Pocket Dice

Most online casinos are elaborate affairs, with multiple pages, extensive footers and disclaimers, sliders, featured images and all kinds of other flourishes, designed to reel in players and also to detail all the information they are legally and morally obligated to provide. By comparison, Bitcoin betting sites are often minimalist affairs. In fact Pocket Dice is so minimalist, it’s a one-page site. Beat that for minimalism.

The assumption is that any prospective player will already know what to do, and in fairness they generally do. This is because most Bitcoin owners are reasonably tech literate, and as such are more than capable of signing up for a dice betting site without the need for six pages of instructions. In many respects, it’s quite refreshing to see a site that cuts right to the chase, with no messing around. The Pocket Dice site looks clean and welcoming, with a graded green baize background emulating the felt of a casino table, with a shaker and a pair of tumbling dice overlaid.

Roll the Dice

There’s a reason why dice-based betting sites have caught on and that’s because they’re maddeningly addictive. Casinos are loathe to use the A-word in the context of playing at their virtual premises, instead using terms such as “immersive”, “entertaining” and “fun”. Pocket Dice is all these things, but it’s also addictive in the best sense of the word. In other words, so long as you’re capable of exerting self control and gambling responsibly, Pocket Dice is awesome. Just remember not to wager more than you can afford to lose, as is the case with all forms of gambling.

The way it works is very simple. On the top right of the homepage, you’ll see a large white dice with a number displayed on it. Your task is to predict whether the next roll of the dice will be over or under that number. The dice roll itself is performed by the red shaker, which dispenses two dice, each numbered from 1 to 6. This means that the highest possible number you can wager on is 12 – which would have to be an “under” bet – and the lowest is 2.

Payout

Don’t like the number displayed on the dice? No problem. With Pocket Dice you can click on the single dice to change the number before you’ve bet on it. That’s right, it’s possible to load the dice in your favour. At least to a point. What happens once you click that green “Roll” button is beyond your control. If you’ve set the dice to a low number, 3 say, you’ll earn far more for betting that the next roll will be under, whereas you’ll only earn a small sum for correctly betting that the next roll will be over. Click on the large white dice and a pop-up window will open allowing you to change the number on the dice and also to view paytable information. The payout on the highest and lowest available numbers – 2 and 12 – is the same, which makes sense.

The payout for these is a mere 1.01x your stake, because these are the safest bets you can make. For a 3/11 the payout is 1.07x, for 4/10 it’s 1.18x and so forth, with the median arriving around 6/8 when the payout reaches 1.68x. Want to earn more than 1.68x your stake? No problem – just bet against the odds. Set the dice to 4, for example, and then bet that the next number will be lower. If you’re right, you’ll earn 11.8x your stake. The most you could win from a single roll of the dice is 35.3x your stake for picking 11/3 and betting over/under respectively.

Provably Fair

The concept of dice betting is easy to understand and its appeal is plain to see. One question that players who are new to the game may have though is how do they know that the dice rolling is random? What evidence is there that those dice aren’t loaded against them to preserve or bolster the house edge? The reason why players can bet their Bitcoin with confidence is because Pocket Dice, along with other Bitcoin casinos of its kind, rely on provably fair.

Provably fair is a mechanism by which players can determine that they are not being cheated of what’s rightfully theirs. Betting sites that use provably fair enable players to check the results of each roll to obtain reassurance that the outcome of the roll hasn’t been altered or manipulated in any way.

Risk and Reward

Any time you win a sum playing Pocket Dice, there’s scope for further boosting your profits by entering the risk game. Here you’ve got a 50% chance of winning. Simply select three out of six dice, press “Roll” and a single dice will be dispensed from the tumbler. If the number on the dice matches one of your three numbers, you’ll double your winnings (minus the house edge); if it doesn’t you’ll lose the lot.

Pocket Dice doesn’t have a gaming license because sites of this nature don’t require one. That’s the beauty of playing with Bitcoin and using provably fair. Regardless of the licensing laws in the country where you’re based, the reality is that if you’re playing at a no-questions-asked site like Pocket Dice, you’re free to bet and there’s very little anyone can do about it. Sign up using your Facebook account or by email, send some funds to Pocket Dice’s Bitcoin wallet and you’re ready to roll, or at least you will be as soon as your transaction’s cleared on the blockchain.

Pocket Dice Conclusion

Pocket Dice is a great little site – with a few caveats. Dice sites like this are by their nature limited to a very niche audience. You need to be familiar with Bitcoin (or at least need to be willing to learn quick) and to be content to play dice and dice only. If you’re a fan of slots, table games, poker and bingo, there are plenty of sites catering to you, but Pocket Dice isn’t one.