Gambling mini-games designed for Play-by-post

A lot of RPGs have little gambling mini-games that have been written for them, and there are also a number of fanciful gambling games that have been written to be inserted into whatever RPG you like. But I find that most of these assume the back-and-forth/immediacy of real-time, face-to-face play, with bidding, bluffing, raising antes, and the like. Those things DON'T WORK WELL for play-by-post or any sort of asynchronous play. A given hand of poker, for instance, played on Gamers Plane with four players, might take two weeks and 20 posts to complete with very active and responsive players. On the other hand, just a simple die roll, highest result wins, is not very interesting for any player.

So this is a thread to bounce ideas for gambling mini-games that would work better for play-by-post.

My assertion is that an ideal gambling mini-game would involve:
a) some choices on the part of each player
and
b) a hand can be completed in a single post (with edits for additional choices, if that's an option).

Those two things allow the player to have some interest, but also make it possible to complete a little gamble in an ongoing RPG in one day's worth of posts, rather than dragging on for days or weeks.

Any other criteria that people would like to see?

Making hidden identity games for PbP had been a bit of a passion of mine, and while they aren't precisely gambling, they do have a lot of the same issues. Since PbP eliminates a lot of the social elements, mechanics requiring things like bluffing or back-and-forth between players just don't work as well (or sometimes at all). Which in turn worsens player retention. I found success in adding some mechanical things like puzzles which can be done independently of other players - perhaps for gambling games it can be something like comboing that doesn't rely on others? Finding the combination that will give you the best chance at success?

An important criteria for me also would be the posting frequency not giving any advantages. Some people can or prefer to only post once in any given period of time while others can post ten times in the same period, so it's important to balance around it. It feels bad when you can't contribute as much just because you post in the game less often than fellow players - it's a lesser problem when its roleplaying, but with functional games it's much more noticeable. So some sort of a limit for how much the player can do is nice. And preferably an option for all the actions to be able to be done in a single post, as you already noted. (Or at least with clauses like "if X does Y, I'll do Z".)

Here's a stab at such a game:

HEROES' DICE
Heroes' Dice is a simple gambling contest played all over the world of your RPG. The goal is to have the highest score at the end of the game; the player with the highest score wins the pot.

One player is the Host. The Host does the initial Hero roll and sets the ante.
Every player has 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, and 1d12.
Every player puts the Host-declared ante (or items that the Host agrees are of equivalent value) in the pot.
Then the Host rolls 1d12; the resulting value is "the Hero."
Then each player, including the Host, has up to three throws of their dice. Each player chooses how many dice to roll in a throw. But in a game, each die can only be rolled once(*). So if you roll all five dice in your first throw, you won't roll again (*). You could roll 3 dice in your first throw, then choose to roll two dice in your second throw. Or start with one die, then roll 3 dice in your second throw, and one die in your final throw.

* - with the possible exception of Heroes

Scoring: Points are scored for "sets" and "runs."
A set is two or more of the same value on a die. Each set is worth the face value of the set times a number. A set of two is worth double the value, a set of three is worth five times the value, a set of four is worth ten times the value, and a set of five is worth fifteen times the value. So a pair of 2s is worth 4 points, and a trio of 2s is worth 10 points, four 2s are worth 20 points, and five 2s are worth 30 points.

A run is a series of three or more sequential numbers: 1, 2, and 3 is a run, and so is 6, 7, 8, and 9. A run is worth the values of all the numbers in the run added together. So a run of 1, 2, 3 is worth 6 points, and a run of 6, 7, 8, 9 is worth 30 points.

Multipliers:
Any dice that are rolled on the second throw and score then double the value of their set or run.
Any dice that are rolled on the third throw and score then triple the value of their set or run.

Heroes: Each die that is rolled with a value matching the Hero number can either be:
a) used as its face value
b) used as its face value and you choose another non-Hero die to reroll
c) used as a wild, representing any one other value
Each Hero can be used only once, but the player can wait to declare its use. One Hero cannot be used to reroll another Hero.

Note that the number of throws can never exceed three, so any Heroes rolled on the third throw can only be used as wild or as their face value.

Examples:

Game one:
The Host rolls a 7 on 1d12: "Sevens are Heroes! Ante is 10 credits!"
Two players agree; they and the host each put in 10 credits each, making the pot worth 30 credits.
The Host chooses to roll all five dice in their first throw.
The next player chooses to roll three dice in their first throw: 1d4, 1d6, and 1d10.
The last player chooses to roll one die: 1d12.

The Host posts a roll: Reason. "First throw" Roll: "1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12"
The results are: 1, 1, 6, 1, 2.
The Host has one set of three 1s: worth 5 points.
They do not need to edit their post, as all the dice have been thrown and there were no Heroes (7s) in the results.

The second player posts a roll. Reason: "First throw" Roll: "1d4, 1d6, 1d10"
The results are: 2, 2, 5.
Player 2 has one set of two 2s: it's worth 4 points by itself.
Then the player edits the post and adds another roll. Reason: "Second throw" Roll: "1d8, 1d12"
The results are: 8, 12.
No further points are added, and no dice came up Heroes, so Player 2's score remains 4.

The third player posts a roll. Reason: "First throw" Roll: "1d12"
The result is: 2
Player 3 edits the post and adds another roll. Reason: "Second throw" Roll: "1d4, 1d6"
The results are: 1, 2
Player 3 has one set of two 2s: 4 points.
Player 3 edits the post and adds another roll. Reason: "Third throw" Roll: "1d8, 1d10"
The results are: 5, 2.
Player 3 has one set of three 2s: 10 points. BUT the final 2 came up in the third round, so the score of that set is tripled. 10 points becomes 30 points!
No dice came up Heroes, so Player 3's final score of 30 points remains.

Player 3 wins 30 credits.

Yes, I strongly agree. I want a gambling mini-game to be a brief diversion, not a multi-day digression.

In your game, what would be the incentive to roll more than one dice in the first two rolls? If the third roll scores multiply their runs/sets by three, it's much more profitable to roll almost everything on the third roll to get the most out of multipliers. Since player 3 didn't get multipliers from their 2s, I assume it only happens when all scoring dice are in the same roll (so if their result in roll three was 2, 2, for example) but still. Even one set of 2s in roll three would be worth 12 point, and more likely to happen than three 2s for 10 points.

Anyway, this game does look fun! And fitting the criteria. I'd play it. :D

Edi: oh wait, you edited it! This makes it even more profitable to bet on roll three if multipliers apply anyway, right?

The multiplier is meant to balance the desire to roll more dice earlier in the hopes of getting Heroes, because the Heroes are more useful if you roll them earlier. I was going to do another example with a lower Hero number, but real-life intervened.

I think multipliers are a bit overpowered. Heroes on third roll do lose their reroll power, but they're still useful as wildcards - even more so, since you already know all other dice results and know which sets and runs you can build by using your wildcards. It'd be interesting to see if the player who always stalls to third roll will have better average results than someone who does 1/2/2 (as in dice distribution).

(...welp, now I'm fully interested in a fictional gambling game.)

I have a gambling mini game that meets your criteria, spaceseeker, called Hemlock. I used it in my first game here on GP, back in 2016.

Hemlock: Each round, players pay a fixed amount into the pot, and secretly assemble a pool of at least one but no greater than twelve d6s. The person who rolls the highest total wins, but if you roll any ones (known as rolling "The Hemlock"), your total becomes zero. Ties carry the pot forward, with each tying player paying in another round until there is a single winner.
The game provides the players with a simple, non-obvious choice. As you add more dice to your poll, you have a higher chance of rolling a greater total but also a higher chance of rolling a 1. It's greatest drawback is that there is an optimal answer for the number of dice to choose, although it is likely only the math nerds out there will be able to suss it out. Also, the variance is high enough that it is only slightly better than the next best choices, and it is quite possible in a small number of rounds for many different choices to be victorious.

I also had a cheating mechanic where players could attempt to stealthily reroll a die with a skill check. Success meant you could reroll it, but failure meant you would be discovered.

Slot machine:

To determine the result of a pull, have the player roll 5d6 (the dice represent the five reels). The player’s goal is to roll as many of the same number on the dice as possible. The payout, if any, varies according to the results, as shown in the Payouts table.

Slots Payouts
5d6 Result Payout
Three of a kind 1-to-1
Four of a kind 3-to-1
Five of a kind 8-to-1

It's fast, easy, and the player can play with no interactions.
Roll 5d6 40 times or just once.
3 of a kind gets your money back
Assuming D&D, the machines can be copper, silver, or gold.
I wouldn't have Plat machines unless it was a very ritzy place.

Also for those one post vs 20 post per day people, it really doesn't matter because they play the machine not ppl.


Edit: To save time, I'd allow something like betting 50 gp on 1 roll. That way if a player is actually trying to win money, they don't have to roll 50 or 1500 times

Wonder if Yahtzee would be a good minigame for gambling as you are basically rolling 5d6s as it's like poker.