Well, Someone Had to Explain the Liar's Dice Scene In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

"I'm a dishonest man, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you should look out for, because you never know when they'll do something... stupid." -Jack Sparrow

I also like the "welcome to the crew laddy", because in that moment Davy Jones knows that Bill "has to" call the bluff. His heart is gone, he does not think of love's power other than to cause pain, so to speak, so it does not occur to him that Bill would do anything other than protect himself from damnation other than call Will a liar. But then Bill does not and it catches Jones by genuine surprise. Once again love is shown to be powerful, after it caused him so pain. At least that's how I see that moment

I never assumed the rule about only being able to call out the person who went before you. So I interpreted Davy’s saying welcome to the crew as an arrogant gloat before calling out will. But bill throws out his number effectively cutting Davy off from being able to call out will as the turn has passed. Meaning Davy’s arrogance and willingness to rub it in cost him the chance to beat Will. Also the other rule would have meant Davy expected Bill to call out his own son or he wouldn’t have said welcome to the crew.

Got tipsy with my roomates last night and taught them this game. We jokingly lit candles and played sea shanties songs for what I thought would be a quick 3 games that ended up being 20+ games and playing with pirate accents. I thought they would get bored and we'd move on to another game but nope they got hooked and wanted hand after hand. I haven't had so much fun playing this game in such a long time. It was a blast.

You know, sometimes when I think about this scene, I wonder. What would have happened if Jones came down, accepted the challenge, and then fell victim to that ever dreadful fate that all die rollers must face someday: one of his dice accidentally rolling right off the table? They're on a wooden ship. What would happen to that dice? Would it just be lost? Would Jones have to scramble around looking for it? Would he force one of the crew to merge into the walls to look for it? What if it rolled off the ship and into the water? Could Jones manifest another one out of the ship?

One thing you missed when calculating the odds is that knowing what dice you rolled drastically changes the odds. You no longer count the odds from a blind chance.

What really cements Bill's plan is that Bill goes first, makes his bid, and turns to Jones and says, "It's your bid, Captain." THAT RIGHT THERE. Bill didn't just insert himself into the game. He also took control of the turn order so he was directly after Will. And Jones fell for the trick because Bill established himself as a non-threat with that first bid, playing into Jones' overconfidence. ... Damn, I need to rewatch this movie.

I loved this analysis, it's brilliant and speaks to the motivations of all the characters. Will knew he couldn't win and get away with the key, he had to steal it later, and Bootstrap was trying to protect his son, so neither of the Turner's was actually trying to win the game. If Davy Jones had realised that, the smart thing for him to do when Bootstrap bid twelve 5's would've been to up the bid to thirteen 5's, because it would essentially force Will to win, which he doesn't want to do. Davy Jones thought he was being cruel and merciless by calling Bootstrap a liar, but he was actually doing what both of his opponents wanted him to do.

Still can't believe these amazing movies came out of a boat ride in Disney. Like they really could do anything and they got some fantastic minds together on these

I used to play Liars Dice with my brother even before seeing this movie for the first time, so when I *did* see the movie, I got very excited seeing "my brother and I's" game in one of our favorite franchises

The minor detail of Davy Jones holding the die with his suction cups individually was pretty funny and cool.

Yeah. Bill’s final bet also trapped Jones which is really cool. He can either raise or call the bet. Since they all have some reasonable idea what is under everyone’s cup if he had raised and waited til Will’s turn everyone would know he was lying and could call him, getting the key, so he had to call Bill and therefore was unable to twist the knife and get Will to serve on the ship for all of eternity. Really a cool move.

Can we please also mention that the number 4 is considered unlucky in MANY cultures, cultures which Davy Jones himself would know of being an immortal sailor who sees many ports and ferries many souls, because it is closely associated with DEATH? "Four fours..." is basically Jones telling his opponent "you're dead", and Will's bid back, "Four FIVES" is just as powerful- telling the ocean devil himself "there's still hope."

tbf in Bill's defense: being a pirate is a lot like being in a gang or mafia, you may not be able to leave until certain conditions are met, such as after you've helped earn loot. since Bill probably didn't do much to earn his keep on a pirate ship, by the time he got someone pregnant and had a son with her, and before the mutiny and being sent to Davy Jones' locker, he likely left Will in order to not have his son become involved in pirating at all. selflessness to a fault

I love the arrogance of davy Jones character, this is truly a man who has become accustomed to immortality and not answering to anyone and generally gets his way with nearly anything or just intimidating people to make his way

Thanks to your explanation of this scene, I now get goosebumps even more thinking about it. Thanks for that. I always understood the premise of what was happening, but not exactly how it was happening, the detail in the characters' choices. Your conclusion on how Davy Jones managed to somehow safely bid on seven fives made him even smarter than he already was. The odds of seven fives are as you said ridiculously low, yet on pure deduction, he was able to guess it and guess it right. Really great insight. Liked, subbed, and shared with all my friends who've watched this trilogy.

Even as a kid I could tell this scene was special. It's one of the few scenes in the entire franchise I remember vividly.

I just like the fact that davy started with 4s when he had 5s so he could raise the face on his next turn. I know there was probably more to it than that but based on the rules of the game its best to start a face lower than your own dice so long as you don't get caught out on your bluff. Also the talk of bill rolling 5 5s in one roll made me think of yahtzee and the rare chance of rolling a yahtzee in one roll.

When you remember Bill Nighy had to do this in grey Pajamas covered in dots and his eyes and lips painted green. You're even more impressed at what an amazing performance he delivers as Davy Jones.

Been playing this with my family regularly for years, it's such a great game where you never sit around waiting, even when its not your turn. Everyone are always engaged. We do play a modified version though, but I think it adds a lot of nuance to the basic variant: 1) All 1s count as jokers, and are also of highest value (so the value goes: 2, 3, 4 ,5 ,6, 1). So basically if someone bets on 6's and you have a 1, then it counts as a 6 too. The only case where it doesn't count, is if the number that is bet isn't present on the table at all (so lets say someone bets four 6's, and there are no 6's but five 1's, then the 1's dont count). 2) The last addition is that if all numbers in a cup are in numeric order, then they all count as jokers PLUS they add an extra bonus joker (so lets say you have rolled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - then all five count as jokers, plus you get an additional so you have 6 jokers in total). If only one die remains in your cup and you roll a 1, then it counts as a numeric order so you get an extra joker as a result. What this does, is it implements an extra variable that plays with the statistics of the game, so you can't just always rely on how likely/unlikely a standard numbered dice roll is. It also means you can effectively bet over the physically present amount of dice which adds tension when numeric orders are likely to happen (typically when you have 2 or 3 dice left), because you can be more aggressive with your bets and do a lot of counterbluffing. It also makes it so that the last round has an extra layer and you don't just automatically win off of who has the highest die or joker. A lot more back-and-forth betting as a result to figure out if the other person is bluffing.

It’s okay, I’ve also watched Deadman’s Chest an ungodly amount of times as it was a comfort movie for like a decade since it came out while I was growing up and I always loved it. I never understood this game exactly either but i always understood it just from the acting as you said. This was super interesting!

Back in 2006 when my dad had an old razor flip phone, I convinced him to change his ringtone to *”Bootstrap Bill you’re a liar and you will spend an eternity on this ship! Master Turner, feel free to step ashore, (snort) the very next time we make port!”*

Between this and your Sherlock video, you do a masterful job of explaining scenes like these in a way that captures the tension of the scenes themselves while also conveying the mechanics and giving understanding. Amazing stuff!

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I watched this scene 4-5 times, and still didn’t understand it. Thanks for breaking it down. Side note: the game actually sounds kinda fun Side side note: Davy Jones still looks absolutely amazing

Davy Jones beard is the only bit of CGI that I have ever seen and been able to believe it without effort. It's BEAUTIFUL

I can't express how much I enjoyed this video. I clicked with little expectations, but I was blown off the planet with the detail you laced into it. Thank you

I thought it was hilarious how Bill fought so hard to keep his son off the Dutchman then he ends up binding him to the dutchman

It's a shame you didn't talk about the deleted game because it adds so much to every aspect of the scene, even beyond the amazing dialogue. Characterization wise it works in multiple aspects. First you get the fact that Will's first priority was his father's freedom (betting for that first on the game he intended to win). It also shows off how much Will has grown from being a simple blacksmith into a man who can outfox the devil twice and leave with everyone thinking he was the loser. In the first game, Will plays vastly differently, bluffing with his first bid and continuing to bluff right up until the end. He plays with a risky strategy and it catches Jones off guard, leading to his win and reflecting how the "pirate" aspect of him hides beneath the "respectable" exterior. Jones in contrast plays his hand pretty straight, being more cautious against a newer player (which is a good move, in a lot of contests of skill new players can trip up masters because of their unpredictably), only to learn that Will is a lot smarter than he thought. In the second game, the roles are reversed. Jones treats Will with respect knowing that he's not a complete fool, while Will pulls the opposite move and does play like a fool because victory would be disastrous. In the meta-game of it, Will's characterization continues. He's playing into the expectations of his youth and background by confidently challenging Jones again and giving the ultimate wager. Everyone sees the move as ridiculously brazen and overconfident as a direct challenge to Jones. He even taunts Jones, telling him that he can still walk away after wagering his own soul, which of course Jones can't do without essentially saying that he can't win, and thus he reveals the location of the key as a result, and when he loses Jones is too distracted by his victory to even imagine Will had further plans.

Fascinating! Even with this small scene, they played it out so flawlessly! So, that rule you called out, which makes the Winning Move a winning move, is that a player can only call the previous player a liar, because he was the last one to up the bid, right?

"This movie came out... 14 years ago???" Cuts to some of the best animation to date even by today's standards. God I miss when Disney cared.

God, everyone compliments Gollum, but for as many moving parts as he has, Jones looks better than most of the Avatar monsters still.

I've loved this since before they even released this film. I was ecstatic to see it depicted in there, and I'm glad someone decided to take the time and make a video explaining it. Ps: I won a game on a bid of 9 sixs once. It was awesome.

This is an amazing video. As it was said, one can really read the scene even without understanding the game. But this great explanation really adds to the flavour. Also it always bugged me to feel that one was supposed to know what was happening and I was the lost one.

Also, can we please appreciate how great Bill Nighy was in these movies

This BRILLIANT explanation cleared me a thing that I never noticed before. When I watched this movie for the first time I didn't get how this game works so, I always thought that Bootstrap was just acting in a dumb and impulsive way just for his desperation for saving his son of losing. Now I can understand that every move of Bootstrap during the entire game were always perfectly calculated in his way to save his son. It could look as an irrelevant thing, but I think is AWESOME.

This was a wonderful explanation of the game. I have been confused about how it exactly worked. I have a rogue in DnD and want to play this game with the DM. Thanks!

This was actually the second round they played, the first round was cut, in the first round Will won the freedom of his father, making Bootstrap entering the second game and eventual losing really heartbreaking.

Thank you. That is very interesting. I didn't even know it was a real game. I thought it was just some made-up scene for a pirate card game that was on the Flying Dutchman for the purpose of the movie. Had to listen to this a few times for me to get how it is played. I'm still gonna watch it a few more times. Sounds like a lot of fun actually.

See, this is a movie breakdown channel that _actually_ rivets viewers. Congrats, mate. You just earned yourself a new subscriber.

I’ve seen the pirates movies too many times to count and never really paid attention to this scene because I didn’t think much of it. I figured it didn’t go that deep and what they said in the movie was what it was- and essentially, it is just that, but it has much more meaning an depth to it. Very impressed :) and glad to understand after all these years!

I've always loved this scene, so glad this video exists.

They had this on the Dead Man's chest game for PSP. My brother and I used to play it all the time on there. These days he has a nice set of liars dice but we don't get to play so much. The joys of adulthood.

I'll always be upset that in the deleted scene we had one of the most ballsy lines in the movie, and we never got to hear it. After Will takes the first round and challenges Jones again "You can't best the devil *twice* son..." "Then why are you walking away?"

Thank you so much for this video, I played this last night with four people for two hours straight. It was lots of fun. Every time someone lost a round, that person had to remove one die from their cup. Whoever was left with dice in the end, won. It was a really neat game and will definitely play again.

I've seen this 4 times; your enthusiasm and step by step explanation make it very enjoyable to watch

The little rock face that jones gives Will at 11:11 is so funny.

i love this scene SO much, and i’m so glad you did this breakdown i can share with others to try and convince them why THEY should love it too

It's so interesting that here (Chile) it's a common game, you're able to find cups and dice in a lot of people's homes and it's weird that someone wouldn't know the rules, I had personally played it at least 10 times just in meetings with friends before the movie came out, but going from this comment section it was unknown for a lot of people in other places.

The addition of the deleted scene really turns this game into a rollercoaster ride. Will wins his first game, wagering his father's freedom against 100 years of service, by convincing Jones to call an improbable bet which turned out to be true. Will wins his father's freedom. Jones walks away. Will calls him back, raising the stakes to an eternity of service. Jones answers, 'you can't best the devil twice.' Then Will taunts him, 'so why are you still walking away?' At this point, Will has completely checkmated Jones. He beat Jones in front of his entire crew, then insinuated he was a coward for trying to cut his losses. No matter what Will chooses to wager - even if it's one man's life against the other, which Jones ordinarily has no reason to agree to, Jones has to accept - or else he'd be admitting to his whole crew that Will COULD best him twice. Once might have been luck, but if Jones backs down or loses now, Will must be the better player, and perhaps the smarter man. This explains why he chooses to reveal the key immediately - anything else would entail an unacceptable loss of face. The only possible way for Will to lose now is for Bootstrap to do exactly what he does - re-join the game and match Will's bet. And yet as soon as he does it, we realise that this decision was just as inevitable as Jones revealing the key; under the circumstances, a man like Bootstrap couldn't possibly do anything else. Jones is proved right; the game turns out to be the perfect measure of every man at the table.

Very cool. I enjoyed the video. I knew how to play the game before I saw the movie, so I followed it just fine. I always wondered how someone would do with that scene if they didn’t understand the game. But there is so much emotion flying around in those 2 minutes I think it would be hard to misinterpret what happens. People just needed to know that Will got what he wanted, and Bill sacrificed himself for his son. I felt like those points came across very very well.

Thank you so much for this break down! Very enjoyable and now knowing the information needed to follow the game I not only want to rewatch the movie but try playing this game as well with friends

Bill Nighy's performance as Davy Jones across the Pirates of the Caribbean films, absolutely has to be one of the best voice and body acting performances I've ever witnessed in film. He creates a character that completely and utterly Dominates the scene every time he pops up on screen and he's just Genuinely mortifying. This game of Liar's Dice? Easily the Perfect summary of the entire character.

THANK YOU for this! I agree that we can tell enough of what is happening from the lines and acting, but knowing the actual rules makes it much deeper. The extended scene is clearer, but the final cut works as-is. Trying to write in an unversed character like Vesper who needs someone to tell her “what Bond needs to do in this hand is x” so the audience could hear it wouldn’t work in this setting of cursed pirates huddled around a barrel

As a board gamer, the moment the rules were laid out and the turn order was shown (in the movie, not pointed out yet in the video), I immediately thought "wait, will can't lose if bill comes after will".

The last bit about Bill putting himself between Davy and Will also highlight another quality of Davy. He is cruel, manipulative, ruthless but he at least play by the game rules.

i love watching this video. your narration makes spending almost 20 mins worth it.

I absolutely love this analasys and liar's dice is one of my favourite games to play. This video explanes the scene so well I mean it's all here! Thank you Lord Ravenscraft for the amazing video.

Amazing video sir, thank you!!!! "I only bet on what’s dearest to a man’s heart, else there’s no way to tell if he’s bluffing. What a man is willing to risk or not, that’s a measure of his soul" - Davy Jones

Wow this made me appreciate the scene way more and also made me mad that they cut out the whole thing 😭

It's not JUST bootstrap throwing down his cup. Bootstrap takes it upon himself to make the first bid, and he sets the turn order with "Your bid, Captain." Shockingly good scene in an otherwise mediocre film.

I feel like the scene is way cooler without the "turn order" rule, because it makes Bill's final bluff an absolute masterstroke move. Because the entire game to that point has been nothing but Davy Jones just repeatedly flexing on the other two players. He has been dominating the game to such a point that his massive ego seems completely justified. He knows, for certain, what EVERY player has on the table. Bill quickly calling twelve 5s before Jones can make a show of calling out Will's bluff is basically a tremendous middle finger to Jones. If Bill has even a single 5 under his cup, Jones would have to admit to himself that he completely misjudged Bill's hand, which his arrogance cannot permit by any means. It's no longer about the actual terms of the game, it's a matter of personal pride. Will is no longer Jones' main target any more, Bill is, because Bill basically called him an idiot in front of his crew. Bootstrap had absolutely nothing, and he basically suckerpunched Jones' entire worldview.

After all these years i found out something kinda wonderful about this movie. I wonder how many secrets this movie has. I always thought that this is more than just a good movie.

I've never heard of "Liars Dice". But I have heard of "Liars Poker", which I assume is played in similar fashion. I am also reminded of a similar game played with the serial number on dollar bills. I had a co-worker, nay, a good friend, who had several bills in his wallet for playing. He had one of each bill, 1, 5, 10, 20, 100 for which to play. The bills in question were nearly all one number. When you get a lot drunks together, he got rich quick.

I love your analysis of this scene. I hope you do many more of these vids. I would like to amend one part of your analysis and that would be your assertion about bill’s joining of the game being “checkmate”. While I agree that bill joining the game was important, bill actually needed to pull off “3 things”, not just one. First, yes, he needed to join. The problem though is that that alone wasn’t enough. In liars dice I’m not sure if there is a designated “order”, but for the sake of it not being established in the movie we’ll say that the order wasn’t established. Bill needed to establish the order which is why after joining the game he needed to bid first. The last and most important thing he did was tell jones that it was his bid next. This established the order of counterclockwise around the table. Usually the most natural order is clockwise but if it had gone that way then because of his position at the table bill would not have been able to be will’s shield. Bidding first was also very important because it gave him the “right” to determine the order in the first place. If jones or will had gone first then it would have been left to chance as to the order and if bill hadn’t told jones to bid next then will might have bid second and botched the whole plan.

Thank you for explaining this, I've watched this film many times and I always thought it was just me being a bit slow and not understanding any kind of gambling games that caused my total confusion when watching this scene...😅

I always understood the game, I was just always confused of the motive behind Bill’s inclusion. Especially since when questioned later about it he says he just wanted to see where the key was. It made it sound like he wasn’t just right there next to everyone else. I know he was trying to save Will but why didn’t he just say that when asked by will. I never really understood how could save him and this analysis really helps. Thanks

Well, this is it: After all these years, I’ve finally understood the game. “You have to count all the dice on the table, not just the ones under the cup”. Feel really stupid now 😅

We play Liar's dice at family gatherings, and my cousins, my sister and I all regularly quote this scene throughout our games. My favourite instance was when my sister was down to one dice while the others at the table all had 3 or more. It got to her turn, she knew she was screwed, so what did she say? "Twelve fives. Call me a liar." In the most dramatic voice possible. She was called out on it. _THERE WERE TWELVE FUCKING FIVES ON THE TABLE_

Great analysis! Modern Rogue has a chaotic video on Liar's Dice too if anyone wants to see a full game in action.

Very cool! I haven't watched this movie since I was a child but do vaguely remember this scene and not having any idea what was going on haha, awesome analysis :)

@LordRavenscraft I know this is an old video, and someone has almost certainly pointed this out but your odds at 8:40 reflect the odds of a SPECIFIC face of dice. For a random chance of five of the same face, you would ignore the first roll and then count every subsequent roll as the same 1/6 per dice. Making your odds of rolling 5 matching faces, 1/1296. Great video!

I was actually really proud of myself when I thought I got all the rules on my latest rewatch! Though I forgot about being able to count other people's dice until I saw the video and had no clue about the turn order lmao. Still it's so impressive how much of the game can still be discovered and all makes sense in the movie!

Pointing out that bootstrap interposed himself between Will and Jones was the “oh damn” moment of this analysis

This continues to be one of my favorite analysis videos on BRvid.

I loved your final point on Bootstrap making it literally impossible for Will to lose. It never occurred to me, but it's an excellent point.

I love playing liar's dice. It's very strategic, and really, your own dice don't even matter, unless you're going for a double-bluff. I've just never been able to find any apps in which I can play it.

I can respect and admire this scene for all the acting and writing, especially for the characters, but to my father‘s endless frustration, I inherited my mother‘s understanding of bluffing, dice- and cardgames in general. So I‘m still none the wiser. Great analysis though! I‘m sure someone with more brain-capacity than me would be able to understand this scene through it.

You deserve more subscribers!! This was a great breakdown of a faint memory of my childhood. Looking forward to binging the rest of your channel!

i came to this expecting a simple breakdown of the rules but holy moly the character analysis portion of this video was amazing!

Thank you for explaining the scene. I didn't understand it when I watched the movie, saving the basic principal. So am happy to receive this drilled down analysis. Bravo. Well presented and very enthusiastically presented.

If you enjoy the Liar's Dice mechanic the mini-board game "Cousin's War" (set during the English War of the Roses) uses a simplifed version of Liar's Dice to resolve combat. A neat way of resolving conflict without the usual "we both roll and the person who rolls highest wins."

I have always understood what was happening in this game JUST enough to sort of half-explain it to everyone else around me (who never understand it at ALL). I'm so happy that now I *really* understand it!

We used to play this game with the serial numbers on dollar bills when I was a kid. We called it Liar's Poker, and you had to watch out for guys who would hold onto a bill with an unusual number of a certain digit, kept specifically in order to have an edge in the game. Liar's Dice seems marginally more random ... but it's the same game.

Actually the longer scene will make this particular scene more deep. It the longer scene Will challenge Davy Jones and bet is own freedom against his father freedom and actually won. So at this point his father is free and Jones is leaving sarcastically applauding Will. And Will challenge Jones again and Jones reply "you can't best the Devil twice, Son." At this point Will starts taunting Jones saying "then why walking away?" and before asking for the key taunts Jones even more by saying "what was it you said about that is dearest to a man's heart?". So not only Will persuade Jones for a new game just to find out were the key was, his father is actually free from the Dutchman when he cast the dice. Plus the back and forth conversation between Jones and Will and absolute gold.

You say the odds on the dice rolling all ones is preposterous, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rolled all ones on saves in warhammer.

I do not know how this got recommended to me...but I am glad it was. I understood the emotions and motivations of the scene just fine, but not the rules of the game. This scene is just so much more powerful to me now that I know the rules. THANK YOU!

This video is so great and well made I have to return every so often to rewatch it

This is an incredible video. Would love to do an entire role-play of this game 😄 with rum of course.

Thanks for not only explaining the game, but also mentioning there was a deleted extended scene, of which I wasn't even aware of. I watched it before your video, and I understood how the game played better than the theatrical version.

This was the most interesting video I have seen in a while. Thank you so much for finally explaining this 🙌🏼

Bootstrap has protected his son from having to serve aboard the Flying Dutchman for eternity... as a fish-man. He saved him from becoming a fish-man.

I've waited a decade for someone to explain this. Also, the editing in this is everything!!! Four fours!!! 😂

One thing I just remembered from the official game Disney released: *Ones are wilds.* Under that rule, there were indeed 8 5s on the table. If Liar’s Dice allowed Davy Jones to accuse Will, he would have lost, meaning Bootstrap made his bid as a waste.

And this is why Dead Man’s Chest is my absolute favorite movie of all time

Used to play this all the time with my grandfather. Considerably fewer tentacles involved in our games though.

Not something I would normally notice. But I really like the background music in this. Just seems to match well with the theme of pirates and the analysis of the game.

I remember watching this movie as a kid and this scene did confuse me as to how exactly the game worked, but the performances of the actors and the emotional flow of the scene made it fascinating to me, it’s really one of if not the most memorable moment of the franchise. Glad to see a detailed and passionate analysis of it!

love the will was able to constantly peer pressure Davy Jones into his traps its hard for me to explain but it just adds more to each character

One of my all time favorite movie tbh ! And I never understood exactly how this game worked xD

That was so freakin enjoyable to watch ❤️