Figure 1 Crown & Anchor layout
Figure 2
Figure 3
Crown & Anchor
Rules
Players: Any number.
Pieces: Gaming chips or coins.
Equipment: A rectangular or circular board, usually made of cloth, divided into six sections, each painted with one of six symbols — Heart, Spade, Diamond, Club, Crown, Anchor (Figures 1 and 2). Three special cubic dice with a similar symbol on each face (Figure 3). If these dice are not available, standard dice can be used, with each numbered face corresponding to a symbol.
|
|
Figure 2 |
Figure 3 |
One player is the banker, who has the board set in front of him.
Players place their bets on the board on the symbols of their choice. Betting units may be any commodity from matches to currency.
The banker throws the three dice from a cup. He pays evens on singles (one symbol appearing on a die), 2-1 on doubles (if two dice bear the symbol), and 3-1 on triples (the symbol appearing on all three dice).
The bank should pass to each player in turn, since the banker's advantage is considerable.
Examples:
If one unit is put on each of the six numbers on the
board, and three different dice are thrown, the banker wins three units, and
loses three units, breaking even.
If two dice show the same number, the banker pays
two units on the double, one unit on the single, and collects
four units, thus gaining one unit.
If a triple is thrown, the banker pays
three units to the winner, and collects five units from the losers, a profit
of two units.
Because is weighted heavily in favour of the bank, each player should have a turn as banker. The advantage to the banker is worked out as follows:
There are 216 possible combinations with the three dice; on average, 120 singles, 90 doubles and 6 triples.
If each space on the board is covered with 1 unit, and 216 throws are made, 6 units are wagered 216 times, making a total of 1,296 units.
In 120 throws with singles, the gains and losses are 3 units and 3 units respectively, coming out even.
On 90 throws with a double, 540 units are wagered. 270 units are returned on the doubles at 2-1, plus 180 units on the third number at evens, a total of 450 units, leaving a gain of 90 units.
On the 6 triples, 36 units are wagered, but, at 3-1, only 24 units are returned, for a gain of 12 units.
The total gain of 102 units out of 1,296 units gives a percentage in favour of the banker of approximately 8 per cent. You have been warned!
From 'The Board Game Book' ISBN 0 85685 447 6
© Marshall Cavendish Ltd 1979