General
General is a major gambling game in Puerto Rico. It has many similarities with Cheerio, and can be played as a family game.
Five dice are used. The combinations and the players' names are recorded on a sheet of paper.
The combinations are as follows:
Numbers The numbers 1 through 6 score their spot values.
Straight Either 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 scores 25 points, if made
on the first throw, but only 20 points, if made on the second or third throw
(see the section on rolling). Only one straight is scored.
Full house Scores 35 points on first throw, but only 30 points on the
second or third throw.
Four of a kind Scores 45 points on first throw, but only 40 points on
the second or third throw.
Five of a kind If made on the first throw, it ranks as the big general,
and immediately wins the game. Made on the second or third throw, it is a small
general, and scores 60 points.
Aces wild Aces (1s) may be counted as 2 or as 6, if one or both of these are needed to complete a straight - but not as any other number or for any other purpose.
Order of play
Order of play is determined by a preliminary round, in which each player rolls
the dice once. The player with the lowest spot score shoots first, the player
with the next lowest score second, and so on.
Players
Any number may play, either singly or in partnership. Partnerships are usually
determined by the scores made in the preliminary round, the two highest scorers
being paired, the two lowest, and so on.
Rolling
A game normally consists of 10 turns (frames) per player, but ends immediately,
of course, if any player rolls a big general.
Each player may roll the dice once, twice, or three times during each frame.
If, on his first throw, he fails to make an obvious scoring combination like a straight or a full house, he may pick up all or any of the dice for his second roll. But the value of any combination he now rolls is diminished, and a big general now becomes a small general.
After his second roll he may again, if he wishes, pick up all or any of the dice for a third roll.
After the third roll, he must state which combination he has scored. His score is determined according to the combinations he still needs, exactly as in Cheerio, and subject to the same rules.
If the game runs its full course of ten frames, the player with the highest score wins.
Payment
When General is played as a gambling game, the winner receives from each of
the other players the difference between his own and that player's point score.
The monetary value per point is settled before the game.
Variant
This game is similar to General, but has important differences.
It is played with ten dice. After a player has rolled them for the third time in each turn, he divides them into two groups of five, and then allots the score of each group to one of the ten combinations in the game. So, in the course of. game, each player has five turns.
The combinations are:
Numbers The numbers 1 through 6 score their spot values.
Full house Scores its spot value.
Little cameroon (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) scores 21 points.
Big cameroon (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) scores 30 points.
Five of a kind Scores 50 points.
(Unlike in General, a score does not decrease, if the combination is made on a second or third throw.)
From 'The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games'
© Diagram Visual Information Ltd 1979