chuck-a-luck

American  

[chuhk-uh-luhk] / ˈtʃʌk əˌlʌk /

Also chuck-luck

noun

1. a game played with three dice at which the players bet that a certain number will come up on one die, that the three dice will total a certain number, or that the total will be an odd number, even number, a high number, or a low number.

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Etymology

Origin of chuck-a-luck

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

New York, for example, had 6,000 gambling houses in the 1850s, where visitors could try their luck at games such as faro, chuck-a-luck, loo, all-fours, hearts, euchre, Boston, and whist.

From Slate • May 26, 2022

In a report from a hotel that he had just bought in Las Vegas, Nev., he once read: "Craps, $1,200; chuck-a-luck, $800; twenty-one, $750."

From Time Magazine Archive

She was demasted, equipped with a 400-foot saloon on her main deck containing roulette wheels, crap boards, tables for chemin de fer, chuck-a-luck, anything else a gambler's heart might crave.

From Time Magazine Archive

It also had knucklebones, a gambling game that did the duty of a modern bar's chuck-a-luck.

From Time Magazine Archive

An understanding of expected values is helpful in analyzing most casino games, as well as the lesser- known game of chuck-a-luck which is played at carnivals in the Midwest and England.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos