Showdown
2 Players, Ages 8+
Showdown is a competitive 2-player poker dice game. The goal is to roll and re-roll dice to form poker hands and triplets to score points before your opponent.
A variant where points are multiplied for subsequent poker hands and triplets is called Triple Showdown.
This game is a Junior original, created by Louie Mantia.
Dice
This game uses five six-sided poker dice.
| 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Setup
Track progress with a Showdown scorecard.
Gameplay
Goal
Roll the dice to form poker hands and triplets.
Your Turn
When your turn begins, roll all five dice. After rolling, you may choose to re-roll once or twice more, with any or all dice.
Next, choose a row to score your turn. Each row can only be scored by one player. After scoring a row for yourself, score zero points in your opponent’s column for that same row. Your opponent may no longer score that row.
If your roll isn’t ideal or doesn’t meet the requirements of a row, your turn ends without scoring any points.
After rolling and scoring, your turn is over. Now it’s the next player’s turn.
Continue until all rows are scored.
Scoring
For each row, you must roll what’s displayed or described to score that row’s points.
| Triplets | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
 |
|
Aces |
3 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Kings |
3 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Queens |
3 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Jacks |
3 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Tens |
3 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Nines |
3 | ||||
| Poker Hands | Points | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
Four of a Kind |
8 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Big StraightFive in a Row |
7 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Small StraightFour in a Row |
6 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
Full HouseThree of a Kind, One Pair |
5 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
MaidenOne Queen, Four Pips* |
4 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
One Pair |
2 | ||||
“Pips” refers to non-court faces, like Nine, Ten, and Ace.
Series
…Best out of three? Try playing games in a series of 3 rounds. The player with the highest total score at the end of the series wins!
If the players have identical scores, rejoice in the shared victory!
Strategy
Higher-scoring rows are also more difficult to procure. While you attempt to secure those rows, your opponent might find an easier path to victory by claiming all the easier rows. After your first roll each turn, consider your options carefully.
