of Thieves, Black Flag and Pirates of the Burning Sea let gamers live out virtual swashbuckling quests richer than reality allowed.
Still the pairing of pirates with card and dice trickery remains timeless. Just as poker once thrived as a niche naval pastime before exploding into a global sensation, obscure dice duels like Ship, Captain, Crew hint at burgeoning new trends.
And Liar’s Dice continues its reign as the definitive pirate gambling game 500 years later. Increasingly popular in casinos and apps, yet still raw enough to feel forged in wickedness, Liar‘s Dice honors its legacy as both historical curiosity and timeless showcase of piratical passions.
Yarrr – bet on that!
