Boss
Poker-style hands without straights or flushes. All players reveal their dice, and the highest hand becomes the "Boss." A tie for the best hand means no Boss: no loser, and the Hammer passes left.
When to call it
Call with three of a kind or better. Two pair stays off the pencil 66% of the time, short of an even share (67% at a 3-player table). If you’re the Boss you get one more roll in secret: pick up any dice, as long as what you keep still beats everyone, then decide whether to call everyone up.
What to keep
On your last roll after “come up”, you only need to beat the worst hand showing. From 6-4-2-1-5 against a pair of 3s, holding the 6 wins 80%, holding 5-6 81%, and rolling all five 74%: see the question below.
A question from the table
Boss: hold the 6, or roll all five?
Boss · high dieKeep 5-6, roll 3. 80.6% to get what you need, with 1 roll left · keep 6, roll 4: 79.6% · roll all five: 73.8% (+0.8% ties).
Work it through in the Odds LabA question from the table
Boss, your last roll: two pair (6-6-3-3) against three 2s. Go for the full house, or break up the two pair?
Boss · two pairKeep 6-6, roll 3. 44.4% to get what you need, with 1 roll left · keep 3-3-6-6, roll 1: 33.3%.
Why break up the two pair?
Going for the full house leaves one die to roll: a 3 or a 6 makes it, 33.3% of the time.
Keep the 6-6 and roll three instead. One more 6 makes three 6s, which beat three 2s (a full house if the other two pair up), and three of a kind among the three makes a full house: 44.4%. Keeping the 3-3 does as well (44.4%), since three 3s beat three 2s too.
It flips when both your pairs rank below their three of a kind. With 3-3-2-2 against three 4s, three 3s still lose, so breaking up needs a full house or better anyway: 16.7%, against 33.3% going for the full house. Go for it then, and against a full house too.
Against a better two pair, say 6-6-4-4, break up: keeping the 6-6 wins 52.8%, against 33.3% going for the full house.
A competitive Boss hand
How often one roll of five gives a hand worth calling on.
After that it depends on what you keep and what you're up against. Work out a situation in the Odds Lab.
Often paired with
The games most often made by the same rolls as Boss.
How strong are Boss hands? Every roll that makes it, graded by the Hammer’s chance of the pencil calling it at a 3-player table (from rounds played by solid bots).
The comeback
If both refusals turn down Boss, what does the Hammer call instead?
| Rank | Comeback | Chance |
|---|---|---|
#1 | Razzle | 32% |
#2 | 10-2 High | 15% |
#3 | Tres Away | 11% |
#4 | 10-3 High | 9% |
#5 | Pairs High | 9% |
#6 | Pairs Low | 8% |
#7 | 10-3 Low | 7% |
#8 | Monterey High | 5% |
Exact over every roll: the call the site recommends, then its best call once Boss is refused. A Hammer who calls differently changes these. Refusers decide from their own dice, so a refusal doesn’t change the odds.
When is Boss the comeback?
- After Razzle: Boss 43% of the time (the likeliest comeback)
- After 10-2 High: Boss 25% of the time
- After 10-3 Low: Boss 15% of the time
- After 10-4 Low: Boss 13% of the time
126 unique roll patterns for Boss, strongest first: the Hammer’s chance of the pencil calling it.