Balut (dice game)

Balut is a game with five dice and a game block.

Balut is a dice game with five dice , a dice cup and a special game block. The game is derived from the extension by playing cards to be played poker and other similar dice poker with dice eyes as the yacht or Yahtzee and Yahtzee . As with these games, the aim is to achieve the highest possible scores in different categories on a game block.

The game was invented in the Philippines and is particularly popular in Southeast Asia and Denmark . The Jackpot Balut is a further development .

history

Balut was developed in the Philippines and there after the popular Balut named one a fertilized duck egg cooked, which is eaten.

The game Balut was invented at the end of the Second World War by an American soldier who was stationed on the Philippine island of Cebu . He missed the game of poker and instead used dice. He named the resulting game poker dice ( dice poker ).

The game became popular in the Philippines and was discovered there in the 1970s by the Dane Niels Lumholdt, who worked for Thai Airways . He brought the game to Bangkok , where he lived, and named it after the popular Philippine dish balut , a hatched cooked duck egg. In 1979 the rules of the game were revised by Søren Milholt, who introduced the concept of points per category. Around 1997, the Dane Troels T. Carstensen, who lives in the Philippines, introduced the jackpot element, which resulted in Jackpot Balut .

Today, Balut is played by individual playgroups as well as in tournaments. The annual STC Intersport Balut Competition in Southeast Asia was held for the 30th time in 2010.

Rules of the game

Balut is played with five six-sided game dice, a dice cup and a game pad on which the throw results are recorded. Each game consists of 28 rounds and then ends. The dice are rolled in turn and each player can roll the dice up to three times. When rolling the dice, the player can decide after each of his throws whether and which dice he wants to leave and which he wants to roll again. At the end he has to enter his result in one of the seven categories on the game pad or delete a field. Each of the seven categories must be rolled a total of four times and, especially at the end of the game, there are fields that have to be deleted.

At Balut, the game block consists of the various categories as rows as well as the number of games and the evaluation fields as columns:

Game block

Surname					total	Points
four
Fives
Six
Streets
Full house
choice
Balut
				total
				Total points

The categories usually correspond to categories of and other poker dice games:

category	description	Rating	example
four	All thrown foursome	Sum of all fours	counts 12
Fives	All fives thrown	Sum of all fives	counts 5
Six	All sixes thrown	Sum of all sixes	counts 24
Street	Five consecutive numbers (Small Street 1-2-3-4-5 or Big Street 2-3-4-5-6)	Small Street: 15, Big Street: 20	counts 15 counts 20
Full house	Three of the same and two of the same dice	Total number of all eyes	counts 19
Ballot / Choice	Any combination	Sum of all numbers	counts 13
Balut	Five of the same dice	Sum of all numbers + 20	counts 25

When throwing a balut, the player also shouts “Balut”. After all fields have been filled in, the total ratings per category are added up and noted. Points are then awarded according to the sums per category:

• 52 or more in the foursome: 2 points
• 65 or more in the fives: 2 points
• 78 or more in the sixes: 2 points
• All roads: 4 points
• All full houses: 3 points
• 100 or more points in Choice: 2 points
• Each balut: 2 points

In addition, points are awarded on the total of all categories:

• 0–299: −2 points
• 300–349: −1 points
• 350-399: 0 points
• 400-449: 1 point
• 450-499: 2 points
• 500-549: 3 points
• 550-599: 4 points
• 600–649: 5 points
• 650–812: 6 points

These ratings result in a maximum total number of 29 points. The winner of the game is whoever got the most points after the final scoring.

Jackpot Balut

Typically, Balut can be played with or without jackpot rules, increasing the number of rounds in the jackpot game to 34. The rules correspond to the normal balut, but there is a jackpot field in every category with the exception of the balut. Another difference to the standard game is the balut rating.

The game block is supplemented accordingly by one jackpot field per category:

Game block jackpot balut

Surname					jackpot	total	Points
four
Fives
Six
Streets
Full house
choice
Balut					X
					total
					Total points

The player can choose whether to enter a roll in a category as a jackpot. However, this decision must be made before all four regular fields of the category are completed. In order to be entered as a jackpot, however, requirements must be met by the throw in the various categories:

• In the case of fours, fives and sixes, the roll must show at least four dice of the desired number, i.e. 20, 25 or 32 total points
• Only one large street (2-3-4-5-6) can be entered for the street
• In a full house, the total number of eyes must be at least 22
• In the choice, the total number of eyes must be at least 25.

If a jackpot has been entered in a category, the total for the award of points in the category without a jackpot roll must be reached in order to receive the jackpot bonus - if it is not reached, points will be deducted in the final scoring. The additional jackpot bonus is:

• Four: with 52 or more +4 points, with less than −4 points
• Fives: if 65 or more +4 points, if less than -4 points
• Six: with 78 or more +4 points, with less than −4 points
• Streets: If all streets are filled in +8 points, if not −8 points
• Full House: If all full houses are filled in +6 points, if not −6 points
• Choice: with 100 or more +4 points, with less than −4 points

example

If a player uses a jackpot among the five (jackpot = 20) and then together reaches 65 points in the other 4 fields, he gets 2 + 4 = 6 points; if he only reaches 60 points in the category, he receives −4 points. A player who does not use the jackpot gets only 2 points with 65 eyes; if he only reaches 60 points, he gets 0 points.

The balut rating varies depending on the rules. In the standard set of rules, a player receives 2 points for each balut, in the set of rules for Jackpot Balut he receives 3 points for the first balut and 5 points for each subsequent balut.

supporting documents

1. ↑ Rules of the game and game block on balut.org (English); accessed on April 16, 2016.
2. ↑ Team Balut , website of the British Club Bangkok (BCB)
3. ↑ Game block on balut.org.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Viking Balut Rules for playing Balut and Jackpot Balut in a game of Burgundar
5. ^ Game block of the Balut games group lutlutlut.dk in Copenhagen.

Web links

• Game rules and game block on balut.org (English)
• Website of a group of Balut players in Copenhagen
• Viking Balut Rules for Balut and Jackpot Balut in a game of Burgundar
• How to Play on the British Club Bangkok (BCB) website