a bit dicey

He never cheats the dice. He cheats your eyes.

The Great Orlano hangs from strings above a card table, dealing liar's dice for the only currency he respects. Every round his flourish drops porcelain masks over some of YOUR dice - painted shells showing faces that aren't there. Every count you make through a masked die is poisoned. The dice never lie. Your hand does.

How to play (30 seconds):

• Bid how many dice of one face sit on the WHOLE table - or call his bid a lie. Ones are wild.
• Trust nothing you see. Salt shows which of your dice wear paint. The mirror shows what's underneath. Flipping a masked die pops the shell in your fingers.
• Work your own dice. Pin faces before the shake - quietly, if his eyes are elsewhere. Peek under your cup - briefly, unless you want him reading you back. Turn one die over mid-peek. He won't stop you. He'll just know.
• After every reveal the top hat comes down and both of you draw. His pulls sit face-down on his rail until he uses them.
• Feeling certain? Call SPOT-ON: the standing bid is exactly right. He never calls it. It's yours.

Best of three acts. Each one plays by crueler house rules than the last.