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

See Examples For:

chuck-a-luck

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

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

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

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