Perudo

Perudo is a bluffing game, using dice, which was inspired by variations of Liar’s Dice found in Peru. It was designed in 1988 by Cosmo Fry and his partner Alfredo Fernandini.

Origins

In 1982, Cosmo Fry (entrepreneur, hotelier and descendant of the Fry chocolate empire) visited Peru and witnessed the popularity of a type of Liar’s Dice played both in homes and bars throughout the country. There are a number of variations of the rules, so upon returning in 1988 with his Peruvian partner, Alfredo Fernandini, he chose the rules needed to make the game easily understood and usable.

The working name for this game was Dudo but they were informed by their trade-mark attorney that neither Dudo nor Cacho (an alternative suggestion) were available. So they chose the trademark Perudo which was duly registered in the UK on July 18th 1988,and in the USA in 1991. Initially, the idea was to make the game exclusively in Peru with leather cups and sell it at a premium. Launched at the Inca London craft shop in 1989, it was then sold exclusively through Harrods.

In 1990, the first UK championships were held in the Groucho Club, soon becoming a national event.

In 1992, a third standard version of the game was introduced, catering to market demand for a cheaper version. This new version achieved promising sales across the board, retailing through W H Smith, Virgin and John Lewis. The best sales impact, however, was achieved through Harrods and Hamleys, with all three versions available to choose from. Elsewhere, in one New York store alone, 350 enquires and 250 orders were received in response to a New York Sunday Times article featuring the Third Annual Perudo Tournament held in London on the 19 November 1992. Seibu, the Hong Kong department store, also began stocking the game.

In August 1993 the standard travel version was modified and sold under license by the Lagoon Trading Company Ltd. The original version was reconsidered in response to market research and updated to include multi-coloured cups and a preferred pattern of cloth pouch. This licensing deal provided an additional 500 outlets in the UK (including House of Fraser, Selfridges, Fenwicks and BHS) and introduction to a new market, namely the gift market.

The Fourth Annual Perudo Tournament hosted by Stephen Fry was held on 17th November 1993 and comprised of approximately 100 teams of 3, divided by profession, competing for the coveted trophy. The idea – to establish which profession made for the best liar. This format of the tournament play proved very successful, when a team of barristers outwitted the bankers and clergymen in a closely fought final.

Since 1998 the game has been distributed in the UK by Paul Lamond Games and is available through Hamleys, Harrods, John Lewis, W.H. Smiths and Amazon. Yet again the Championships final is being held at the Groucho Club.

After some years of Cosmo & Alfredo supplying directly to American outlets, in 1995 Perudo was licensed to the USA being distributed firstly by University Games and then since 2002 by Reveal Entertainment Inc. In March 2008, Reveal Entertainment disclosed that they no longer held the license to manufacturer the game.

The game is also now available under license in Germany and Austria by Piatnik, in France by Week End Games, and is being distributed in Israel by AA Asher.

Rules

Object of the game

Each player starts with a cup and five dice of the same colour. A process of bidding, bluffing and luck reduces the number of dice in play. The winneris the last one left with any dice.

Play

All throw one die each to see who starts: the highest throw opens thebidding.

Simultaneously, all players put their dice in their cups and upend them onthe table, using the cup to conceal their dice from the other players.Having looked at his or her own dice, the first player makes a call based onan estimate of how many dice of a particular number there are under allthe cups on the table. Two factors should be considered when making a call:

*1. The total number of dice on the table. If there are six players, for example, then there will be a total of thirty dice in play. The probability therefore is that there will be five dice of any given value: five twos, five threes etc.
*2. All ones - known as ‘aces’ - are wild and are counted as the value of whichever bid is made. Thus a call of ‘seven fours’ is based on a prediction that there will be a total of seven dice with a value of either four or ace.

The player to the opener’s left then makes a call, and the bidding proceedsaround the table. Each bid must be higher than the last. So a call of ‘sevenfours’ can be followed by, say, ‘seven fives’ or by ‘eight twos’, but not by‘six sixes’ or by ‘seven twos’. Jump bids (‘nine threes’, for example) can alsobe made, with the intention of raising the stakes for the next player.

If a player feels unable to raise the bidding any further, the call of dudo(meaning ‘I doubt’ in Spanish) is made. This halts the bidding process andthe last call made is accepted.

All players then uncover their dice (the player who called dudo first, theplayer who made the final bid last) and those of the relevant valuecounted and added to the number of aces revealed. If the call was, say,‘seven twos’ and there are fewer than seven dice showing either two orace, then the player who made the bid loses one die. If there are seven (or more) twos and aces showing, then the player who called dudo loses onedie. All dice that are removed from the game should be concealed in thepouch so that the total number of dice in play is obscured.

The player who loses a die starts the bidding process in the next round.

Aces

Once the bidding has commenced, one other option is available: the call of‘aces’. This is a prediction of how many aces there will be. To do this, thenumber of dice predicted is halved from that of the previous bid. So a bidof ‘eight sixes’ can be followed by a call of ‘four aces’ (or ‘five aces’ etc).Fractions are always rounded up, so a call of ‘eleven threes’ demands an aces bid of at least ‘six aces’.

Following a call of ‘aces’, the next player can either raise the quantity of aces, or can revert to numbers by doubling the quantity of aces called and adding one. So following a call of ‘four aces’, the next bid must be at least ‘five aces’ or at least nine of a number. A call of dudo can also, of course, be made.Each quantity of ‘aces’ can only be bid once in a round. A call of ‘aces’ cannot be made on the first bid of a round.

Palafico

Any player who loses his or her fourth die is declared palafico. During thebidding in that round, other players are only allowed to raise the quantityof dice, not the value (i.e. an opening call by a palafico player of ‘twothrees’ can only be followed by ‘three threes’, ‘four threes’ etc.)

During a palafico round, aces are not wild.

Only a palafico player can make an opening call of ‘aces’.

A player can only be palafico once in the course of a game: the roundimmediately following the loss of the fourth die.

A player with only one die left who has already been palafico is allowedduring a subsequent palafico round to raise the value during the bidding(i.e. by calling, say, ‘two fours’ after a call of ‘two threes’). Subsequentplayers then follow the new value that has been called.

The end of the game

A player who loses his or her final die is out of the game. The player to theimmediate left starts the bidding in the next round.

When there are only two players left, the palafico rules do not apply. Evenif both players have only one die left, numbers can be changed in thebidding and aces are still wild.

The winner is the last player with any dice left.

Calza

This is an optional rule for advanced players, and is not applicable to a palafico round or when there are only two players left.

A call of calza declares that the last bid that has been made is exactly right(i.e. that, following a bid of, say, ‘thirteen fours’, there are exactly thirteendice showing four or ace).

A call of calza can follow any bid and can be made by any player except for the player whose turn is next. The bidding immediately ends when calza iscalled, and the dice are revealed. If the player calling calza is incorrect, heor she loses a die. If the call is correct, and there is exactly that number ofdice, then the player gains a die from the bag. Note that no player canhave more than five dice.

External links

* http://www.perudo.com

See also

*Bullshit (card game) - a card game with a similar emphasis on bluffing and detecting bluffs.
*Liar's poker - a structurally similar game using the digits of the serial numbers on dollar bills
*Mia - a dice game with a similar emphasis on bluffing

References