Cee-Lo

Cee-lo is a gambling game played with three six-sided dice. There is no one standard set of rules. In America it is also called “See-Low,” “Four-Five-Six,” “The Three Dice Game,” “Chinchirorin,” and by several alternative spellings, as well as simply “Dice.”

Three dice are required for this game.

In non-banking games, each player has essentially equal status, and rules must exist for the players to pool their bets and attempt to win from a common pot.  There is also a banking version that is not described here.

Non-Banking Rules

In this version of the game, each round involves two or more players of equal status. A bet amount is agreed upon and each player puts that amount in the pile or pot. Each player then has to roll all three dice at once and must continue until a recognized combination is rolled. Whichever player rolls the best combination wins the entire pot, and a new round begins. In cases where two or more players tie for the best combination, they must have a shoot out to determine a single winner.

The combinations and can be ranked from best to worst as:

4-5-6

The highest possible roll. If you roll 4-5-6, you automatically win.

“Trips”

Rolling three of the same number is known as rolling “trips”. Higher trips beat lower trips, so 4-4-4 is better than 3-3-3.

“Point”

Rolling a pair, and another number, establishes the singleton as a “point”. A higher point beats a lower point, so 1-1-3 is better than 6-6-2.

1-2-3

The lowest possible roll. If you roll 1-2-3, you automatically lose.

Any other roll is a meaningless combination and must be rerolled until one of the above combinations occurs.

In most cases there will be a single winner with the best roll.

Other Non-Banking Rules That Can Be Applied

Some players rule that a 4-5-6 is an instant win for the first player who rolls it, and it can’t be tied. To see who picks the order, each person rolls a die and the person with the highest number chooses the order. If it is a tie, then those people roll again and again until one person has a higher number. Other rules allow for a 4-5-6 to be tied, which may be referred to as “catch up” rules but this is usually not the case.

Some non-banking games treat 1-1-1 as a losing roll, and may refer to this as an “ace out”.

One variant rules that if a player wins with “trips” or 4-5-6, all players must pay double the original bet. This is known as “doubling down”.

Some players designate a limited surface where players can roll, instead of throwing the dice off a wall, such as a table or a cardboard box. If the dice roll off the surface, it is called a “loose roll” or “sloppy dice,” resulting in an automatic loss for the player.

Some rule that if a player rolls the dice 3 times without getting a meaningful combination, they are out.

One variation assigns a point based on the pair rolled, rather than the singleton. I.e., a 5-5-2 gives a “pair of fives” (also known by various slang terms such as “fevers”), which beats a 3-3-6 “pair of threes” (a.k.a. “treys”).

A variation described as a “West Coast Version” ranks the combinations somewhat differently. It ranks pairs according to the highest pair, ignoring the singleton (as described immediately above), then treats all “trips” as an instant loss. 1-2-3 is treated as just another meaningless roll.

In a two player game, dealer/player who rolls a “1″ on the odd die is considered to have been “aced out”, losing automatically. If the odd die is a “6,” or “head crack”, the player wins automatically.