How to play Bank: dice rules, odds and when to bank

Setting up

Add every player's name (each one different), pick how many rounds to play (10, 15, 20, or your own number) and choose the dice: the built-in animated dice, or manual mode, where you roll real dice and enter the numbers.

Players take turns rolling in a fixed order. Each new round starts with the next player along, so nobody always goes first. The game saves as you play, so if the browser closes, you can resume where you left off.

The rules of a round

Every round starts with the pot at 0. Each turn is one roll of two dice. What happens next depends on whether you're in the first three rolls of the round or past them.

The first three rolls are safe:

• Any normal roll adds the total of the two dice to the pot.
• Doubles count as a normal roll. No doubling yet.
• A 7 adds 70 points to the pot. This is the only time a 7 is good news.

From the fourth roll on, things get dangerous:

• A normal roll adds its total to the pot, as before.
• Doubles double the pot, then add the roll. A pot of 120 with double 4s becomes 120 × 2 + 8 = 248.
• A 7 ends the round immediately. Everyone who hasn't banked scores nothing for the round.

Any player who's still in can bank whenever the pot is above 0, by tapping their name on the scoreboard. They add the current pot to their score and sit out the rest of the round. Several players can bank at different times, each taking whatever the pot is at that moment. If everyone banks, the round ends.

After the last round, the highest total wins. Ties share the win.

The odds behind every roll

Bank is a game of nerves, but the numbers behind it are simple. Two dice give 36 possible results.

• A 7 can be rolled 6 ways (1+6, 2+5, 3+4 and back), so it comes up 1 time in 6. It's the most likely total.
• Doubles can also be rolled 6 ways, so they come up 1 time in 6 too.
• An average roll adds 7 points. That sounds odd, since a 7 ends the round, but the average of all the other rolls is still 7.

So after the safe opening, every roll is a 1-in-6 chance of losing everything. On average a round lasts about six more rolls once the danger starts, but averages hide a lot: plenty of rounds end on the very next roll, and some run for twenty.

Doubles are what make it worth the risk. A double on a big pot can more than double it in one go, which is why the pot can jump from 150 to 300 while you're still deciding.

When should you bank?

There's no single right answer, and that's the game. But a few ideas help:

• Know what you're risking. Each roll after the opening adds about 7 points on average, plus the chance of doubling, and risks the whole pot one time in six. Once the pot is large, a normal roll adds very little compared to what you'd lose. The bigger the pot, the stronger the case for banking.
• Watch the scoreboard, not just the pot. If you're well ahead, bank early and often; you don't need big rounds. If you're behind, you need someone to stay in longer than everyone else, and that someone is you.
• Watch the other players. If everyone else has banked, staying in alone only makes sense if the pot would put you ahead. If you're the last one in, you already beat everyone who banked earlier, unless a 7 comes.
• The 70 is a head start, not a promise. A 7 in the opening three rolls makes a big pot early, which tempts people to stay. The danger starts on roll four either way.
• Play the last round differently. In the final round there's no tomorrow. If banking now can't win you the game, staying in is the only way to win.

Playing with a group

Bank is at its best loud. One person can run the screen, but everyone shouts “BANK!” at their own moment, and the scoreboard is right there to settle arguments. It works for big groups too: up to sixteen players can share one game.

On a video call, the host shares their screen and taps for whoever calls out. Manual dice mode is handy if your group already has a favourite set of dice.

Questions