Interesting Bluffing Game

[baggins]

i'm not sure the best forum for this, but...

so, i was introduced to a very simple game the other night, but it is fun, and has implications on the game of poker, i think. so, i'll describe it, and then you can all post your thoughts on the game. perhaps even come up with a basic +EV strategy (though the game isn't played for money, it COULD be).

here's how it works. you have a group of people sitting around. one person (player A) starts with a cup containing 2 normal 6-sided dice. they shake up the container, look inside, and announce the 'score' they rolled. then they cover up the cup and pass it to the person on their right (player B). B now has a decision. do they believe A? if not, then they look inside the container and check if A was lying. if A was lying, and gets caught by B, then A gets a point. if A was telling the truth, and B looks and confirms this, then B gets a point.

however, B can choose to believe A. if B chooses not to check the previous roll, then B must roll and score higher than A (ties are acceptable as well). even if B doesn't score higher than A, B must announce a score higher than A and pass the cup to player C. then C has the same options as A. the point of the game is to be the last person with less than 6 points. once you get 6, you're out.

the scoring of the dice rolls are as follows:

lowest to highest:
31
32
41
42
43
51
52
53
54
61
62
63
64
65
11
22
33
44
55
66
21 - also called 'Arriba!' for some reason it has been arbitrarily made the highest roll. it has special rules.

so if the 2 dice you roll read '3, 4' you have rolled a 43. the highest number possible from such a combination. which is why you can't roll a 25, for example.

rules regarding a roll of 21, or Arriba!:

if player D rolls and announces Arriba or 21, then player E has the following options:

1 - believe D and take one point. the rolling starts over, E not having to beat D's score.
2 - not believe D and look at D's roll. at this point, it become double or nothing. if D did roll 21, then E takes 2 points. if D was lying, then D takes 2 points. in one specific instance, this changes. this occurs when E has 5 points and cannot take the 1-point for believing D. he has the option to roll without looking at D's roll and try to tie 21. the implications of this should be apparent.

whenever somebody looks at the previous player's roll, the rolling starts over. in other words, if D doesn't believe C, and looks at C's roll, D doesn't have to beat C's score. D establishes a new score for E to beat, etc.